World Information Architecture Day 2015 – Bologna

Last month I spoke at World Information Architecture Day 2015 Bologna, one of the two Italian events among the many around the world that celebrated WIAD 2015. This year’s worldwide theme was “Architecting Happiness”, and because the organizers in Bologna expected a relatively high percentage of their attendees to be from industry and not to be specialists in information architecture or user experience, they asked speakers to focus on an environment to which everyone could relate. They were happy with my proposal to speak about government systems, about which I had spoken several times before and which I already had in US and UK versions. So I had to translate the text of my slides into Italian, find photos and screenshots that would depict the concepts as relevant to the Italian government, shorten the thing a little, and emphasize happiness a little more. Then respond to the light edit, done gracefully and competently by Chiara Scesa, and head off to Bologna. Oh, and in the meantime collaborate with Luca Rosati in preparing a 2.5-hour hands-on workshop on usability evaluation for the afternoon session.

The speakers’ dinner was amazing. Not so much for the food — although that too was good — but for the company and the conversation. The six of us were three organizers (some of whom were also speakers) and two speakers besides myself (Luca Rosati and the closing keynote speaker, journalist Luca De Biase — evidently most of the speakers couldn’t make the dinner), and with that small a group everyone could participate in the larger conversation if they wanted. I greatly enjoyed getting to know everyone, and I felt energized and very much appreciated.

My talk opened the event. Technical problems prevented my presentation itself from appearing in the day’s video feed, but the audience questions did make it there. You can get the gist of the talk from the slides on SlideShare, (or if you wish to do so in English, consult the US or UK version), and I’ll summarize the questions and answers below.

1. Question: In your list of stakeholders, you did not mention those who design and develop government systems. Was this a choice?
   Answer: I forgot them. Which is ironic, because I have been one of them for most of my life. But yes, they are stakeholders too. Thanks!
2. Question: The graph regarding security, which shows an inverse relationship between the level of security and the quality of the user experience — could it be that when you increase security it just becomes more difficult to improve user experience?
   Answer: Yes. This graph came from the book and I am not in complete agreement with it; I agree with you.
3. Question: In the UK environment, where you are now, how common, how frequent is it that they introduce usability methods in the design of government systems?
   Answer: They have a centralized digital government agency, which has a strong user research team that supports the government agencies in doing this, and they have a style for all the government, that they should follow.
4. Question: In your experience, the fact that there are projects in which usability for the public servants gets very little consideration — is it a problem of awareness of the customer, or of the budget allocated to the project? Is it possible to increase awareness without cutting too much into the budget?
   Answer: The problem is with both. One problem is that the expenses of development belong to one group and the benefit of efficiency belongs to another — such that the one responsible for development doesn’t want to pay for something that benefits someone else. But there is always a way to increase happiness and usability without spending too much. It’s difficult, but with enough understanding, enough process, one can… My motto is “Any improvement is always an improvement.” Even if you can’t reach perfection, if you can improve usability and happiness, you have done a good thing.

Watching this video, I am struck by how much my accent in Italian has deteriorated in the almost 14 years since my husband died (there’s nothing like living with a native speaker!) but my command of the language is still good enough that I was comfortable giving my talk and answering questions in it. With a hesitation here and there while I searched for a word.

I won’t take much space (or my time) to describe the other morning talks, but I did want to mention briefly the one by Italo Marconi on ethics, happiness, and positive design. I found it provocative and interesting, something to be thought more about. (Although I can converse in Italian all day about ordinary topics such as what to have for dinner or how to get from Point A to Point B, deeper and more involved topics — at which Italians can be very good — are more difficult and I have to work harder at them.) I hope I will get the opportunity to talk with Marconi further.

In the afternoon, Luca Rosati and I led the usability assessment workshop, with the participation of Fabio Vitali as well. (Here are the slides, which Luca prepared.) We divided the group (some 75-80 people) into teams of six people and gave each team one of Jakob Nielsen’s ten usability heuristics, with questions developed by Giorgio Brajnik and revised by Luca, to aid them in conducting their assessment. We then set the teams loose on trenitalia.com, a site with which we knew everyone would have had not only considerable experience but also many difficulties because of its myriad usability problems. After 20 minutes we brought the large group back together and asked each team to share what they had found. I wish I could post the lists of problems that the teams reported, but I don’t think anyone kept the flip-chart sheets on which we recorded them.

As we were tidying up, Luca De Biase asked me a very good question. Trenitalia, he pointed out, already has much of this information from their logs, but they seem completely disinclined to do anything about the problems. How could an exercise like this make any difference? he asked. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a good answer for him; four weeks later, I still don’t. But I keep thinking about it. If you have any ideas, please comment!

After the workshops, the attendees reconvened for the closing keynote. De Biase focused on the “knowledge economy”, where value is concentrated in the immaterial, where innovation exists only when it is adopted, and where design matters. He described the new narrative as one in which innovation is an ecosystem, analogous to the environment. Most people, he observed, now know that their invididual actions count toward the quality of the environment and that the quality of the environment matters in their own lives. “I hope it doesn’t take us 50 years to see the infosphere as an ecosystem to maintain,” De Biase said, “to see the Internet as a common good, managed in a healthy way, contributing to its value.” Designers are among those who do tend to see that already, he said, and who carry a code of ethics, of awareness, that recognizes that polluting the infosphere damages us all.

In response to a question from the audience, De Biase discussed information overload, how it can affect our interactions on social media, and how design can play a role. Companies such as Google and Facebook, he said, use technological methods to address information overload: Facebook, for example, uses an algorithm that prioritizes recently-clicked friends in determining the order of posts to show in your news feed. This approach reduces information overload, he said, but it creates an “echo chamber” that feels comfortable because it surrounds you with people who hold similar ideas to yours. But this isn’t the end of the story, he assured us. “After social media — that is, the media that connect people who like each other — arrives an epoch of civic media, in which people connect because they have something in common — projects in common, citizenship in common, choices to make in common.” He described a project on which he collaborated — the construction of a platform for consulting with citizens around rather heated themes such as the Italian constitutional reform. The problem, he said, was that if they made it too easy for citizens to interact with each other, to propose ideas, and to post comments, people tended to attack each other. So they made it easy to propose ideas but slightly harder (two clicks) to make comments; and instead of a “Like” button for proposals they used a triangle that offered three responses: “I agree”, “I disagree”, and “I don’t understand”. This changed the dialog, he said, to be more civil and thoughtful.

“Quindi, design conta“, De Biase declared. “Therefore, design counts.”

Amen, my friend; amen.

De Biase’s talk was so rich with insights that I can’t possibly do justice to it here. You can read his own summary (at the bottom of his blog post about the event), or you can watch the video of the talk (both in Italian).

After the conference, De Biase asked several people to write short articles on information architecture and user experience for the weekly technology insert he edits for an Italian daily newspaper, and I was one of them. I worked with Luca Rosati , who coordinated four of the articles (including his own), and was grateful that they invited me to write mine in English. Rosati translated it into Italian, and today it appeared online.

Keynoting at UCD 2013

This past weekend I went to London for the UCD2013 conference. I gave the Saturday morning keynote (to about 75 people, I think) on usability in government systems. This was a fairly visible talk — more so than last month’s one to City University Human Computer Interaction Design, and I spent a lot (a LOT) of time preparing the slides, wanting to get the visuals right (not too many words) and the content organized appropriately for this audience. I had three main goals:

• Show the number and diversity of stakeholders in government systems — the direct users and other people affected by them (and implicitly by their usability)
• Convey an idea of the number and variety of government systems other than public websites
• Explain the challenges and the rewards for UX professionals in doing government work

Ultimately, I hoped to raise awareness of and interest in this area of UX work.

I put more time into this presentation than any I had ever given before. A large part of that was due to finding and documenting photos of UK government users and systems that were Crown Copyright and available under the Open Government Licence*. Another large component was getting the attributions right, because they had to be in the notes before I uploaded the slides to SlideShare.

It went well, I think; what amazed me was that even though I was still tweaking that morning and hadn’t had a chance to run through it aloud, it turned out to be exactly the right length. It was also well received: one person told me that my talk was the reason he had attended the conference (wow!) and he and one other said it had prompted them to order the book.

I enjoyed myself, met some very interesting people, and learned a few things.

And here is my presentation on SlideShare.

On a side note: I also found what may be a solution to my work situation — an “umbrella company” that becomes your employer. You arrange the work assignments and this company bills your clients, pays you your share, and handles your income taxes and national insurance payments. (National Insurance is like Social Security and health insurance rolled into one.) One of the guys I met said he uses consultants from this company in his business and it works well. I contacted the company and they said they have a lot of people who are here on student visas. I feel optimistic.

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*Note to UK government officials: I think I have met the OGL requirements for using the photos in my presentation. If I have erred in any way, please let me know and I will make whatever changes may be necessary.

A fairly fruitful, if long, visit to the US Embassy London

Today was the day I had set up a month or so ago for visiting the US Embassy in London (mostly the IRS office there) to ask some questions that I didn’t think I could address over the phone. I took a very fast train — Newcastle nonstop to London, 280 miles in 2.62 hours — an impressive average of about 107 mph, and I arrived at King’s Cross shortly before 10am. I knew I wouldn’t be able to take my cell phone into the embassy, and my post-visit trip to where I would be staying could be done via a single train trip from St. Pancras International, which is right across the road from King’s Cross (London has a crapload of train stations, let me tell you) — so I dutifully if regretfully tucked my phone into my bag and left said bag (locked, of course!) at King’s Cross Left Luggage (at a cost of £9!) for the duration, and I hopped on the Underground to head for the Oxford Circus station and then to walk about 2/3 mile to the embassy.

I should have taken the phone with me. Not to take it into the embassy (their website was right about that) but to leave it at a local place with the other stuff I hadn’t realized I couldn’t take either. It turned out that not only could I not take a cell phone into the embassy, I also had to ditch (temporarily) my pedometer, my bank security code generator, and a USB stick that I had forgotten was in my handbag. I had to take those to a pharmacy about a block away and pay them £3 to stash a small plastic bag with my forbidden electronics in it. So I could have given them my cell phone with the rest of the stuff and thereby kept it with me while I was going back and forth from King’s Cross. If I ever have to visit the embassy again, I’ll do that.

I finally got to enter the embassy about 11. There were a few people outside directing prospective visitors, asking them what they were there for and whether they had an appointment. They were wearing jackets that bore the CSC logo, so of course I had to engage them on that. (CSC is the US-based company for which I work on a casual/zero-hours basis.) I went through security (my bags passed this time) and told the receptionist that I had come to see the IRS, and she directed me to a door at the bottom of a short flight of stairs.

The embassy’s IRS office is small. They have three windows and room for about 8-10 visitors to sit, and you have to remember who’s next because they don’t give out numbers. When I arrived it was fairly full, but with three people working the counters the wait wasn’t as bad as it could have been; I probably waited about 20-25 minutes. When I got to the counter I found I was talking to a manager; with the more-or-less-shutdown of the government, most of the staff had been furloughed, and apparently he was filling in. He was able answer most of my questions but had to direct me to someone else for one of them, but she finally answered it and I left that office.

While speaking with the IRS, I found out that the Social Security Administration also has an office in the embassy, and since I had business with them as well I went back to reception and the lady there gave me a number. This time I had to wait about an hour. The three people in front of me were all there to apply for social security numbers; each had been born in the US but hadn’t lived there since childhood and wanted to live and work there now. The desk guy took their documents and told them what additional documentation he needed. Then he said that because of the shutdown he couldn’t tell them how long it would take to get them a number, as there was no one to process the application.

My case was a little easier. I just had to fill in a couple of forms (one of which was for a change of address) — which I could have done myself but I needed SSA’s advice on it — and once I got to the window it took only about 10 minutes. At the end, he told me that they were my local SSA office and I should feel free to come back any time I needed in-person assistance. The “office” is one window in a large room of 12 windows, and it serves the Veterans Administration as well, but it’s there and willing to provide what help it can.

I finally got back to King’s Cross and retrieved my bag about 2pm. The visit had cost me about 3.5 hours and about £16 (about $26) in storage and transportation.

A closing note: I was impressed that everyone in the IRS and SSA offices took the time required to meet the needs of those who had come for help. They had to have been frustrated because of the shutdown, but they didn’t take it out on the US citizens who had come to get their help. They were patient and friendly, and they apologized for keeping us waiting. These people reinforced my confidence in the overall population of US civil servants, and I offer them kudos and thanks.

Update on the IRS office in London

The IRS page on the US Embassy London website is now saying, “As of October 1st, 2013, due to sequestration, the office will be open for walk-ins, but with a reduced staff. Thank you for your patience.” I’m going to go tomorrow, take a couple of books, and hope for the best. Cross your fingers.

I won’t have an update until after I leave, though, because they don’t allow cell phones in the Embassy and I will have to stash mine somewhere (probably in my suitcase at Left Luggage at King’s Cross).

How the US Government Shutdown affects me

As I mentioned in my last post, the tax implications of being an American living abroad are complicated. So I figured I should get some advice from the experts — i.e., the IRS. (My accountant has a few clients who live abroad, but she says the IRS knows a lot more about this than she does.) I also have some questions for the Embassy, but the ones I have for the IRS are urgent, as my 2012 tax return is due next Tuesday. (Yes, I filed for an extension.)

Fortunately, the IRS has an office in the US Embassy in London. I have a visit planned for Thursday, in advance of a talk I’m giving at City University London on Friday. I bought a train ticket for the day before my talk, so that I could ensure I had time to visit both the IRS and the embassy.

This visit looks highly unlikely to happen. I checked the IRS London site the other day and read, “In case of sequestration, the office will be open for phone service and walk-ins, but with a reduced staff. Thank you for your patience.” So I was hoping to visit anyhow and get my questions answered, but prepared for a longer-than-usual wait time. I called their contact number a short while ago, though, selected the option to speak to a person, and let it ring for seven minutes before I gave up. Seven minutes. I think I can conclude that there’s nobody there. And there’s nobody to make even that small change to the website, to alert people that there’s nobody there. So now I am going to London a day early for no reason, taking a whole work day away from the university. Yes, I can do some work remotely, but there are decided advantages to being able to get to the university when I need to.

Worse than that, though, is that I now have to file my 2012 tax return without getting my questions answered. And of course if I miss something or make errors, I’m the one who will have to pay the penalty and interest. You may say I should have done this sooner; but that would have cost me a separate trip to London — probably about $150 even if I made it a day trip. You may say I could have done it by phone before the shutdown, but I am very skeptical that a phone call could have provided all the information and help I need.

This government shutdown — which I blame entirely on Speaker Boehner and a minority of Republicans in the House of Representatives (plus the Koch brothers, gods rot them) — is costing me time and money and is creating stress in my life.

Many other Americans are experiencing effects that are far worse than mine — they are not getting paid at all; they are not getting childcare, healthcare, housing, environmental cleanup, food safety inspection, drug safety inspection, and all the other services that we have democratically agreed that we will provide for ourselves and that have been suspended by the shutdown. But my point in writing this blog post, relatively small though the shutdown’s effect on me personally may be, is to emphasize that the impact of this travesty — and yes, it is a travesty — extends far beyond the shores of the United States. Far beyond.