As part of setting up any website there are a number of policies, laws strategies etc… that we need to follow. The key ones are detailed below. In the coming weeks a series of posts will outline what is involved in any new Digital initiative.
Usability Findings Report – August 2012
Findings report – August 2012
In August 2012 we produced a report to share our findings with partner agencies. This was to show them common issues and also set a baseline for acceptable usability.
At the same time we also collated observations from Neilson’s usability week lectures that several staff members attended.
Procurement time for a new Analytics package
Well 4 quick years have passed and it is again time to procure a wed/digital analytics package. We need an analytics package to measure all our online stuff, in order to be able to manage it. Otherwise we are just guessing.
Continue reading “Procurement time for a new Analytics package”
The problem with pixels …
You see, Apple’s newest tablet, the iPad Mini, creates a vexing situation: Its
device-width
viewport tag defaults to the same values as Apple’s original iPad (768×1024 pixels), even though the Mini’s screen is physically 40 percent smaller. That means every button, graphic, link, and line of text on a web page on the iPad Mini appears tiny—even when we try to do the right thing and build flexible, multi-device experiences.
Loan me your phone. I am off to China.
The question?
What would your response be if a colleague told you, they were going to China for a week on business, and then asked for a loan of your phone.
For me it would fall into 2 camps:
- Camp 1: If it was my phone I might suggest, (strenuously), that they seek a phone elsewhere
- Camp2: If it was a work phone I would suck my teeth for a bit, take out the “strenuously” and still suggest that they look elsewhere for a phone.
Why the unkind response?
The simple reason for this rather unkind response is that most of us eat sleep and breath our phones. They have become integral to most of our daily activities and they also store a lot of personal data on them. I would probably loan you my car rather than hand over my phone.
Mindmap Packages
I have probably used north of 20 mindmap packages across various operating systems in recent years. They all have their strengths and weaknesses and none are perfect.
My ultimate choice was to use Mindomo. It does everything I need it to and works well across all platforms that I use.
Here is why I chose it:
My choice for the ipad filtered down to 3 packages
- MindJet
- iMindMap by Tony Buzan
- Mindomo
Mindjet (Mindmanager now branded just as Mindjet)
iMindMap by Tony Buzan
Visually rich
Uses colour well
The mindmaps can sometimes look too tactile and do not plug into formal documents well.
Mindomo
Online version is fast
Ipad version is fast
Works offline on Ipad
Syncs with cloud version easily
It lacks some features of the others and can be a little bossy about layout but none of these are large issues at all.
Forms Forms Forms
The next challenge is to get form based data capture up and running for the all staff event on Wednesday next week. It is currently Saturday. No pressure then.
I have looked at lots of form applications but most of them seem overly involved and want to tie you into server based subscriptions. Continue reading “Forms Forms Forms”
Opening the box – on new Ipad
The long wait begins whilst the IPad charges for the first time.
I set up a new iTunes account using work email address. This needs a credit card to complete. Using personal one at present. Now to load up basic apps for adding business functionality.
- Dropbox and Google Drive for file sharing. (Google Drive is also an entry point to Google Docs which gives a good spreadsheet and word processor amongst other tools)
- Evernote for note taking and bookmarking useful websites.
- Adobe Reader for PDF files.
- Flipboard for research and Media awareness.
- Pocket for clipping websites to read later.
- Grafio Lite (To explore graphing flowcharts etc)
- Skype, Vibr, Teamviewer, Webex, Logmein & GoToMeeting for Online Conferencing and messenging
- National Rail and Easyjet apps for travel.
- Bump for sharing Business Cards/Contacts
- Scan, DocScan HD & ScanBiz lite for QR and Business card scanning.
- Mindjet & Mindomo for MindMapping
- YouTube and all the various TV apps for media access
- Print Agent as Text Editor
- Roambi (To investigate rich presentations built from PDF’s).
- AudioMemo and Quick Voice for voice recording.
- Print Agent (to explore WiFi printing)