Internet Wizards To Rescue ; Local Computer Experts Pitch in to Redesign State Unemployment Web Site

By Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Journal BY COLLEEN HEILD Journal Investigative Reporter

Put 10 Web developers in a borrowed office. Equip them with laptops, extension cords, breakfast burritos, three pots of coffee and two cases of caffeine-laced soda.

Assign them to solve one of state government’s most vexing computer problems — and give them only 12 hours to do it.

That was the mission of a team of New Mexico Web developers who convened last week after reading Journal stories about longtime problems plaguing the state Department of Labor’s unemployment claims Web site.

It isn’t unusual for Web developers to team up for projects, but this effort was different. For one thing, there was no client. And they weren’t getting paid.

Without the prior knowledge or involvement of state government, the crew analyzed the existing state Web site and created what they say is a new userfriendly replacement.

It was a mix of civic duty and professional challenge.

“We were seeing this as a realworld problem,” said Andrew Hedges. “Is it possible for us to do this?”

They found a lot not to like about the site currently used by the state.

“From a professional point of view, I couldn’t find any redeeming quality about the Web site,” said Kelly Patrick Robinson, who organized the project. “It had serious flaws.”

He knew the professional community of Web developers in New Mexico could do a better job.

“It doesn’t affect me directly,” he added. “But this is where I live and this is where I pay taxes. I felt a little bit of duty to do it, but definitely it was a challenge.”

Bad setup

Robinson had read the Journal story that detailed how the state had spent more than $14 million in hiring India’s largest technology firm, Tata Consultancy Services, to develop and implement a system that relied on a Web site and phonein option for unemployed workers to file for benefits.

The state’s new, supposedly improved system was designed to eliminate the need for jobless people to go to an unemployment office for benefit services.

But nearly six years after the original contract was signed, the new phone system for filing claims was plagued by long waits and people weren’t able to apply via the state Web site as intended. The option of filing in person at an unemployment office was no longer available.

Robinson said the newspaper article spurred him to call Hedges, who had also just read the Journal story. Hedges pledged support and within days, 10 Web wizards had signed on to the project.

The group ranged in age from 23 to 38. With the exception of one colleague from Colorado, all are from the Albuquerque area.

The enthusiasm spilled over.

“It was almost like a lab experiment,” Hedges said. “We were going to block away a 12-hour period and see what we could come up with.”

Same problems

Vincent Thom, project coordinator, said he and one or two others in the group “have been unemployed and have had to use the services of the Labor Department.”

When he called up the state’s unemployment claims Web site to prepare for the project, Thom said, “I was kind of surprised to learn it was as bad as it was three years ago,” when he tried to use it.

The group did its homework by reading up the state’s unemployment insurance requirements. Logistical planning took seven hours, culminating in an agenda for the work marathon.

On Jan. 28, the group met promptly at 8 a.m. and egos were checked at the door, Hedges said.

After two hours of brainstorming, there was a “show and tell” and then the group split into two teams, design and programming.

“Initially (the thought was) ‘If I was unemployed and was going to this Web site, what tools would be relevant to me?’ We just kind of went nuts,” Hedges said.

Priorities set

No one was overly concerned about what would happen to the finished product. It was coming up with the ideal Web site that mattered.

Given the circumstances of being unemployed, Thom said, “the last thing they need is to come to a Web site that doesn’t work.”

Among the priorities:

Ensure that users could easily find the site by giving the Web site address a name (such as Unemployment HQ), eliminating the current number sequence required to access the state Web site.

Make the site more accessible to people with disabilities.

Provide current job listings on the site.

Give users already receiving benefits a way to review prior unemployment reports they had made to the state.

Designate a section of the Web site so users could keep track of the companies where they had applied for jobs.

Include a reminder about when the user’s benefits would expire.

One of the developers suggested links on the new Web site to discount coupons, but that idea didn’t make it into the final version.

As for dinner, deli sandwiches had been ordered in advance. No one wanted to waste time going out to eat.

After an hour of cleanup, the team called it quits at 8 p.m. With 80 percent of the Web site complete, a sense of accomplishment washed over the group.

Thom likened the experience to a “jam session of musicians.” One of the team members even filmed the event.

Ready to present

Put into monetary terms, such a Web site project could cost a client from $150,000 to $200,000, said Hedges and Thom.

Now that the work has ended, team members are naturally interested in showing the fruits of their labor to the Department of Labor.

Even if state officials aren’t interested in adopting the model, Robinson said, “we still produced something that was worthwhile.”

At a minimum, the effort shows New Mexico doesn’t need to look beyond its own backyard for talent and expertise, team members said.

“You don’t need to go somewhere else, and it doesn’t need to be a huge corporation,” Robinson said. “Several guys in the group like to say ‘small is the new big.’ ”

(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.