Three small fixes for Nepal's online public services

I build business software, so when I use a government service online, I can’t help but notice where it breaks. None of this is meant as a complaint — these are things I’d genuinely volunteer to help fix. Three small ones:

1. One status page per process

When you submit something — a document, an application, a renewal — you’re often left guessing. Did it go through? What’s next? A single, honest status page per process (“received → under review → ready”) would remove most of the anxiety. It’s not hard to build. It’s mostly a decision to be transparent.

2. Stop asking for what the government already has

If one office already has my citizenship details, another office shouldn’t make me photocopy them again. Shared, consented lookups between systems would save a great deal of that repeated effort. Start with the two or three most common documents.

3. Plain-language forms

Most forms are written for the office, not the citizen. A short, plain-language description above each field — what this is, why it’s needed — would cut errors. Fewer mistakes means less rework for the office too.

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None of these need a moonshot. They need someone to care about the person on the other side of the screen. That’s the whole civic corner of this site, really — asking why is it like this, and why not better?