Government IT use must change: Institute for Government

This BBC article summarises the important point that for IT projects it is crucial to roll them out in increments and test each with the users and for the purpose they are designed for. This is essential for IT project success in the public and private sector also.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12616777.

The article begins -

"The government's handling of IT is locked in a 'vicious circle of costs and failures' and moves at a 'glacial' pace, according to a report.

The Institute for Government recommends sweeping changes to the way ministers order new computer systems.

One recommendation is that new IT systems should be built piece by piece and tested by those who use them."

This article is based on a report by The Institute for Government - http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/23/system-error

System Error
Fixing the flaws in government IT
Author: Justine Stephen, James Page, Jerrett Myers, Adrian Brown, David Watson, Ian Magee
Date: 01 March 2011

Usability and Reuse in software design

This is a very useful and informative extract from a usability conference presentation and examines how reusability can be provided in systems, the reference for this is below the post.

Degler (2006) asks the Questions –

"Have you had insights and observations that go beyond the scope of a particular system or site you are working on?

Have you seen the same user needs and challenges cropping up on three or four projects, and realized that you are seeing a pattern?

Have you worked on standards for design and development of web sites or information that need to be applied across many different projects and services?

Have you become involved in conversations with managers where you have the opportunity to share how "things could be better" for users overall, beyond the boundaries of a single site?"

This illustrates how to create and test a User Driven Modelling approach, the intention of this approach is to create a high level abstraction that can be reused to solve many problems with a common pattern.

Degler, D., 2006. The Usability Professional as Visionary / Strategist. In: UPA DC usability conference, October 2006. http://www.ipgems.com/present/degler_visiontalk_upadc2006.pdf.