newsobserver.com projects - More on thinking of the user - Comments

Re: More on thinking of the user

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:28:29 -0500

I think that's a false dichotomy.

A document dump that consists entirely of scanned PDFs from a Xerox machine is transparent, but not usable.

An online searchable database of that same information is transparent—and usable.

— RTB

Re: More on thinking of the user

bnartist — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:19:58 -0500

I agree with you Ryan. There is however a difference between usability and transparency. A document dump is transparent, an executive summary is usable. Transparency requires objectivity while usability requires more subjectivity. And usability for one user is not the same as usability for a large set of diverse users and stakeholders. Usability usually involves making complexities invisible to the average user.

The ability to slice and dice information so that it is both user friendly and transparent requires an expansion of tools and services that subscribers to the shrunken head theory of government are usually unwilling to support.

Privatization may lead to more usability but hardly more transparency. Open bidding laws may be clunky but they are transparent. A great deal of bureaucracy is simply an accretion of individual ideas of usability, transparency and accountability.

The example of Google is apt. Google is extremely usable and its algorithms are invisible but as an organization it is decidedly opaque as recent dealings with North Carolina have demonstrated.

Re: More on thinking of the user

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:17:52 -0500

Fair enough.

That's why they should be intregrated—either by linking or through a separate agency/contractor/webmaster who ensures things are updated.

To the user, it doesn't matter who does what, it just matters that you can find it easily.

— RTB

Re: More on thinking of the user

bnartist — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:39:08 -0500

I agree with the cross linking of pages to share information as much as possible but the Board of Elections has a different charge and while it may be fully aware of elected officials it may not be formally aware, in a timely manner, of when a position is vacated or replaced by appointment and not by election.

Let that Sun Shine In

Isaac136 — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:13:27 -0500

I guess it really is hard to put yourself outside the box. I've been using the General Assembly's website for years, and have seen tremendous progress in its design and "friendliness," but I've also had the advantage of understanding a lot of petty details that I suppose have made clear to me what might not be so easy for a person who isn't as acquainted with how things work in that building.

Anyway, I like the implications of Dome covering the "sunshine" topic, because I see it as an under-covered issue, so to speak. A lot of legislators might not be thrilled by the prospect of their emails tripling as a result of constituents having "a little knowledge," (as the expression goes), but as for the state of the state, I think we will all benefit from letting more sunshine in.

Re: More on thinking of the user

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:43:11 -0500

I appreciate that. I'm not trying to pick on the legislature, but it is one of the sites that most citizens interact with. I think you do a great job of putting material up in a timely fashion, something I'm going to get to later.

But you could work with the SBOE to at least link those two pages.

—RTB

Re: More on thinking of the user

gercohen — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:10:33 -0500

well, at least we cut out one of the steps!

Re: More on thinking of the user

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:53:23 -0500

I just tried it. It brought me to this page.

It's nice that you offer this function, but it's still not user friendly. I should be able to type in my address, see my voter registration and then click directly to see my representatives.

This is not the same thing:

Open the following link to the "NC Statewide Voter Search".
Enter your information into the form and click the "Submit" button.
Click on your name in the results list.
Click the link entitled, "Click Here to View Your Voting Districts".
Note your "HOUSE" and "SENATE" districts.
Return to the "Representation" section of the NC General Assembly web site and look up your representation based on the district numbers you noted in the previous step.

—RTB

Re: More on thinking of the user

gercohen — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:46:49 -0500

Ryan, you state:
"Consider a newly registered voter. You've misplaced your registration card, but you'd like to check up on your representation in the legislature.
Let's see. You could go to your local Board of Elections and check. Who runs that again? The county? Hopefully you know that, but you could be forgiven for forgetting. You could go to the State Board of Elections Web site and search its voter database. Another click and you can see your voting districts as well. Now, then, who represents the 17th House District and the 8th Senate District? It doesn't say. You have to go to the legislature's Web site for that and search again. Make sure you open a new window in your browser, though, since you may forget the district numberss by the time you click on Representation, click on Representation again, select a House District and hit go, then repeat the process for the Senate. Why are these two functions—looking up your voter registration and finding out your representation—on two completely different sites? Because they're run by different departments."

This is not correct. You do NOT have to go to two websites. If you lost your voter registration card, you can do it all on the NCGA website, in fact, you do not even need to be a registered voter.

go to
http://www.ncleg.net/GIS/Representation/Who_Represents_Me/Who_Represents_Me.html an use the "By ZIP Code" engine, which says:

By entering your ZIP+4 code, you can find which districts you live in and the associated representatives. Please enter your ZIP code and four-digit extension below in the format "12345-1234"?. If you don't know your ZIP+4 code, you may find it on your driver's license. North Carolina driver licenses list the ZIP+4 as part of the address of the licensee. You can also look it up using the USPS ZIP+4 Code Look-Up Engine.

we link to the USPS Zip+4 database. I got mine off my drivers license, and entered it, here's the return:
ZIP Code 27613-3622 was found in Wake County. The corresponding districts are:

State House
District 41 (map) - Representative Ty Harrell
State Senate
District 15 (map) - Senator Neal Hunt
Congressional
District 4 (map) - Congressman David Price

the actual return even links to their websites and maps. Give us a little more credit!

More on thinking of the user

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:01:30 -0500

State government does not have one Web site—it has hundreds.

Each department and division of state government runs its own site based on its own responsibilities, but this creates a huge problem for users.

Consider a newly registered voter. You've misplaced your registration card, but you'd like to check up on your representation in the legislature.

Let's see. You could go to your local Board of Elections and check. Who runs that again? The county? Hopefully you know that, but you could be forgiven for forgetting.

You could go to the State Board of Elections Web site and search its voter database. Another click and you can see your voting districts as well.

Now, then, who represents the 17th House District and the 8th Senate District? It doesn't say.

You have to go to the legislature's Web site for that and search again. Make sure you open a new window in your browser, though, since you may forget the district numbers by the time you click on Representation, click on Representation again, select a House District and hit go, then repeat the process for the Senate.

Why are these two functions—looking up your voter registration and finding out your representation—on two completely different sites? Because they're run by different departments.

Of the same state government.