Monday, August 10, 2009

%$% Red Tape

So it turns out that I wasn't paying attention at some crucial point. I hadn't realised that I didn't have a marriage certificate. However, Service Ontario is wonderful, and I liked the form. It was bright enough to recognise that I was the bride, even though I didn't give the name it asked for as "Bride". I also like that I got to give feedback after using the application. Ok, so maybe trying to spread my version of user interface design isn't entirely necessary, but they specifically asked how it could be improved. (The design is good, which means they don't disagree with my philosophy of KISS. However, the default information should be easier to select).

2 comments:

Alex said...

I wonder if the rigamarole needed to change all the information and accounts that a person is apparently required these days to exist will lead to an increase in women keeping their last name when they get married - I think you've had more interesting things happen in the past four months than I can happening to my mom because her last name is different than my dad's. I wouldn't want to change my name purely for professional and personal reasons, but now I think I can add apathy to that list, since I doubt I would want to put the effort into changing all my records. Heck, I've left my middle name on my academic records for 5 years just because I can't be bothered to get it removed.

Now I'm curious. :P

Christine said...

If I hadn't already started the process, yes, I would have kept my maiden name. However, I don't think that this has actually changed in a long time. The difference is that a) I can do some of the stuff online, b) I can find out online how to do the stuff that I can't do online and c) I'm used to not having to go and do stuff in person.

I think that c is the really big issue here. My mom wouldn't have been able to order certificates online. And online is worlds easier than using the phone, so I've obviously got advantages.