[LINK] Problems with Vic Fire alert App

[Frank O'Connor]

G'day Rich,

On 23/02/2013, at 4:43 PM, Richard Chirgwin <rchirgwin at ozemail.com.au> wrote:

> Questions from the sidelines.
> 
> 1. Why an app? The CFA Website works perfectly well on both the 
> smartphones I tested it on. If the app doesn't work, kill it.

Apps that work are preferable to browser based pages on 4" screens ... especially for one with old eyes like mine. They tend to make better use of the screen, and not waste as much space ... as well as presenting the information in a better more concise form.

That said, apps that don't work ... and the CFA App is one amongst them ... make browser based connections on phones look really bloody good.

> 
> 2. Frank - pre-filtering on location presumes that my location is where 
> I'm worried about fire. If I'm in Sydney, I'm much more worried about a 
> fire near the business in Wentworth Falls.
> 

I was basically talking about the CFA filtering out the incidents relating to cats stuck up trees, a house fire in the suburbs, a burst water pipe in a local street, or other incidents not related to the Country FIRE Authority's main purview ... grass fires, bush fires, widespread flooding and emergency management. 

The problem at the moment is that the App (and the Web site Map) is dotted with an inordinate number of icons, alerts and notifiers of events that have nothing to do with that purview ... maybe 20% of notifications actually represent clear and present threats related to that.

The result is that there's WAY too much information that the user has to work through to get a good overall picture of (for example) bushfires and grassfires that are currently occurring in the State of Victoria. Like you I'm interested in multiple areas (Warragul, Benalla, Bendigo) other than my own (Mornington Peninsula), but the CFA Map is dotted with hundreds of icons denoting incidents ... the vast majority of which are not serious enough to warrant any sort of public alarm.

User based (and/or location based as a setting) filtering would be nice, but neither the App nor the Web site offer that as yet.

> 3. Jan - I agree that the presentation must be clear and unequivocal. 
> That's badly done on the Websites as well.

Indeed it is. The App basically works by ripping the Web site data into a phone based GUI. SO any deficiencies in the Web site's information will be reflected in the App. That said, the Web site if accessed on a PC or laptop is a hell of a lot more useful than the App because of the added functionality it has.

Just my 2 cents worth ...
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