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A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Session description

Web Usability is far more complex than user testing and interaction design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface.

We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.

About Lisa Herrod

Lisa Herrod PortraitLisa Herrod is the Principal Usability Consultant at Scenario Seven. The primary focus of her work is web usability, which she believes incorporates much more than just user testing. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, Lisa takes an holistic approach to web usability incorporating user research, accessibility, interaction design and web standards development.

Having started in the web during the last century, Lisa is occasionally caught making jokes about font tags, layout tables and shims. Nobody ever laughs.

" ["post_title"]=> string(44) "Lisa Herrod - Usability: more than skin deep" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(834) "

A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Lisa Herrod PortraitWeb Usability is far more complex than user testing and interaction design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface.

We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.

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A presentation given at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Presentation slides

Session description

Government has huge amounts of information but how can this be effectively managed and delivered through the web? This session will ‘lift the lid’ on web mapping technology and identify some of the key issues that must be addressed to achieve a successful outcome.

The NSW government SIX Viewer web mapping portal will be used as a case study to demonstrate how terabytes of data can be integrated and delivered via the Internet.

About David Hayward

David Hayward PortraitDavid is the national lead for spatial (location based) solutions for the consulting group Ajilon Australia. He has over 15 years experience with spatial technology working extensively within Government and the mining industry. Focussed on leveraging the web to support the integration of spatial information within mainstream IT, he has led the development of a number of high profile web mapping sites including the NSW government SIX Viewer web mapping portal.

David believes that the increasing demand and awareness of the benefits of locational information will result in spatial technology becoming ubiquitous within IT.

" ["post_title"]=> string(23) "David Hayward - Mapping" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(723) "

A presentation given at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

David Hayward PortraitGovernment has huge amounts of information but how can this be effectively managed and delivered through the web? This session will ‘lift the lid’ on web mapping technology and identify some of the key issues that must be addressed to achieve a successful outcome.

The NSW government SIX Viewer web mapping portal will be used as a case study to demonstrate how terabytes of data can be integrated and delivered via the Internet.

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A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Presentation slides

Session description

Those initial stages of converting your company to web standards are much like trying to score that first kiss with the princess. You seduce them with the business benefits of web-standards development, and the rest of the arguments we have all read, written, and preached to anyone who will listen. But getting corporate web standards in place is just a sign that the real relationship is about to begin. The honeymoon is over, and now it’s time to figure out what has gone wrong and why the prince and princess now seem to be constantly bickering—when they were meant to live happily ever after.

Scott draws on his experiences leading the development of eight large media web sites for News Digital Media to examine the ideals of web standards and how they translate within a large organisation. Learn how to make web standards work for you, when rules must be broken and how to deliver a final product that meets deadlines and still keeps project teams happy.

About Scott Gledhill

Scott Gledhill PortraitScott has had over 6 years experience developing websites in large corporate environments. Most recently, his role was Web Technology Strategist at News Digital Media (NDM) in Sydney, involving the strategy and education of best practice web development across the company.

He has lead several major redesigns of NDM websites, converting them from legacy table based layouts to standards compliant, accessible and search engine friendly websites. In a company of over 500 employees this can incorporate its share of challenges and rewards.Scott's current role is co-founder of molt:n digital, a Sydney based web consultancy. In his spare time he finds time to blog about SEO, accessibility and all things web standards on his website, standardzilla.com.
" ["post_title"]=> string(41) "Scott Gledhill - Real world web standards" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1243) "

A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Scott Gledhill PortraitThose initial stages of converting your company to web standards are much like trying to score that first kiss with the princess. You seduce them with the business benefits of web-standards development, and the rest of the arguments we have all read, written, and preached to anyone who will listen. But getting corporate web standards in place is just a sign that the real relationship is about to begin. The honeymoon is over, and now it’s time to figure out what has gone wrong and why the prince and princess now seem to be constantly bickering—when they were meant to live happily ever after.

Scott draws on his experiences leading the development of eight large media web sites for News Digital Media to examine the ideals of web standards and how they translate within a large organisation. Learn how to make web standards work for you, when rules must be broken and how to deliver a final product that meets deadlines and still keeps project teams happy.

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A presentation given at at Web Directions User Experience, Melbourne Town Hall, May 16 2008, and Web Direction Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Presentation slides

Session description

Most great web applications have a few key things in common. But can you name them? Better yet — can you achieve them consistently in your own projects?

In this closing keynote, Robert Hoekman, Jr., author of the Amazon bestseller Designing the Obvious (New Riders) describes the seven qualities of great web-based software and how to achieve each and every one of them by learning to communicate through design. See why it's important to build only what's absolutely essential, apply instructive design, create error-proof interactions, surface commonly-used features, and more in this informative session that will change the way you work and enable your users to walk away from your software feeling productive, respected, and smart.

About Robert Hoekman

Robert Hoekman, Jr PortraitRobert Hoekman, Jr., is the founder of Miskeeto, a product development and web design consultancy focused on socially-conscious projects that improve the world.

He's a passionate and outspoken interaction designer, writer, and user-experience evangelist who has written dozens of articles and has worked with Adobe, Automattic, United Airlines, DoTheRightThing.com, Go Daddy Software, and countless others to create superior user experiences for a wide range of audiences. He also gives in-house training sessions and speaks regularly at industry events like Adobe MAX, Flashforward, SxSW, Future of Web Design, and others.

Robert is the author of the Amazon bestseller Designing the Obvious, which focuses on seven guiding principles of great web-based software and how to leverage them in any real-world project. Learn more about Robert through his blog at rhjr.net.

" ["post_title"]=> string(68) "Robert Hoekman Jr - The essential elements of great web applications" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1067) "

A presentation given at at Web Directions User Experience, Melbourne Town Hall, May 16 2008, and Web Direction Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Robert Hoekman, Jr PortraitMost great web applications have a few key things in common. But can you name them? Better yet — can you achieve them consistently in your own projects?

In this closing keynote, Robert Hoekman, Jr., author of the Amazon bestseller Designing the Obvious (New Riders) describes the seven qualities of great web-based software and how to achieve each and every one of them by learning to communicate through design. See why it's important to build only what's absolutely essential, apply instructive design, create error-proof interactions, surface commonly-used features, and more in this informative session that will change the way you work and enable your users to walk away from your software feeling productive, respected, and smart.

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A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Presentation slides

Session description

This session will look at the government collaborative tool Govdex, how it is currently used by agencies, what it provides, and how you can use it for your projects. GovDex is a resource developed by the Department of Finance and Deregulation to facilitate business process collaboration across policy portfolios and jurisdictions.

GovDex, managed by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) in the Department of Finance & Deregulation, promotes effective and efficient information sharing, which is core to achieving collaboration. It provides governance, tools, methods and re-usable technical components that agencies can use to assemble and deploy information services on their different technology platforms. GovDex is a key enabler to a whole of government approach to IT service development and deployment.

About Ralph Douglas

Ralph Douglas PortraitRalph Douglas manages GovDex on behalf of AGIMO and previously worked as a Policy/Budget Analyst within the Budget Group at the Department of Finance and Deregulation. He has developed website content for several Australian government department websites, and has a background in the IT recruitment sector and Finance/IT publishing industry in Sydney and Canberra.

" ["post_title"]=> string(68) "Ralph Douglas - GovDex: Collaborating online in a secure environment" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1149) "

A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Ralph Douglas PortraitThis session will look at the government collaborative tool Govdex, how it is currently used by agencies, what it provides, and how you can use it for your projects. GovDex is a resource developed by the Department of Finance and Deregulation to facilitate business process collaboration across policy portfolios and jurisdictions.

GovDex, managed by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) in the Department of Finance & Deregulation, promotes effective and efficient information sharing, which is core to achieving collaboration. It provides governance, tools, methods and re-usable technical components that agencies can use to assemble and deploy information services on their different technology platforms. GovDex is a key enabler to a whole of government approach to IT service development and deployment.

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A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Session description

Whoever you are, if you're writing JavaScript, there's some aspect of your development that you would love to change if you had the chance. But the reality is you'll never find yourself working in this ideal environment: dealing with legacy browsers, platforms and content management systems will be your constant as a developer. Patrick Lee is going to show you some tools and techniques that will help you make your peace with this fact.

This session will explore how you can find ways to do the cool stuff you really want to do with JavaScript whilst working in the real world. And you won't even have to sell your soul in the process.

About Patrick Lee

Patrick Lee PortraitPatrick was involved with entrepreneurial web pursuits before joining News Digital Media in what now seems like the distant past. When tasked with deciding his job title he jokingly suggested JavaScript Ninja. The title stuck and that's now what the business cards say.

Patrick spent some time being an engineer when he really wanted to be a philosopher. Somehow the little scripting language with a soul, that we all misunderstood, is a happy medium.

" ["post_title"]=> string(67) "Patrick Lee - One paper clip, a box of matches, and some JavaScript" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(891) "

A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Patrick Lee PortraitWhoever you are, if you're writing JavaScript, there's some aspect of your development that you would love to change if you had the chance. But the reality is you'll never find yourself working in this ideal environment: dealing with legacy browsers, platforms and content management systems will be your constant as a developer. Patrick Lee is going to show you some tools and techniques that will help you make your peace with this fact.

This session will explore how you can find ways to do the cool stuff you really want to do with JavaScript whilst working in the real world. And you won't even have to sell your soul in the process.

" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(11) "patrick-lee" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2008-07-21 01:29:41" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2008-07-21 06:29:41" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(57) "http://westciv.com/webdirections08/resources/patrick-lee/" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [6]=> object(stdClass)#122 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(386) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2008-03-10 23:06:07" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2008-03-11 04:06:07" ["post_content"]=> string(3899) "

A presentation given at Web Directions User Experience, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Presentation slides

Session description

The world is abuzz with social computing: Facebook, My Space, YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, blogs, wikis and other spaces powered by Web 2.0 technology. It’s a social revolution, empowering individuals to communicate, share what they know online, and help others locate information that is important to them in both their private and working lives.

Some see all this as a big waste of corporate time, but is it? Is there value in handing over control of collaboration and sharing knowledge to individuals, rather than hoarding it in records systems, knowledge systems, and thousands of network dive folders? Is there a way you can harness this social revolution to help improve our organisation’s knowledge management practices? Is there actually a solid business value proposition for social computing?

Matthew will look at knowledge management in modern organisations, and how you can benefit by learning from the principles of social computing and Web 2.0 technologies. Matthew will introduce two case studies in government that demonstrate successful and not-so-successful ways of employing social computing tools, the factors that contributed to their success, and the pitfalls to watch out for. In particular, he will look at the issues in relation to corporate culture by drawing on recent research in blogs and wikis based on work in organisational psychology by Hofstede.

About Matthew Hodgson

Matthew Hodgson PortraitMatthew Hodgson is regional lead for Web and Information Management at SMS Management & Technology in Canberra. He has over 10 years experience in e-business strategy, information architecture, information management and knowledge management, working with the government and commercial sector to deliver innovative solutions to difficult web problems. Matthew has published papers in the areas of social psychology, has lectured at the University of Canberra on social computing, and is passionate about the way in which technology can positively impact on social change through facilitating interpersonal communication and knowledge sharing.

Matthew’s experience is underpinned by a comprehensive applied knowledge of government and international web and information standards, degrees in organisational psychology and knowledge management, and an intimate understanding of Web 2.0, from folksonomies to wikis and blogs. Matthew blogs at Matt's Musings and is a contributing author at The AppGap.

" ["post_title"]=> string(59) "Matthew Hodgson - Social computing for knowledge management" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1653) "

A presentation given at Web Directions User Experience, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Matthew Hodgson PortraitThe world is abuzz with social computing: Facebook, My Space, YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, blogs, wikis and other spaces powered by Web 2.0 technology. It’s a social revolution, empowering individuals to communicate, share what they know online, and help others locate information that is important to them in both their private and working lives.

Some see all this as a big waste of corporate time, but is it? Is there value in handing over control of collaboration and sharing knowledge to individuals, rather than hoarding it in records systems, knowledge systems, and thousands of network dive folders? Is there a way you can harness this social revolution to help improve our organisation’s knowledge management practices? Is there actually a solid business value proposition for social computing?

Matthew will look at knowledge management in modern organisations, and how you can benefit by learning from the principles of social computing and Web 2.0 technologies. Matthew will introduce two case studies in government that demonstrate successful and not-so-successful ways of employing social computing tools, the factors that contributed to their success, and the pitfalls to watch out for. In particular, he will look at the issues in relation to corporate culture by drawing on recent research in blogs and wikis based on work in organisational psychology by Hofstede.

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A presentation given at Web Directions User Experience, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Session description

It's no secret that just as the web has revolutionised business, the media, and many other parts of our lives, it is also revolutionising how governments and citizens interact, and how government provide services.

But how to do it well is still something of a black art.

In this keynote presentation, the lead of the W3C's eGovernment initiative, José Manuel Alonso, looks at the opportunities the web provides governments, the challenges, old and new, the web poses, and the role of the W3C in helping to develop underlying, interoperable technologies with which to build these services.

José's presentation will cover best practices and methodologies for providing eGovernment services, and look at case studies of how governments and communities are connecting via the web around the world.

About José Manuel Alonso

José Manuel Alonso PortraitJosé is the eGovernment Lead at the World Wide Web Consortium. Prior to joining the W3C, he was the Manager for the W3C Spain Office for three years and also served as the Advisory Committee Representative for CTIC (host of the Spain Office).

José has broad experience in project management, software integration, customer relationship, PR and IT consultancy. He received a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Masters in Enterprise Application Integration, both from the University of Oviedo, where he also worked at the Research and Innovation departments as a researcher, developer and lecturer. Previously he worked as consultant and even founded his own web company back in 1997.

" ["post_title"]=> string(72) "José Manuel Alonso - Improving Government through better use of the Web" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1076) "

A presentation given at Web Directions User Experience, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

José Manuel Alonso PortraitIt's no secret that just as the web has revolutionised business, the media, and many other parts of our lives, it is also revolutionising how governments and citizens interact, and how government provide services.

But how to do it well is still something of a black art.

In this keynote presentation, the lead of the W3C's eGovernment initiative, José Manuel Alonso, looks at the opportunities the web provides governments, the challenges, old and new, the web poses, and the role of the W3C in helping to develop underlying, interoperable technologies with which to build these services.

José's presentation will cover best practices and methodologies for providing eGovernment services, and look at case studies of how governments and communities are connecting via the web around the world.

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A presentation given at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Presentation slides

Session description

Mapping and other mashups have taken the web world by storm - driving innovation in business and government alike. While much of the focus has been on the actual mashup applications, without the data to mashup, we have no mashups. Government, from local to Federal level, collect and manage a significant amount of data, across a very broad range of areas. But giving access to this data to web application developers has technical, policy and legal challenges. In this presentation, Jenny Telford of the ABS looks at these issues from their experience of opening up data from the Australian Census.

About Jenny Telford

Jenny Telford PortraitJenny Telford is currently the Director of Census Products and Services at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Jenny has worked in the government sector for over ten years in roles focused on the delivery of data and information through the internet and other channels. The ABS is one of the largest information providers in the country and freely provides data through the website on a range of social, economic and environmental issues.

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A presentation given at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Jenny Telford PortraitMapping and other mashups have taken the web world by storm - driving innovation in business and government alike. While much of the focus has been on the actual mashup applications, without the data to mashup, we have no mashups. Government, from local to Federal level, collect and manage a significant amount of data, across a very broad range of areas. But giving access to this data to web application developers has technical, policy and legal challenges. In this presentation, Jenny Telford of the ABS looks at these issues from their experience of opening up data from the Australian Census.

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A presentation given at Web Directions User Experience, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Session description

Technology changes present complex challenges and rich opportunities for senior public sector managers. Finding the balance between innovation and risk management is not easy in an environment where successful engagement depends upon relinquishing control. Using examples from New Zealand's experience, Jason will share lessons and observations about the inevitable growing pains of public sector agencies as they evolve towards Govt 2.0.

About Jason Ryan

Jason Ryan PortraitJason Ryan is the Communications Manager at the State Services Commission, the New Zealand Government's lead advisor on the public management system. He is also a public sector blogger and an advocate for the transformation of public sector communications through the use of social media. Jason wrote the Principles for Public Sector Social Media, a set of guidelines for New Zealand government agencies wanting to use Web 2.0 communication tools to better engage with their publics.

" ["post_title"]=> string(54) "Jason Ryan - Govt 2.0: the public management challenge" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(701) "

A presentation given at Web Directions User Experience, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Jason Ryan PortraitTechnology changes present complex challenges and rich opportunities for senior public sector managers. Finding the balance between innovation and risk management is not easy in an environment where successful engagement depends upon relinquishing control. Using examples from New Zealand's experience, Jason will share lessons and observations about the inevitable growing pains of public sector agencies as they evolve towards Govt 2.0.

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A presentation given at at Web Directions User Experience, Melbourne Town Hall, May 16 2008, and Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

We’re sorry, but slides and podcast for this presentation are unfortunately not available.

Session description

While elections can be exciting times, the underlying data - swings, booth counts, and the like is probably only riveting to psephological tragics. Yet the ABC's election web site managed to take this raw data and make it attractive, compelling and interactive.

In this session, the ABC's Andrew Kesper takes us through the election site, looking at the design decisions, and uses of technology like Ajax, Flash, and interactive maps - tools which have wide applicability for government sites looking to present data in more user-friendly and attractive ways.

About Andrew Kesper

Andrew Kesper PortraitAndrew Kesper has been working at the ABC for the past two years. Andrew's first project was the redevelopment of ABC News Online that launched in mid-2007. This was followed back-to-back by the development of the ABC's Federal Election site, Australia Votes 2007, which launched in September 2007.

Andrew has also developed sites for several ABC current affairs programs including The 7.30 Report, Lateline and Insiders. Pre-ABC, Andrew worked for a web design firm in London, developing web sites for clients such as the British Film Institute and local government organisations. He graduated with a Bachelor of Information Technology from the University of Queensland in 2003.

" ["post_title"]=> string(64) "Andrew Kesper - ABC's election site: making the most of dry data" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(887) "

A presentation given at at Web Directions User Experience, Melbourne Town Hall, May 16 2008, and Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Andrew Kesper PortraitWhile elections can be exciting times, the underlying data - swings, booth counts, and the like is probably only riveting to psephological tragics. Yet the ABC's election web site managed to take this raw data and make it attractive, compelling and interactive.

In this session, the ABC's Andrew Kesper takes us through the election site, looking at the design decisions, and uses of technology like Ajax, Flash, and interactive maps - tools which have wide applicability for government sites looking to present data in more user-friendly and attractive ways.

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A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Session description

Web Usability is far more complex than user testing and interaction design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface.

We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.

About Lisa Herrod

Lisa Herrod PortraitLisa Herrod is the Principal Usability Consultant at Scenario Seven. The primary focus of her work is web usability, which she believes incorporates much more than just user testing. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, Lisa takes an holistic approach to web usability incorporating user research, accessibility, interaction design and web standards development.

Having started in the web during the last century, Lisa is occasionally caught making jokes about font tags, layout tables and shims. Nobody ever laughs.

" ["post_title"]=> string(44) "Lisa Herrod - Usability: more than skin deep" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(834) "

A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Lisa Herrod PortraitWeb Usability is far more complex than user testing and interaction design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface.

We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.

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Presentations from wdgov08

Podcasts, slides, videos and more

Lisa Herrod — Usability: more than skin deep

A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Lisa Herrod PortraitWeb Usability is far more complex than user testing and interaction design alone. And while interface design is an important consideration, there’s more to a usable site than what’s on the surface.

We all know the importance of accessibility and web standards, so let’s take that knowledge one step further and into the realm of usability. In this session Lisa Herrod will redefine the common definition of usability by introducing a greater focus on accessibility and web standards. By taking a more holistic approach you will soon see why usability is more than skin deep.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

David Hayward — Mapping

A presentation given at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

David Hayward PortraitGovernment has huge amounts of information but how can this be effectively managed and delivered through the web? This session will ‘lift the lid’ on web mapping technology and identify some of the key issues that must be addressed to achieve a successful outcome.

The NSW government SIX Viewer web mapping portal will be used as a case study to demonstrate how terabytes of data can be integrated and delivered via the Internet.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Scott Gledhill — Real world web standards

A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Scott Gledhill PortraitThose initial stages of converting your company to web standards are much like trying to score that first kiss with the princess. You seduce them with the business benefits of web-​​standards development, and the rest of the arguments we have all read, written, and preached to anyone who will listen. But getting corporate web standards in place is just a sign that the real relationship is about to begin. The honeymoon is over, and now it’s time to figure out what has gone wrong and why the prince and princess now seem to be constantly bickering—when they were meant to live happily ever after.

Scott draws on his experiences leading the development of eight large media web sites for News Digital Media to examine the ideals of web standards and how they translate within a large organisation. Learn how to make web standards work for you, when rules must be broken and how to deliver a final product that meets deadlines and still keeps project teams happy.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Robert Hoekman Jr — The essential elements of great web applications

A presentation given at at Web Directions User Experience, Melbourne Town Hall, May 16 2008, and Web Direction Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Robert Hoekman, Jr PortraitMost great web applications have a few key things in common. But can you name them? Better yet — can you achieve them consistently in your own projects?

In this closing keynote, Robert Hoekman, Jr., author of the Amazon bestseller Designing the Obvious (New Riders) describes the seven qualities of great web-​​based software and how to achieve each and every one of them by learning to communicate through design. See why it’s important to build only what’s absolutely essential, apply instructive design, create error-​​proof interactions, surface commonly-​​used features, and more in this informative session that will change the way you work and enable your users to walk away from your software feeling productive, respected, and smart.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Ralph Douglas — GovDex: Collaborating online in a secure environment

A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Ralph Douglas PortraitThis session will look at the government collaborative tool Govdex, how it is currently used by agencies, what it provides, and how you can use it for your projects. GovDex is a resource developed by the Department of Finance and Deregulation to facilitate business process collaboration across policy portfolios and jurisdictions.

GovDex, managed by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) in the Department of Finance & Deregulation, promotes effective and efficient information sharing, which is core to achieving collaboration. It provides governance, tools, methods and re-​​usable technical components that agencies can use to assemble and deploy information services on their different technology platforms. GovDex is a key enabler to a whole of government approach to IT service development and deployment.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Patrick Lee — One paper clip, a box of matches, and some JavaScript

A presentation given at at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Patrick Lee PortraitWhoever you are, if you’re writing JavaScript, there’s some aspect of your development that you would love to change if you had the chance. But the reality is you’ll never find yourself working in this ideal environment: dealing with legacy browsers, platforms and content management systems will be your constant as a developer. Patrick Lee is going to show you some tools and techniques that will help you make your peace with this fact.

This session will explore how you can find ways to do the cool stuff you really want to do with JavaScript whilst working in the real world. And you won’t even have to sell your soul in the process.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Matthew Hodgson — Social computing for knowledge management

A presentation given at Web Directions User Experience, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Matthew Hodgson PortraitThe world is abuzz with social computing: Facebook, My Space, YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, blogs, wikis and other spaces powered by Web 2.0 technology. It’s a social revolution, empowering individuals to communicate, share what they know online, and help others locate information that is important to them in both their private and working lives.

Some see all this as a big waste of corporate time, but is it? Is there value in handing over control of collaboration and sharing knowledge to individuals, rather than hoarding it in records systems, knowledge systems, and thousands of network dive folders? Is there a way you can harness this social revolution to help improve our organisation’s knowledge management practices? Is there actually a solid business value proposition for social computing?

Matthew will look at knowledge management in modern organisations, and how you can benefit by learning from the principles of social computing and Web 2.0 technologies. Matthew will introduce two case studies in government that demonstrate successful and not-​​so-​​successful ways of employing social computing tools, the factors that contributed to their success, and the pitfalls to watch out for. In particular, he will look at the issues in relation to corporate culture by drawing on recent research in blogs and wikis based on work in organisational psychology by Hofstede.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

José Manuel Alonso — Improving Government through better use of the Web

A presentation given at Web Directions User Experience, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

José Manuel Alonso PortraitIt’s no secret that just as the web has revolutionised business, the media, and many other parts of our lives, it is also revolutionising how governments and citizens interact, and how government provide services.

But how to do it well is still something of a black art.

In this keynote presentation, the lead of the W3C’s eGovernment initiative, José Manuel Alonso, looks at the opportunities the web provides governments, the challenges, old and new, the web poses, and the role of the W3C in helping to develop underlying, interoperable technologies with which to build these services.

José’s presentation will cover best practices and methodologies for providing eGovernment services, and look at case studies of how governments and communities are connecting via the web around the world.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Jenny Telford — Opening up government data

A presentation given at Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Jenny Telford PortraitMapping and other mashups have taken the web world by storm — driving innovation in business and government alike. While much of the focus has been on the actual mashup applications, without the data to mashup, we have no mashups. Government, from local to Federal level, collect and manage a significant amount of data, across a very broad range of areas. But giving access to this data to web application developers has technical, policy and legal challenges. In this presentation, Jenny Telford of the ABS looks at these issues from their experience of opening up data from the Australian Census.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Jason Ryan — Govt 2.0: the public management challenge

A presentation given at Web Directions User Experience, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Jason Ryan PortraitTechnology changes present complex challenges and rich opportunities for senior public sector managers. Finding the balance between innovation and risk management is not easy in an environment where successful engagement depends upon relinquishing control. Using examples from New Zealand’s experience, Jason will share lessons and observations about the inevitable growing pains of public sector agencies as they evolve towards Govt 2.0.

See the slides and hear the podcast »

Andrew Kesper — ABC’s election site: making the most of dry data

A presentation given at at Web Directions User Experience, Melbourne Town Hall, May 16 2008, and Web Directions Government, Old Parliament House, Canberra, May 19 2008.

Andrew Kesper PortraitWhile elections can be exciting times, the underlying data — swings, booth counts, and the like is probably only riveting to psephological tragics. Yet the ABC’s election web site managed to take this raw data and make it attractive, compelling and interactive.

In this session, the ABC’s Andrew Kesper takes us through the election site, looking at the design decisions, and uses of technology like Ajax, Flash, and interactive maps — tools which have wide applicability for government sites looking to present data in more user-​​friendly and attractive ways.

See the slides and hear the podcast »