News reports indicated Kmart Australia had implemented queuing for use of its website, to handle the volume of traffic due to the COVID-19Coronavirus. At first I assumed I had misread this and it was online queuing for physical store entry, which would not be a bad idea. But this is online queuing for entry to the Kmart website. The customer is kept waiting at a screen which counts down where they are in the queue. The process worked as promised: after a two minute wait I was rededicated to the Kmat website. However, anyone with any training in human factors should know that you need to give people something to do in a queue. Kmart's designers seem to have gone out of their way to make the wait seem longer, and annoy customers. Also the Kmart website is inefficient in implementation, slowing the customer down further.
I suggest Kmart offer customers a catalog of specials to browse while waiting. Customers could be encouraged to make a note of what they would like to buy while flipping through the catalog. There could also be information about Kmart's efforts to deal with COVID-19, procedures for shoppers in store, and special coupons . This could be provided with efficiently encoded web pages, which place limited load on system, and keep customers engaged while they wait.
Also once I got to the Kmart site, after the predicted two minutes, I found I sub-optimal website implementation. The Google Page Speed Insights test rated this at 30 out of 100, for the mobile version. A few simple changes suggested by the test would improve the experience for customers:
Opportunity
and Estimated Savings
Eliminate render-blocking resources
1.06 s
Serve images in next-gen formats
0.15 s
Enable text compression
0.15 s
Diagnostics
Ensure text remains visible during webfont load
Serve static assets with an efficient cache policy 18 resources found
Minimize main-thread work 3.3 s
Reduce JavaScript execution time 2.1 s
Avoid chaining critical requests 20 chains found
Keep request counts low and transfer sizes small 49 requests • 805 KB
My brother, Dr John Worthington, is an Educational Psychologist. Like many professionals, he is providing consultations remotely due to the COVID-19Coronavirus emergency. So I talked him through how to make a document camera (visualiser).
Much can be done by telephone and video conference. However,
occasionally it is necessary to show a client something. For this it
is useful to have a document camera. This has a plate which sits on the desk, where you put a document (or small object). There is an arm to hold a camera above, and a light. Audio visual equipment is in short supply, but you can make a document camera out of a web camera and items around the home.
There are numerous articles online about how to make a document camera. I made a prototype from the surplus parts from a drawer unit. You need something for the base: I used the side off a modular basketdrawer unit. You need an arm: I used a spare metal rod from the drawer unit (the rod is long enough to balance the weight of the camera on one end). You need a camera: I used a web camera which had a tilt and swivel mount which makes adjustments easier. The components are held togehter with zip ties, but rubber bands, or gaffer tape could be used. So far I haven't needed a light.
No specialized software is needed. If you have two web cameras, then use the one pointed at you first, so the client can see you. Then switch to the document camera, using the setting in your video conference software. When finished with the document, switch back to the other camera.
Previously I suggested Australian governments and organizations interpret existing laws and rules to allow electronic decision making. NSW councils have been told they can hold electronic meetings for the next sixth months, due to the COVID-19Coronavirus emergency. I suggest that this will be needed for more than six months, and should be made a permanent feature of the way local government, and other organizations, work. The technology exists to allow people to participate remotely, and there is no good reason to not do this.
It will be interesting to see how taking turns speaking is handled at council meetings, which, like state and federal parliament, can have robust debates. Most of the video conferences I have been to were relatively informal with a dozen people, who could speak at any time. A few large ones, with hundreds of people, required clicking the "raise your hand" button, before the host would switch on my microphone.
Videoconferencing usually also comes with other feedback features, such as a up and down thumb buttons, which might be used for a quick indication of support for a proposal at a meeting. Webinars (as distinct from Video Conferences) tend to have more feedback features, such as polls which might be used for formal votes. However, there would need to be a way to limit this to a subset of participants (that is the elected members). Given there are not many who can vote at a council meeting, a simple show of hands should be sufficient (with a virtual hand or by voice for those without a camera).
The NSW COVID-19 Local Government Resources page says "Requirements for members of the public to be permitted to attend meetings can now be satisfied by live-streaming the meeting using an audio-visual link.". Video conferecne systems, such as Zoom can typically have hundreds of participants, and webinars thousands. If a larger number of members of the public are expected (a council could have hundreds of thousands of residents), there is the option of streaming the video. This would also a way to have two levels of participation: those in the video conference who can interact, and those on the streaming service. Some streaming services (such as YouTube and Facebook) allow comments from participants. It should be noted that council meetings, also allow for the public to present their case to a meeting, so these people would need more than just streaming.
ps: In my 1997 final report as President of the Australian Computer Society I proposed all MPs and Senators of the Australian Parliament be provided with secure video conferencing to
their offices, and half the sitting days replaced with electronic meetings.
This is to suggest that Australian governments, organizations, and the community, interpret current laws, regulations, and procedures, as allowing for electronic decision making, meetings and documents. In the current COVID-19Coronavirus emergency we should not wait for changes to written rules, and laws, to allow for this. Instead governments, and the heads of associations can endorse the practice. This approach has worked in the past for making the Internet part of daily life.
Organizations across Australia are continuing to have meetings in person, as their rules and legislation does not specifically authorize electronic meetings. I suggest that these bodies meet electronically, where logistics allow. We should not waste time, and risk lives, waiting for a change to black letter law.
Similarly, I suggest Governments announce that restrictions on tele-medicine are lifted. All health professionals should be able to help patients though any communication channel, where it is practical for them to do so.
As an IT professional, I have assisted in the conversion of manual
government and non-government processes online. This was done for
reasons of efficiency. It is time, I suggest, to make this chnage across
Australia, to save lives. In many cases when my colleagues and I proposed changes we were told that this was contrary to the law. In all cases I found that there
were no law specifically banning electronic work. In same cases there was already law which allowed older forms of electronic working, such as with telegrams and telex, going back decades. In other cases it was just that no one had thought to use electronic means. As an example, the Australian Government got web sites, not because a law was changed to allow it, but because a group of people, referred to as the Internet Cabal, did it.
Yesterday, Professor Paul Kelly, the Australian Deputy Chief Medical Officer, discussed the advantages of Telehealth for medical practitioners dealing with the COVID-19 Coronavirus. But if you are going to talk to patients by phone or video conference, I suggest spending $100 setting up for it. I have been helping my university colleagues set up for their online student consultations. Audio is most important: get a Bluetooth or wired headset, to put the microphone near your mouth (about $50). If using the your smart phone, put it in a cradle for a stable image. If using your laptop, get a USB web camera (1,280x720 pixels will do for $50). You might want a second camera for showing diagrams. Ensure your face is lit, and dress the set behind you: tidy your bookcase, straighten your certificates, and remove your half eaten lunch.
"So I think Telehealth has a number of advantages. One is the one you
mentioned but the others side that particularly for those who have
chronic disease and therefore- or the elderly - and are therefore at
that highest risk of getting the more serious end of the spectrum of
this disease. And just remembering that 80 per cent of cases will be
mild and probably don't need to see a doctor at all, once we have a
large number of cases if that occurs. And then there's the protection of
the health staff themselves but it will also importantly minimise the
use of personal protective equipment. You cannot catch this virus over a
Telehealth consultation. And so that certainly from a public health
point of view and decreasing the numbers of cases that may be found in
the community. That's an important consideration as well."
Computer professionals have an important role
in ensuring services are provided to the community. They need to become familiar with the precautions to
take to protect their health, and that of their staff, so they are
then able to help their clients. Computer professionals also need to be
ready to help deliver government, industry and education
services online, on a scale not yet seen. Professionals need to ensure they
are equipped to work from home securely, in the event workplaces are closed.
The Australian Department of Health has activated its Health Sector Emergency Response Plan, indicating the seriousness of the situation.
The US CDC has identified teleworking as a measure that may be used to maintain business while limiting
infection. Australian universities have had a head start with this, due
to the need to support international students unable to attend campus
due to travel bans.
Government agencies, schools, and companies will be hard-pressed to
support their staff, and clients, working remotely, on a much larger
scale.
Computer professionals need to
discuss measures with their clients across all sectors of government
and industry, now. There will be a need for leadership. At a
meeting a few weeks ago the question was asked who we turned to for
advice and decisions. I had the sobering realization that we were it:
there was no one to turn to, and others would be looking to us for advice. Computer professionals need to be ready to dispense calm, authoritative advice.
On 14 July 1997, as the President of the Australian Computer Society, I advised professionals
that they must assess and report
the extent of the Y2K problem in systems they were responsible for. They
were not obliged to take remedial action, just report to their
clients on the extent of the problem.
With this advice, we were too cautious, and did not provide
enough guidance. Governments and large corporations overacted
to Y2K and spent more money than it warranted. There is less scope for
throwing money at the COVID-19 problem, and much more potential for
panic.
Previously I have had some involvement in planning IT for emergencies at the Department of Defence, and pandemic response. In my book "Digital Teaching In Higher Education"
(2017), I warned that the flow of international students to Australia
could be disrupted very quickly and set out the steps for e-learning. I
have been teaching this way at ANU since 2009, and have provided some advice for educators for the current situation.
