How do you accidentally run for President of Iceland?
A flawed government webpage in Iceland briefly made it easy for citizens to accidentally register as presidential candidates, highlighting how ambiguous wording and generic buttons can have serious real‑world consequences. Commenters use this case to explore broader UX principles—such as “people don’t read,” disappearing affordances, and the need to clearly separate very different actions on a page—while comparing it to infamous ballot and alert design failures elsewhere. The exchange also touches on democratic access to candidacy, signature thresholds, and language choices on official sites in small countries.
Core UX Problem on the Icelandic Site
- Main issue: endorsement and candidate-registration actions were co-located and visually similar, causing some users to accidentally register as candidates instead of endorsing.
- Redesign split these flows/pages, which many see as the correct “separation of concerns”: endorsers ≠ candidates.
“People Don’t Read” and Text vs Design
- Many argue interfaces must assume minimal reading; dense explanatory text above a prominent button will often be skipped.
- Others stress that for consequential tasks (endorsing a candidate), users should be expected to read and think, but this expectation conflicts with real behavior.
Button Labels, Copy, and Information Architecture
- Wording like “Register to collect endorsements” is seen as ambiguous; could be interpreted as registering to have your endorsements collected.
- Suggestions: explicitly say “Register as a candidate” vs “Endorse a candidate” or even “Run for president!” to avoid generic buttons.
- Some note that even good labels won’t fully prevent misclicks; physical separation of actions is safer.
Comparisons to Other UX Mishaps
- Users draw parallels to the Hawaii false missile alert and the 2000 US “butterfly ballot” as examples of small design choices with outsized real-world impact.
- Fire-extinguisher signage sparks debate: text vs icon, readability under stress, and how early people learn such symbols.
Language Choices on Icelandic Government Sites
- Discussion notes Icelandic and English versions exist; default is Icelandic.
- Some defend English as a practical second language for immigrants and EU citizens.
- Others worry this entrenches English, discourages learning Icelandic and threatening a small, fragile language.
Democracy, Ballot Access, and Voting Systems
- Several appreciate that many people can attempt to run; others worry about too many candidates without ranked or approval voting.
- Debate over barriers to ballot access: some see Iceland’s thresholds as low and healthy; others argue US-style signature requirements are too high and undemocratic.
- Brief side-discussion on pros/cons of ranked-choice vs approval voting and inherent theoretical limitations.
Miscellaneous UX Critiques
- Complaints about disappearing controls (e.g., Google Meet background toggle) and Medium blocking mobile zoom as further examples of UX regressions.