We’ve reached the finish line. While the Apps for Democracy competition that this was built for may be over (we’re currently awaiting the results), we’ve built an application that has real value to DC.
It’s Live!
The DC government is taking the Open311 API live today, so starting this afternoon, you’l be able to actually start submitting requests.
For that reason, I’ve taken time to clean up the interface, ensure cross-browser compatibility, build in some more error handling, and generally ensure smooth operation with DC’s 311 system. We’ve also added a marketing slideshow, to explain how we work.
Did I mention we have a big map now too?
And it’s open!
As part of the contest, the resulting project is open source. Go ahead and feast!
http://github.com/skeevis/FixMyCity/tree/master
And don’t forget, I wrote a Ruby gem for the DC Open311 and Geolocation APIs
Our Approach, and Updates
When we launched the alpha release of FixMyCityDC, we went with a very different approach than other teams. Rather than focusing on the frontend first and worry about the API later on, we went the opposite way. A beautiful app is useless if it doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, so from the start, we focused on absolute, rigid compatibility with DC’s Open311 API. Heck, we even built a Ruby gem for it. But the usability wasn’t perfect.
So in this release, we follow up with improving the user experience, and with that, leap far ahead.
- The old application required that you enter in your full address, wait for the results, yawn…. wait… yawn… We now have a slick location selector, where you can easily choose where you are right on a map.
- Well, we actually have THREE ways… pan around and click on your location (don’t worry, we’ll find the nearest street address to send to DC), type in your address, or, using Skyhook’s revolutionary Loki service, have us find you! Give it a try, it’s pretty sweet.
- We’ve improved a whole lot of bugs that have popped up with the 311 API, namely some service requests that didnt have any questions associated with them. Our app choked on those, sorry.
- Once you create a service request, from that page you can easily share it with your friends.
- We’ve added helpful tooltips, little bits of information to guide you along your way.
Give it a try. We still think the coolest feature happens when you type in your phone number!
We have a few more revisions to go before the July 1st deadline, so keep checking back!
Zvi Band
http://fixmycitydc.com
Welcome to FixMyCityDC
Pending the June 21st initial submission deadline, here is the status of our application:
- Release: ALPHA
- Features:
- Kiosk-focused, easy to use web interface.
- Updates via email AND phone
- Full compatibility with v1 implementation of DC’s Open311 API
- Ability to check and monitor your own requests.
- Added Feedback tool
The upcoming roadmap is pretty lengthy, depending on the success of this application in the competition. Our goals are:
- Ensure continued compatibility with DC’s 311 API
- Improve ease-of-use for users, with a focus on kiosk systems (multiple ideas for this)
- Close feedback loop
- Add in extensive analytics and statistics
Full development was by Zvi Band (@skeevis) of skeevisArts.
Design by Zach Goodwin (@zbgoodwin) of Crafty Mice
If you have any problems or issues, don’t hesitate to reach out to me, zvi AT skeevisarts.com
