Time for Australian government to wake up to mobile?

Less than a quarter of the Australian Government’s regular websites can be considered smartphone or mobile-friendly, according to a survey conducted by iTnews.

via itnews.com.au

A survey by the ITNews concludes that government Websites fail mobile access tests. Actually, lets be specific:

They surveyed 21 Australian federal Australian government, plus the mobile version of USA.gov.
They used two specific testing tools, a W3C tool based on standards developed in 2008 and another that looks like it was designed to test to baseline of phones like the Nokia 6680 (from 2005).

Personally I think this makes the test results pretty limited, but worth discussing.

(A more recent evaluation tool is Google’s Ready to Go Mo, although I’m not entirely clear what standards it is based on.)

Now, there are some very good examples of government in Australia using mobile. One example that comes to mind (because I used it the other day) is NSW’s live traffic reports site – it comes in desktop, mobile and iOS versions.

Sticking with transport, in some states it is now possible to renew your car registration electronically using a smartphone. So clearly, mobile is being actively utilised as a channel by government. Front-end Websites are just one aspect of government communication and service delivery.

Being realistic about government budget cycles and priorities, I see a couple of issues:

Firstly, the Federal government is currently focused on updating their Web channels to be WCAG 2.0 compliant. One thing I would like to highlight is that WCAG 2.0 is technology agnostic – its actually all about the end-user:

“mobile accessibility is making web content accessible to people with disabilities in the mobile context. This includes users with visual, mobility, hearing and cognitive impairments as well as older users.”

Second, the rise of mobile and demand from consumers (i.e. citizens and other stakeholders) for mobile access in all spheres of life is moving much faster than government planning and technology development cycles – see the latest Australian data from Google [PDF].

So what should government do? Be strategic about mobile:

The agencies and departments that should be thinking about this most are those that have a service delivery element or are involved in public education. The new work in the area of eHealth immediately comes to mind. In the US, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reports there that:

“Among smartphone owners, young adults, minorities, those with no college experience, and those with lower household income levels are more likely than other groups to say that their phone is their main source of internet access.”

I’m sure we would see similar patterns here. Just within my family and social circle I know lots of young adults outside of my industry that only use wireless mobile devices for Internet access a home.

Do you need an app? Do you need a mobile Website? What do mobile users need from your agency? Do your e-government applications work on mobile?

However, at all levels of government they need to start thinking about the impact of mobile. I’m worried about government sites that have just been redevelopment or are about to be redeveloped. They need to think about medium term strategies for mobile.

Also, when setting budgets, the allocation between ‘desktop’ and ‘mobile’ need to be re-evaluated. A mobile first strategy for some departments could actually be a source of savings in the long term, as they focus on content that really counts.

This is a challenge and government needs to respond. But lets look at this in a smart way. I mean, does it really matter in the short term if the mobile experience of treasury.gov.au isn’t that great?

In the much longer term, I’d like to see government move towards a completely different Web mobile. But that’s a subject for another post!

UPDATE: A great example from the National Library of Australia, who have adopted a proactive strategy – they say in their introduction:

Where opportunity exists, conceptual leaders stand ready and eager to innovate. The mobile web provides superb food for innovation, as evidenced by the immersive Ludwig II app by the Bavarian State Library, which includes augmented reality features like 3D pattern recognition so that historical digital objects appear on the mobile screen, triggered by the physical location of the user.

It’s also demonstrated by NASA, who created a mobile portal to learning about space through their latest images from space, video, news and social media activity. The Eyewitness app acts as a showcase for the best photography featured in the Observer and the Guardian. It showcases the 100 most recent and topical images and includes ‘pro tips’ from the photographers. And it’s seen in Biblion, the New York Public Library scholarly journal reborn as a “multi-linear immersive experience” for the iPad. The inaugural edition (2011) delivers manuscript material, images, films, audio, and essays on the 1940 New York World’s Fair.

Importantly, the achievements of these institutions have been realised against a backdrop of economic hardship and a substantial reduction in funding for cultural and research institutions around the world.

Hat tip to Craig.

UPDATE #2: iTnews reports on AGIMO’s response at a recent Senate estimates hearing, that mobile is something they are looking at but its not a priority. This issue of accessibility was raised, reflecting somewhat my comments above.

I also discovered that DFAT’s Smartraveller site has a mobile optimised version, which is a good example of targeting a specific need. DFAT previously scored a ‘bad’ rating in iTnews’ survey of federal sites. When I ran the mobile version of Smartraveller through the same tests, it performed badly too, which really makes me question the original iTnews piece again. It rated much better on Google’s test (4 out of 5 as a publisher).

Technology Adoption Rates – From Electricity to Tablets compared

via technologyreview.com

There is definitely something happening, as mobile computing technology adoption is getting faster and faster:

Smart phones are on track to halve that rate yet again, and tablets could move still faster, setting consecutive records for speed to market saturation in the United States.

BBC’s Model of Participation Choice for Social Media

via bbc.co.uk

BBC research shows that 77% of the UK’s online population is now actively participating in some way. We have been aware for some time that the 1-9-90 percent rule (or 1% rule) of interaction is too simplistic and this research adds more insight in understanding this dynamic. The BBC’s model of Participation Choice identifies four key forms: passive, easy reaction, easy initiation and intense participation.

Nicholas Carr: Flame and filament

Cleaner, safer, and even more efficient than the flame it replaced, the light bulb was welcomed into homes and offices around the world. But along with its many practical benefits, electric light also brought subtle and unexpected changes to the way people lived. The fireplace, the candle, and the oil lamp had always been the focal point of households. Fire was, as Schivelbusch puts it, “the soul of the house.” Families would in the evening gather in a central room, drawn by the flickering flame, to chat about the day’s events or otherwise pass the time together. Electric light, together with central heat, dissolved that long tradition. Family members began to spend more time in different rooms in the evening, studying or reading or working alone. Each person gained more privacy, and a greater sense of autonomy, but the cohesion of the family weakened.

via roughtype.com

Yes, even apparently small technology innovations can have a massive impact on society.

The Rise of the 3rd Generation Organisation

The impact of the physical workplace on how we organise is a fascinating topic. For example the transformation of factories thanks to electricity and electric light changed how they operated. Modern offices, in the shape of skyscrapers, are an example of another development that has also affected how we manage. However, both the modernisation of factories and the creation of the modern office primarily depended on overcoming physical constraints to create physical structures. This in turn helped to define structures for work that we became familiar with in the developed world during the last century (lets call them 2nd Generation Organisations).

As the digital era continues, my impression is that intangible features are playing a greater role in defining the workplace environment and creating what I would call 3rd Generation Organisations. One trend that is starting to show what a 3rd Generation Organisation looks like is the shift towards Activity Based Workplaces (ABW):

As the name suggests the work space is organized by spaces designed to support specific activities… This loosely structured physical workplace is supported by work practices that facilitate it.

Note the relationship between space design and how work happens – this is more than simply creating a pleasant office space to work in and shouldn’t be confused with hot desking or hoteling either. I recently had the opportunity to see Commonwealth Bank’s Activity Based Workplace, built out on the edge of Sydney CBD. Its interesting to see how in practice IT plays a defining rather than supporting role in making their Activity Based Workplace possible. In fact, urban planning consultants Urbis advise that:

During the 1990s, wi-fi didn’t exist, so flexibility was limited. Now, a successful [Activity Based] workplace must consider the IT environment to deliver productivity gains. ABW is fundamentally linked to technology and any ABW project will require significant investment in IT as well as the fitout.

The benefits of ABW appear to be a combination of soft and hard benefits:

Employee engagement (better collaboration and productivity).
Savings from more efficient use of space, less use of paper and lower building running costs.

Of course implementing an ABW is no easy task for a large organisation – it requires capital and motivation to make the change. Yet at the small end of town co-working spaces are becoming popular too, like Hub Melbourne. Just like their larger enterprise counterparts they are also enabled by access to mobile, social, Web-based and cloud information technologies.

It is easy to doubt the transformational impact of information technology in the workplace – including social software – but equally we shouldn’t ignore the symbiotic relationship to the physical workspace. It is the combination of the two that will actualy create a deeper systemic change to how we organise and will allow 3rd Generation Organisations to emerge.

Rimino: A concept for an attractive, invisible and more integrated mobile experience

“The mobile experience we have today is basically designed for tech-savvy businessmen,” says designer Amid Moradganjeh. This is a mistake, he thinks. There is another group of people out there, a bigger group. They have an “average digital life,” meaning that they don’t have to process hundreds of emails a day while running from meeting to meeting. While many of them do have a rich digital existence on the desktop, they see little need to stay fully connected when they go outside. One explanation for this is that smartphones simply haven’t become cheap enough and that, inevitably, we’ll all come to own one. Moradganjeh wonders if for many people an iPhone/Android smartphone is too complicated and too much power. For his thesis project, he engaged in a program of research and speculative design which resulted in Rimino, “an attractive, invisible and more integrated experience.”

Rimino – A Human Touch on Mobile Experience from Amid Moradganjeh on Vimeo.

via fastcodesign.com

The Rimino concept might not be exactly right, but shows why thinking about user experience design from the perspective of different users is so powerful.

The impact of Android in Australia on companies developing mobile apps

James Dellow, a senior consultant with social business advisory firm Headshift, said local companies and consumers were more focused on Apple than in other markets such as Europe and the United States because Australia was still a little behind the mobile adoption wave.

“In some respects it’s also more straightforward to put your apps on the iPhone platform because there are a lot more choices with Android,” he said. “Apple has a closed system whereas Android is a bit messier.”

Despite this, Mr Dellow said Android usage among Australian consumers had grown during the past year and predicted it would continue to become more popular. This meant companies were being forced to revisit mobile strategies.

“The big challenge in a smaller market is that companies are nervous about having to support multiple apps,” Mr Dellow said.

via afr.com

I was quoted in the Australian Financial Review this week, discussing the adoption of Android in Australia and its impact on those developing apps for smartphones and tablets.

A Day Made of Glass 2

via youtube.com

Corning have updated their “A Day Made of Glass” video – you can watch the original here (you might also remember Microsoft’s Productivity Future Vision video).

There is more background information here and an “unpacked” version of the new video.

James Dellow's Blog Archive

Tag Archives: technology and society