iPhone App Feedback
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The document provides feedback on improving the Fairfax County iPhone app. It suggests switching to a grid layout for the home screen with prominent icons to make content easier to access. It also recommends rebranding the news section as the Fairfax County NewsWire and presenting news stories in a banner format with pictures for featured stories. Additional changes include reducing text size on news story pages and adding indicators to mark stories as read/unread.
iPhone App Feedback
- 1. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback Engaging the Public With Mobile Customer Service & Information February 2011
- 2. Introduction DIT has developed a great basis for a county iPhone app to meet the changing customer service and information needs of our residents. OPA is providing its content and iPhone experience to build upon this new platform DIT drafted so our combined expertise provides a truly value-‐added experience for our residents. Home Screen The home screen is the most important element of an iPhone app. People need to find relevant information very quickly on their mobile device, especially as they are on the go, walking, riding a bus and other literally mobile activities. While the beta version is on the right track with the use of icons next to the words, let’s consider a grid layout as shown in some examples on the next few pages. A grid layout resembles the actual iPhone app layout, so people are familiar with that navigation on this (and other) devices. With a grid layout, we can make better, more prominent use of icons that stand out more. OPA can create a family of icons that match. An outline of a new home screen can be found at the end of this feedback.
- 3. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 3 A grid layout like the Facebook app provides more prominent use of icons, which makes it easier for the public to choose what content they would like. Ideally, like the Facebook app or the actual iPhone, we should allow people to move the icons in whatever order they prefer based on their needs. Additional examples of grid layouts with icons:
- 5. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 5
- 7. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 7 News In the beta version, Top News matches fairfaxcounty.gov home page news packages. A list of RSS feeds is then presented. But since the creation of this beta product, the Fairfax County NewsWire launched. The news section should be branded as the Fairfax County NewsWire and we should present news in this order (with icons to the left of the text): • Two or three Featured Headlines (managed content, such as homepage package links) • One link for All News Headlines (full NewsWire RSS feed) • One link for Headlines by Topic (topic/location RSS feeds)
- 8. An elegant presentation of news can be found in George Washington University’s app. We could create a NewsWire banner just like the GW Today banner and then for the two or three featured headlines, a picture can accompany the text to make it stand out and appear new. The “All News Headlines” text would be paired with the NewsWire logo, while the RSS logo can be used for the topic headlines link.
- 9. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 9 The first three sections of the NewsWire can link to pages like these, but based on observations of other apps, the font appears to be a large, thus cutting off the headline. Reducing the font size slightly will help readers see the full headline. Another idea to enhance the experience of our iPhone users centers around using the functionality of the iPhone’s Mail and other apps that mark new content versus read/unread content. The next two screenshots show a great example from Huntsville, Texas. The little blue dot indicates an unread item. People can then choose to refresh the news list or mark all the items as read. They will then know what’s new the next time they visit the app. With NewsWire now constantly updated throughout the day with many headlines, this is key.
- 11. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 11 It appears that most links lead to the mobile version of the county’s website at m.fairfaxcounty.gov, which is awesome because so many government apps do not – they lead to the full version of the website, which is pointless for an app. However, to further enhance the experience for our public, we should integrate the ability to share the content they are viewing. Sharing content is the heart of the social media and Web 2.0 revolution, so let’s provide the tools to share our content easily.
- 12. Many apps, like The New York Times shown here, provide the ability to share content. Let’s use the functionality of the iPhone that makes it different than a website to give people the ability to E-‐mail, text, tweet or copy the link to their clipboard for another purpose.
- 13. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 13 Favorites Some apps provide the ability for individuals to save their own favorites within the app for easy access to key content. As shown in this example from Arkansas.gov, a user can add Favorites to three categories: People, Services and Agencies. While we shouldn’t copy this architecture per se, the idea of Favorites is appealing. An “Add to Favorites” choice can be added the menu shown in The New York Times example. Through Favorites, we’re encouraging our diverse population to save the pages that are most important to them, be they parks, libraries, a CSB phone number, their local police station and more.
- 14. California government’s app allows Favorites, too. When someone chooses “Yes,” they then see the screen on the next page, followed by the list of their favorites:
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- 16. Social Media Thr iPhone app will give the county another opportunity to promote its expanding number of social media accounts. A home screen button labeled Social Media can lead to a page like this, with countywide accounts at the top, followed by links to agency/department social media accounts underneath. There are a few ways to consider displaying social media content.
- 17. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 17 On Twitter, we can include a link to the mobile version of Twitter.com, which is preferable, versus using a simple RSS feed. The Twitter interface allows people to follow the account and take advantage of other Twitter features.
- 18. Facebook also has a mobile version, which is the best way to connect people to our various accounts.
- 19. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 19 There are two ways to display YouTube videos: use the mobile version of YouTube or create a separate video gallery that simply links to YouTube videos that open in the YouTube app on the iPhone. Texas.gov uses the mobile version of YouTube, but the next few screenshots so some other ways to display videos:
- 21. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 21 Contact Information One of the most important elements of the iPhone app will be contact information. While the Contact us database will need to be managed, pruned and maintained with vigor, the design of the iPhone pages could be slightly enhanced. The “Directions” link leads to an experience not seen before on an iPhone. There’s an intermediate screen that counts down to the map app. Perhaps that screen can be eliminated and a quick transfer to maps (less than 10 seconds) can happen; that seems to be the norm with apps.
- 23. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 23 The City of Huntsville has a nice display of contact information, but what’s especially helpful are the little “map,” “call” and “send” buttons next to addresses, phones and emails. The description is also a nice feature so people know what’s what. We would need to populate the contact database with this information.
- 24. Enhancing the description field could also help with the design of the iPhone contact page. Visit Fairfax’s iPhone app presents this info in a visually appealing way, too.
- 25. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 25 Huntsville also has links to boards and commissions, so perhaps we can also tie in our BAC database into the iPhone app.
- 26. Maps Visit Fairfax provides comprehensive maps that include all parks or all museums. Perhaps we can do the same for all of our parks, libraries, RECenters, community centers, Metro stations, police stations, fire stations and more. Partnering with GIS could be an option. The next page shows the State of California plotting its parks, both on a map and then as a list. CA.gov also uses the phone’s GPS to sense your location so you can find what’s closest to you, again, another way an iPhone app moves beyond a simple web experience.
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- 28. We could also sort by building type like GW’s app. For example, when you touch “Administrative:”
- 29. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 29 Board of Supervisors Many residents do not know their district Board of Supervisors’ member, nor do they k now the district boundaries. We could turn the iPhone into tool for people to find their district supervisor or to know which district they live. Working with GIS, perhaps GPS coordinates could be mapped to district boundaries. Once a resident discovers which district they are in, they can call their representative with one touch of the screen. The GIS MyNeighborhood application includes all elected officials, so maybe there are layers for BOS, School Board, Virginia legislature and Congress with one-‐touch access to at least a phone number. But at the very least, let’s consider the Board of Supervisors feature, perhaps modeled after the New York State Senate:
- 31. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 31 If we can’t use actual GPS coordinates, then at least a static map with boundaries as shown here so people have a sense of the areas.
- 32. Public Meetings and Events In the interest of boosting awareness of legally required public meetings, as well as county government events, we should include a section for all events published to the web calendar application. The events could be listed like the Visit Fairfax app with approximate location/directions. Events could also be saved as Favorites or shared using the functionality discussed earlier. Hunstville seems to use a similar public meetings calendar and the next two screens show the iPhone display:
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- 34. The “Fairfax County” App Flickr Slideshare So how would an enhanced beta version of the county’s iPhone Podcasts app look in light of the ideas outlined above? The name could be Links to audio streams changed to “Fairfax County” instead of “Fairfax Guide” to avoid brand confusion and to show we’re a government. There could be Search/Web nine sections in a grid layout with content: Search Box Mobile Website Link Contact Us 703-‐FAIRFAX Initiative Maps Emergency Contacts Police Stations Departments Fire Stations Programs Parks Libraries Alerts Community Centers Emergency RSS Feed RECenters CEAN Alerts Connector Emergency Contacts Recycling Select /emergency Mobile Pages Emergency Maps Supervisors Contact Info NewsWire District Map Featured Mobile Webpage All Headlines News By Topic/Location Calendars Public Meetings Social Media General Events Facebook Links to all county accounts Feedback Twitter E-‐mail to DIT/OPA shared folder Links to all county accounts YouTube Links to all county accounts
- 35. Fairfax County iPhone App Feedback 35 The following screenshots show county social media sites in mobile versions:
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