Developer Resources

[VIDEO] Super-Specific CUTGroup Feedback on Go2School App

Smart ChicagoAugust 12, 2013

We are preparing our full take on CUTGroup tests we did on Tom Kompare‘s Go2School, a website that allows you to explore travel options to your Chicago Public School., but I wanted to share some great cuts we took from one of the testers from Tuesday, May 28^th at the Kelly Library in the Englewood neighborhood. Take a watch— it’s really worthwhile. If you view the video on Vimeo, you can skip direct to each part.

CUTGroup #2, Tester #3 Public wifi searcher with one child and sometimes one additional child at another location

CUTGroup #2, Tester #3 Public wifi searcher with one child and sometimes one additional child at another location from Daniel X. O’Neil on Vimeo.

0:04: No broadband at home: Heavy user of public wi-fi
1:10: Homepage map confusing: Because it has nothing to do with where she lives.
1:47: Thought there would be more information about the school: Very much likes having custom school info on the site.
2:38: Her usual route is simple. But sometimes she takes a friend’s child to a different school via a more complex route
3:44: Tries that route: Notwithstanding my instinct to do it for her.
4:00: Starting over was a bit of a challenge: Back button shenanigans and back-space/ deleting the entire length of the pre-populated school name.
4:46: The other school she’s interested in is not a CPS school: “So this is useless to my now”
5:30: But she tries a workaround: With the “Explore Map” link.
6:19: Then she found a bug: Noble Street Charter School was geocoded incorrectly in the original data.
6:41: Back to the workaround: In finding a route to a Catholic school.
7:17: Issue with the time picker: She wants to enter the time she should leave in order to get there on time, rather than entering the time she needs to arrive (which is how the system is designed).
7:40: Then somehow the back button was invoked. Don’t really know how. She recovers and again enters the time she thinks she should leave to be there by 8AM.
8:12: Did not know she had to pick a day. And did not readily see the error condition. Also: still wants to enter *departure* time rather than arrival.
9:58: And now the error re: arrival time becomes evident. And that was a bummer.
10:48: This was an excellent user test. Very grateful.

CUTGroup #3: Chicago Health Atlas

Christopher WhitakerAugust 6, 2013

The Chicago Health Atlas was the subject of our third Civic User Testing session. The test took place at the Erie Family Health Center; a Smart Health Center in Humboldt Park.

The Chicago Health Atlas a place where you can view citywide information about health trends and take action near you to improve your own health.

The Chicago Health Atlas displays large amounts of data from sources like the City of Chicago and local hospitals so you can get big-picture views of health outcomes in Chicago.

We wanted to see how everyday residents were using the it and make sure that people could find what they were looking for on the site.

Continue reading →

Volunteer at Smart Chicago: Be a CUTGroup Test Proctor

Smart ChicagoJuly 31, 2013

Chicago Health Atlas Homepage, June 2013 Launch We need volunteers to help us with our next few CUTGroup tests. Here’s the commitment:

Help us out for 2 hours, 6-8pm, sometime during the week at a public computer center somewhere in Chicago
You will be working with CUTGroup testers to review a website about restaurant inspections
You’ll be completing some simple forms to gather the tester input and overall results of the UX test

We need testers from all over the city in both English and Spanish.

There is no compensation for being a CUTGroup Test Proctor, but it’s a great opportunity for developers, designers, and UX specialists to get in front of real Chicago residents using honest-to-goodness civic technology.

Interested? Complete this simple form and we’ll take a look.

CUTGroup #1: FreedomPop Router

Emily EscarraJuly 26, 2013

Introduction

EveryoneOn is program of Connect2Compete that offers low-cost 4G internet connection in select Chicago zip codes. Smart Chicago Collaboration tested the signup, unboxing, and service prior to the EveryoneOn launch event in Chicago, of the Freedom Pop service offerings. Since expanding access to the internet is one of the core missions of Smart Chicago, we decided to come up with a process to use the CUTGroup to test the hardware, customer workflow, and coverage for this product.

Through this project, we were able to more deeply understand the market for at-home Internet access, to provide actual access devices for residents who need it, and get real data on how well the Clear network (the underlying service for FreedomPop) serves Chicago.

Devices

The test was centered around the FreedomPop Hub Burst — a combination 4G modem and wireless router that for both office and home settings. It connects up to 10 wi-fi-enabled devices to the internet with a secure connection. Speeds of up to 8Mpbs download. Signal reaches up to between 100-150 feet, depending on interference. Devices were paid for by EveryoneOn.

Segmenting

At the end of March and beginning of April 2013, two emails were sent to CUTGroup members in the zip codes where the lowest cost EveryoneOn option is available : 60602, 60604, 60608, 60609, 60612, 60615, 60616, 60651, 60619, 60621, 60623, 60624, 60626, 60636, 60637, 60640, 60644, 60649, 60653, and 60660.

We use Mailchimp to manage outbound communication with testers. Here’s the first email: (“Participate in a 4G Internet Access Test and Get a Free Router“) and the second one. We had a total of 94 CUTGroup members in these zip codes residing in these zip codes. Eight qualified CUTGroup members responded to our query and were a part of the test. We then added participants gathered from other relevant sources, including partners in City government and members of our Connect Chicago Meetup group. We tested a total of 19 devices with 19 different people. Here’s a look at the distribution area for testing of the devices:

All of the devices were free to the user, with the knowledge that each participant would be subject to the normal terms of being a FreedomPop customer. 13 testers then completed this form (“4G Internet Access Test Survey“) and we compiled the results. Six testers gave feedback in a less formal way (email, phone, or in-person conversation).

Results

Receiving the device was unboxing it was a breeze.

All participants received the device, packaged and delivered as promised. No one reported difficulty in opening the device.

Setting up the device was easy.

The majority of participants reported little difficulty setting up the device. The majority of participants reported difficulty when trying to set up the actual service itself. The test was intended and advertised as a free trial, but individuals were incorrectly prompted for credit card information. When entering information, data fields did not populate correctly. Changing browsers did not fix the above issues.

As one tester from Uptown noted,

“Setting up the device was very easy. Setting up an account was difficult.”

Connecting the router to the Internet was easy.

For the majority of users, the connection to the internet was immediate.

Internet speeds were comparable to other Internet connection products.

Every participant able to connect reported equal quality of service to other devices used in the past.

All participants used a laptop as a primary device and most used a smartphone as a secondary device.

All participants used a laptop as their primary source to connect to the internet (example models: Macbook Pro and Macbook Pro Air, Toshiba Satellite C655, IBM T410, and Dell Inspiron).

The majority of participants report using their smart phones and tablet (models include: HTC Inspire, iPhone 4s, and the iPhone 5)As a back-up method of connecting to the internet.

All testers had a positive experience with the CUTGroup itself

100% of participants had complimentary feedback on the CUTGroup program and process in general. All either would participate or consider participating in the future.

This was our first CUTGroup test and our first time presenting the results in public. We’re devoted to sharing our process, methods, and results with the civic innovation community so that we can all learn how to make better tools and create better experiences on the Web.

Moving Forward After National Day of Civic Hacking

Christopher WhitakerJune 5, 2013

Derek Eder teaching at Migrahack #hackforchange
National Day of Civic Hacking is over. It was a great event that brought web developers, journalists, designers, community activists, data gurus, and government officials together for a weekend civic hacking. Chicago was the most active city with 412 people taking part in events at Cibola, 1871, and the Adler Planetarium.
Youth Hackathon at Adler Planetarium #hackforchange
As a city, we should be proud of what’s we’ve accomplished. And not just for what happened during National Day of Civic Hacking, but proud of how far we’ve come since the days where the data portal only showed FOIA requests. We should celebrate these wins and in the coming days, we’ll be featuring these successes on the blog.
The City of Chicago's @ryanbriones talking about the idea for a civic needs app #hackforchange
However, it’s far more important to ensure that these efforts continue past this weekend. Civic issues are complicated, complex, and difficult to solve. It will take more than a single weekend to find solutions to these problems. As a community, we need to continue to connect civic technologists to community activists who are wrestling with civic issues on a daily basis. We must continue to outreach to every neighborhood in Chicago and ensure that the apps we build help the everyday Chicagoan and not just the geeks. While this weekend has been a fantastic weekend to organize around civic innovation there is still a lot of work to be done.
.@JazminBeltran learning data animation at @migrahack #hackforchange

We met a lot of people over the weekend: Journalists, scientists, community organizers, web developers and designers. We need to connect the dots and form new partnerships to help solve problems in our neighborhoods. We would love to stay in touch with everyone who participated in National Day of Civic Hacking. If that sounds good to you, please fill out this quick contact form so we can reach out to you about different projects.

On our end, the Smart Chicago Collaborative is offering the following to any and all participants of Chicago’s National Day of Civic Hacking.

1) We encourage everyone to continue their projects at the OpenGovChicago Hack Nights. They’e every Tuesday at 6:00pm inside 1871. The events are free and these nights are a great way to work on long term projects.

2) If you have a civic app that benefits the people of Chicago, you can get the app hosted on Smart Chicago Collaborative’s servers for free.

3) Smart Chicago will provide user testing to any Chicago civic app for free. Through the Civic User Testing Group, civic developers in Chicago have access to hundreds of testers to help test your app in order to improve it and make the best app possible.

4) We will help you tell your story. At the national level, the organizers are accepting submissions for stories about what came out of National Day of Civic Hacking. Teams with the best stories will be invited to The White House to be featured at an event in late July. If you need help writing your story, email cwhitaker(at) cct (dot) org and we’ll help you get your story ready. We’ll also help put together a short video to include with your submission.
Youth Hackathon at Adler Planetarium #hackforchange
It’s an exciting time to be involved in this movement. There are more and more cities getting involved in civic hacking thanks to the efforts of the Code for America brigade and through events like National Day of Civic Hacking. We’re looking forward to continuing this effort in the future.

Thank You

Smart Chicago Collaborative would like to thank all those that made this weekend possible:

Event locations: 1871, Cibola, and the Adler Planetarium.

Lead Organizations: Institute for Justice Journalism, The Adler Planetarium, and Code for America.

Event Sponsors and Partners: Azavea, Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring, Chicago Architecture Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, the City of Chicago, Free Spirit Media, Hive Chicago, Knight Lab, The MacArthur Foundation, Mikva Challenge, Rob Paral, and Open City Apps

Now Hosting: OpenStreetMap Metro Extracts

Chris GansenMarch 27, 2013 1 Comment

The Smart Chicago Collaborative is happy to announce that it is now providing the computing infrastructure behind Michal Migurski’s OpenStreetMap Metro Extracts project.

The Metro Extracts project provides small, easy to work with segments of the entire OpenStreetMap planet file. Michal has developed a system to automatically generate extracts for 168 major world cities and their surrounding areas. His program uses cost-effective spot EC2 instances and S3 file storage, all within the Smart Chicago hosting infrastructure.

A developer who wants to make a map of the Chicago metro area, for example, only needs to download a 86 megabyte file, instead of the 27 gigabyte planet file. That’s a 99.7% difference! The project also offers data for download in many other formats, including shapefiles that work with mapmaking tools like TileMill. This project will save developers time and effort as they focus on building beautiful, useful maps and applications.

The Metro Extracts project is continually expanding to cover more cities around the globe. Anyone may suggest additions to the list of cities; instructions for requesting a change are on the project’s Github repository.

Smart Chicago is very happy to sponsor OpenStreetMap development, including two upcoming events here in Chicago: a map-a-thon April 20 – 21, and an OpenStreetMap hack weekend, April 27 – 28. You can learn more about those events in our previous post.

Smart Chicago provides free hosting infrastructure for a number of civic developers and projects. For more information, including a signup form to get started, see our hosted web space project.

We are very excited about this project and its potential applications. We look forward to working with Michal to make it easier for Chicago-area developers to use OpenStreetMap data in their applications.