November 19, 2010 – Anything Geospatial

The city of Victoria, BC Canada has released a new, official mobile app (iphone) to connect with constituents during the 2010 by-election. The application can be found under the free iTunes apps in the “Social Networking” category, or by searching the term “Victoria Votes”. The application enables the user to connect their app to Twitter and facebook and provides up to date election buzz (news) as well as some info on voter eligibility. A nice effort by the local government to conenct with the locals and be more transparent – think Gov20!

About the app (developed by Purple Forge)… Victoria Votes 2010 is the City of Victoria’s official app for the 2010 by-election and referendum. This app connects you with up-to-date information, including who is eligible to vote, where to go to vote, voting dates and times, as well as how to vote if you are disabled or unable to make it to a voting place and wish to vote using mail balloting. You can also find a list of the by-election candidates and the referendum question.

Share the news and keep others informed – Spread the message about this new and exciting way for voters to stay in touch with what’s happening for the by-election and referendum. Encourage others to get out and vote. Add your Twitter and Facebook account information to the application and start sharing.

Weblinks:

I’ve noticed recently that the topic of usability has been very popular, particularly as a topic of presentations at conferences, lightning talks, and un-conferences. For the consultant, contractor, or developer this subject is huge and in my mind needs to be given serious consideration. There’s many fine geo developers amongst us, many with great ideas for apps and/or services… but unless the idea and the implementation is kept simple why even bother? I see many fine mobile location-aware apps come and go, most with a great concept, and many falling short on usability and design. If the app doesn’t accomplish what it is reported to do then its going to fail, guaranteed. Additionally, if the UI isn’t kept simple chances are very good that users will bail out long before they even register or jump in to test the app’s full functionality. The developer of a great app or web service basically has once chance to make a great impression, so keep is simple and focus on the design… guaranteed to increase the chance that people will use and share details of your app.

A popular service that we’ve all heard loads of noise about recently comes to mind when I think of usability… enter Groupon (groupon.com). The app is so simple yet it does what its supposed to and it does it very well (recall groupon delivers users one locally relevant coupon deal per day). The user doesn’t get lost, it’s very basic in concept and it delivers a fun experience and very useful end results… SCORE!

I’m reminded of a presentation made at a recent Geo DevMeetUp event where City of Greeley (former) GIS Manager Brian Sullivan (@taliesn on Twitter) schooled us on good geo-design. Brian offered up some very practical tips on how to design well with the end user in mind… some good tips! From Brian, 10 rules for good design: