THE TORONTO FUN GUIDE APPA Modern Approach to Accessing City Data

Copyright 2016 Phil Vlach

USER EXPERIENCE: POOR

➤ media: online, hard copy, pdf

➤ problems for the user:

➤ hard to navigate

➤ not intuitive

➤ can’t search easily

➤ can’t save choices

➤ can’t share

➤ can’t create alternative choices

➤ 4 separate districts not integrated

2

THE MOBILE APP SOLUTION

➤ intuitive native iOS design

➤ visually driven layout

➤ fully searchable by program, facility, keyword

➤ filter by district and age group

➤ save multiple program choices to your Favourites

➤ share choices with other parents or users

➤ register directly from within the app for your selected program

➤ free on the Apple App Store

GETTING THE DATA INTO THE APP

➤ labour intensive

➤ scrape text data from 300+ pages of PDFs

➤ 000’s of lines of Python conversion code to:

➤ standardize program names

➤ standardize program schedules

➤ standardize facility names

➤ create programs array & array of times per program

➤ build database files, made “bite” size to optimize app

OPEN DATA: A WAY FORWARD

➤ modernization is accelerated by access to data

➤ hence an open data approach

➤ benefits of open data:

➤ leverage developer community

➤ generate multiple solutions

➤ accelerate modernization

➤ unleash innovation

➤ share the burden of connecting citizens to data

CONTACT THE APP CREATOR

➤ Phil Vlach

➤ phil@redandwhitedesign.com

➤ @philvlach

➤ RedandWhiteDesign.com