Just before leaving I was invited to attend the Asia FutureGov Conference. At this conference I was asked to give a keynote speech and participate on a panel about Cloud Computing.
I flew out from Perth at 4:25pm heading to Kuala Lumpur straight off the plane and to the next plane to Colombo. On the timetable it showed that I would only be 55 minuets to Colombo but quest what there is a 2:30 hrs difference as well so it was a 3:40hr flight I arrived at the Colombo Airport through customs and found the person who then drove me to the hotel, Cinnamon Grand Colombo. I arrived at the hotel at 1am to my room by 1:30am.
The day started at 6:30am after show and dress I headed for the restaurant for breakfast. I caught up with Richard and talked about my presentation and when the event starts, which was 8:50 so back to the room clean teeth and grab my tablet computer.
To be continued ....
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Day 62 - Interviews with Dr Leong Mun Kew and Dr Mahendran Maliapen
Day 62 - Wednesday / Daisy 2 days to go
Today I have an interview with Dr Leong Mun Kew who is the Deputy Director, Institute of Systems Science, National University of Singapore and Dr Mahendran Maliapen, Director, Academic Informatics Officer and Associate Professor (Adj), School of Public Health and School of Computing, National University of Singapore.
I meet with Dr Leong Mun Kew at the in the SkyGarden at a Japanese restaurant. Within a few minutes we hit it off and were discussing everything and a myriad of topics on technology, to Enterprise Architecture and the challenges and tribulations within government and government institutions. Many of our experiences were very similar and it was interesting to discuss many of these topics with a kindred spirit. We had many similar ideas and approaches in the way we both had worked and addressed issues within our own respective jobs and career.
I was fascinated in a lot of the research that Dr Leong Mun Kew had done in the area of hand writing recognition and voice recognition. Some very interesting and funny anecdotes he recounted, especially with working on a certain project and at the crunch point finding out one point that was not considered. Many lessons learn't especially in the area of usability and testing for all eventualities. Dr Leong Mun Kew then dropped me off at the National University Health Systems building where I then meet Dr Mahendran Maliapen who is the Director, Academic Information Officer and Associate Professor (Adj), School of Public Health and School of Computing.
I was shown through a number of systems which had been designed to be delivered on mobile devices and the work that he had done to secure the devices and how he had addressed the responsibility of managing the data in the control of the user. The biggest issue with mobile applications especially with the data is who is responsible for the security of the data. Many times this falls back onto the organisations and where there is a breach it the organisation that is left to manage the fall out. In the model that Dr Mahendran had developed they saw it as a service that people wanted but that if they wanted the convenience then they had to take on the responsibility of managing the data. Before anyone can access the data they have to agree to a number of terms but especially the responsibility of the device and data where their's personally. After a few minuteness of though I understood how powerful this was. It gave the practitioners the flexibility but also the responsibility of the management and access to the data and the device. If in the situation a device was lost they were responsible to notify IT of that loss within 24 hrs.
The next couple of days was relaxing with my wife before heading home to Perth. Our son Thomas then meet us at the airport and took us home. This is the end of the blogging for this trip but after two days I then headed off on another trip for the FutureGov Conference.
Today I have an interview with Dr Leong Mun Kew who is the Deputy Director, Institute of Systems Science, National University of Singapore and Dr Mahendran Maliapen, Director, Academic Informatics Officer and Associate Professor (Adj), School of Public Health and School of Computing, National University of Singapore.
I meet with Dr Leong Mun Kew at the in the SkyGarden at a Japanese restaurant. Within a few minutes we hit it off and were discussing everything and a myriad of topics on technology, to Enterprise Architecture and the challenges and tribulations within government and government institutions. Many of our experiences were very similar and it was interesting to discuss many of these topics with a kindred spirit. We had many similar ideas and approaches in the way we both had worked and addressed issues within our own respective jobs and career.
I was fascinated in a lot of the research that Dr Leong Mun Kew had done in the area of hand writing recognition and voice recognition. Some very interesting and funny anecdotes he recounted, especially with working on a certain project and at the crunch point finding out one point that was not considered. Many lessons learn't especially in the area of usability and testing for all eventualities. Dr Leong Mun Kew then dropped me off at the National University Health Systems building where I then meet Dr Mahendran Maliapen who is the Director, Academic Information Officer and Associate Professor (Adj), School of Public Health and School of Computing.
I was shown through a number of systems which had been designed to be delivered on mobile devices and the work that he had done to secure the devices and how he had addressed the responsibility of managing the data in the control of the user. The biggest issue with mobile applications especially with the data is who is responsible for the security of the data. Many times this falls back onto the organisations and where there is a breach it the organisation that is left to manage the fall out. In the model that Dr Mahendran had developed they saw it as a service that people wanted but that if they wanted the convenience then they had to take on the responsibility of managing the data. Before anyone can access the data they have to agree to a number of terms but especially the responsibility of the device and data where their's personally. After a few minuteness of though I understood how powerful this was. It gave the practitioners the flexibility but also the responsibility of the management and access to the data and the device. If in the situation a device was lost they were responsible to notify IT of that loss within 24 hrs.
The next couple of days was relaxing with my wife before heading home to Perth. Our son Thomas then meet us at the airport and took us home. This is the end of the blogging for this trip but after two days I then headed off on another trip for the FutureGov Conference.
Friday, July 06, 2012
Day 57/58/59/60/61 - Heading to Singapore and meeting up with Frances
Day 57 - Friday / Daisy 7 days to go
Arrived at the Vienna Airport waiting to travel to London. While sitting here in the lounge looking out the window it just started to pour. Looks like the rain did follow but at least its at the end and not the start. First part of the trip is to London and then catch the flight to Singapore. I will update further after arriving in Singapore and have chilled a little.
Day 58, 59, 60, 61 - Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
Sight Seeing
Arrived in Singapore and meet my wife Frances at the Airport. We have been spending some time together and relaxing. I have had my appointment cancelled in Singapore, luckily I have a contact at FutureGov, Richard Pain. Richard has been able to find me a number of contacts which have proven to be quite fruitful. I meet up with two of them tomorrow.
Arrived at the Vienna Airport waiting to travel to London. While sitting here in the lounge looking out the window it just started to pour. Looks like the rain did follow but at least its at the end and not the start. First part of the trip is to London and then catch the flight to Singapore. I will update further after arriving in Singapore and have chilled a little.
Day 58, 59, 60, 61 - Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
Sight Seeing
Arrived in Singapore and meet my wife Frances at the Airport. We have been spending some time together and relaxing. I have had my appointment cancelled in Singapore, luckily I have a contact at FutureGov, Richard Pain. Richard has been able to find me a number of contacts which have proven to be quite fruitful. I meet up with two of them tomorrow.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Day 56 - Last Full Day in Vienna
Day 56 - Thursday / Daisy 8 Days to go
Today is time to re-pack my case for the last leg of my trip. I head off to Singapore on Friday. Once my bags are ready I will look to do one more visit into the city. But before I head in I have to put some materials together for my Key Note that I am giving on the 18th July in Sri Lanka. I am giving a spech on Mobile Security.
To be continued.....
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Day 55 - CURE / USECON
Day 55 - Wednesday / Daisy only 9 days to go
Today was a late start at CURE due to last night I was invited to a meeting which finished about 9:45pm, but then continued 3:30am, boy was that an interesting night. The dinner was to fair well a number of members of the lodge as they were heading off to new locations. Quite a number of the members are diplomats for different countries. The meeting was interesting as it was held in French, I did not understand but I new the work so could identify sections of the evening.
I arrived at CURE around 10:30am attended to some emails then had a discussion with Dr Ernst Kruijff. We discussed some of my findings and questions that had been raised over the last day or so. These were of interest with respect to how I address what I am doing. The question that was raised in my presentation yesterday was "During my travels where did I see UX and the understanding in organisations?" What I believe was that we are at the verge of a tipping point or in fact just over that tipping point. This I strongly believe in no small part to what Steve Jobs has done with the Apple products. Not to claim that they have the only technology that addresses this issue but the fact that he has raised the profile of user experience. Its pervasive entry into the market has given people a taste of what can be done with you have good design and experience together. It has raised the questions with people so why can't we do this with all our technology. Lots of people are trying to shoe-horn the Apple solution to fix all but its more that we should understand the fundamentals of what it is that Steve Jobs and Apple have achieved.
Looking at the outcomes that are wanting to be achieved and understanding how to approach the issue from a different perspective, as Steve would say Think Different. Yes, Apple has a big lead but I believe that the work of Google and Microsoft over the last couple of years are starting to level the playing field. Other companies, manufactures are also looking at how we interact with physical products and addressing design and function at that level. So yes we I believe are just starting to cross the tipping point and things are starting to take on what was professed in the past that this technology is there to help and make life easier.
We are not their yet but we are starting. My trip here to Vienna and my time with CURE and USECON has been of great value to the questions that were raised and the perspectives. As they say the more we learn the less we know, so I have to keep reminding myself to keep focused.
A couple of other good questions were what is Usability or User Experience (UX). There are many interpretations of this science. The other is how do you quantify UX, unless you understand what it is trying to define a measure is also difficult. More areas of research. :)
The other areas is understanding approaches in how to approach a piece of work and derive the value proposition for the business to engage in this type of work. As I started off with the four perspectives I believe it is an alignment of those perspectives which will give the answer to these questions. Better understanding of business and their outcomes and then communicating the message of the value to business with out the jargon is the main part.
So to Dr Enrst Kruijff and his team thank you for your time and having this opportunity to discuss my research.
Today was a late start at CURE due to last night I was invited to a meeting which finished about 9:45pm, but then continued 3:30am, boy was that an interesting night. The dinner was to fair well a number of members of the lodge as they were heading off to new locations. Quite a number of the members are diplomats for different countries. The meeting was interesting as it was held in French, I did not understand but I new the work so could identify sections of the evening.
I arrived at CURE around 10:30am attended to some emails then had a discussion with Dr Ernst Kruijff. We discussed some of my findings and questions that had been raised over the last day or so. These were of interest with respect to how I address what I am doing. The question that was raised in my presentation yesterday was "During my travels where did I see UX and the understanding in organisations?" What I believe was that we are at the verge of a tipping point or in fact just over that tipping point. This I strongly believe in no small part to what Steve Jobs has done with the Apple products. Not to claim that they have the only technology that addresses this issue but the fact that he has raised the profile of user experience. Its pervasive entry into the market has given people a taste of what can be done with you have good design and experience together. It has raised the questions with people so why can't we do this with all our technology. Lots of people are trying to shoe-horn the Apple solution to fix all but its more that we should understand the fundamentals of what it is that Steve Jobs and Apple have achieved.
Looking at the outcomes that are wanting to be achieved and understanding how to approach the issue from a different perspective, as Steve would say Think Different. Yes, Apple has a big lead but I believe that the work of Google and Microsoft over the last couple of years are starting to level the playing field. Other companies, manufactures are also looking at how we interact with physical products and addressing design and function at that level. So yes we I believe are just starting to cross the tipping point and things are starting to take on what was professed in the past that this technology is there to help and make life easier.
We are not their yet but we are starting. My trip here to Vienna and my time with CURE and USECON has been of great value to the questions that were raised and the perspectives. As they say the more we learn the less we know, so I have to keep reminding myself to keep focused.
A couple of other good questions were what is Usability or User Experience (UX). There are many interpretations of this science. The other is how do you quantify UX, unless you understand what it is trying to define a measure is also difficult. More areas of research. :)
The other areas is understanding approaches in how to approach a piece of work and derive the value proposition for the business to engage in this type of work. As I started off with the four perspectives I believe it is an alignment of those perspectives which will give the answer to these questions. Better understanding of business and their outcomes and then communicating the message of the value to business with out the jargon is the main part.
So to Dr Enrst Kruijff and his team thank you for your time and having this opportunity to discuss my research.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Day 54 - CURE / USECON
Day 54 - Tuesday / Daisy only 10 days to go
Today I get to meet more of the team and to hear from then of what and how they do their work. I also get to present what I have been doing and some of the things I have gleamed in my trip so far.Yesterday I borrowed a book from the CURE library to read on Usability. The book "Selling Usability" highlighted for me that one of the perspectives that I am applying to my research is correct in that there need to be an alignment between the practitioners of usability and business. Business gets caught in the traps of the past in many respects as that if they don't understand a topic they pass it on to others or are not buying in to the topic, no matter the savings. That is because the practitioners of this topic rarely have the knowledge of business to communicate on the terms of business.
In the book they gave a great example which outlines two ways to communicate the message needed to get the job done. One is the way of a usability focused person:
Techie Talk
"A recent usability test indicated that 17% of users do not understand how to enter the discount code. Furthermore, they indicated that the entry field is too short and should be larger. We are confident that the results are statistically significant given the sample size and experimental design"Business Talk
"We know that customers can't figure out how to enter discount codes on our web site. I reviewed this with our sales team; we're losing about $24k per month. They also indicated that we're at risk of losing 10% of our customers permanently. I spoke with the design team and we can fix this problem for $80k. "
Selling Usability - John S. Rhodes - WebWord.com
The second conversation did not speak about user experience as per the UX jargon. It talked about loss, risk and a fix. It has indicated that the ROI would be relatively short with a longer term benefit which the business can understand and realise within 3-5 months.
The important part is the understanding that these topics and expertise needs to be shown to a business in such a way to show the business the value proposition. In doing this business can see and realise the loss and risk and understand the cost and ROI of the proposed solution. It a better understanding of how that response is given which will further this topic.
During my time today I had three meetings. First up was a team meeting with the CURE and USECON team members. I presented what, why and how I was doing my research as well as some of the findings that I felt I had learn't to date. After that presentation it was open to questions and I got some really get questions.
"Where do I feel the adoption of UX is with other organisations and companies?" was one, but the question that I felt was more interesting was after a presentation of one of the team members on her methodology in assessment of usability was "What is usability or user experience?" this created some discussion as there are many definitions. It raised a further question unless you know what it is you are assessing then how do you measure it. How do you quantify usability and or user experience. There was some discussion and some views but I could see that this is quite a large question and has given me some more food for thought and further research to carry out.
Following that meeting we went to lunch and on our return I then has a meeting with two members of the team and we discussed a number of different things from what I had been working on and what they were doing at CURE. After this meeting I then meet with Michael Bechinie Senior Consultant / Team Lead and Peter Strassl Senior Consultant. In our discussion we covered many and varied topics but the interesting one was our discussion on methodology of approach to work in UX.
Day 53 - Visit to Cure
Day 53 - Monday / Daisy 11 Days to go
I arrived at CURE just past 2pm and fortunatley was let into the building and caught the life to level 1. Arriving at the reception area where I was meet by Dr. Ernst Kruijff a Research Coordinator at CURE. We headed to the kitchen so I could get a drink of water and sat down to discuss my research. Initially I discussed what and how I had been going about my research and then Dr Kruijff then outlined what and who CURE and USECON are and what services they provide.
CURE being more in the research area providing Services, Laboratories, Usability and Project work (International, National, Publications and Project Partners).
USECON more as a consultancy service in the area of usability, user experience (UX) and user interface design. Their work centred around the users the way they interact with applications, software, websites or systems. Working closely with the end user and aligning their expectations with the outcomes of the application, software or systems. This is carried out in close association with their research are CURE.
Tomorrow I will be giving a small presentation on what and why and am doing my research and the gems and items of interest that I have found to date with my research so far. Then open for questions and further learning.
Today started off quitly other than having breakfast at the bakery and then heading off to get a hair cut. I was going to wait until I return but I could not wait any longer. Now even with the heat I feel a little cooler. :)
I headed off to visit CURE and so left with an hour to spare. I had three small train trips then walk a block to their facility. The only problem was when I got to the location I realised I had forgot to sync my Evernotes to my phone. This is an application I use to keep notes on my different devices. Then remembering I had my slate I then proceeded to start that up, then as it was booting I realised I had entered it onto the website. So the next task was to find free wifi, McDonalds. After buying a frappy icecream they informed me that it was not working. :) Then pointed me to a terminal on the wall. Finally I just found the CURE website found the map to their location and I was away. Lesson learnt, confirm details before leaving the building. :)
CURE being more in the research area providing Services, Laboratories, Usability and Project work (International, National, Publications and Project Partners).
USECON more as a consultancy service in the area of usability, user experience (UX) and user interface design. Their work centred around the users the way they interact with applications, software, websites or systems. Working closely with the end user and aligning their expectations with the outcomes of the application, software or systems. This is carried out in close association with their research are CURE.
Tomorrow I will be giving a small presentation on what and why and am doing my research and the gems and items of interest that I have found to date with my research so far. Then open for questions and further learning.
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