itec 370 lecture 26 case study. review questions? f give update on project (demo optional) life...
TRANSCRIPT
ITEC 370
Lecture 26Case study
Case study
Review
• Questions?• F give update on project (demo
optional)• Life cycles– eXtreme programming
Case study
Objectives
• Look at how a piece of software could have had a huge impact in history and how it failed…– Popular vote = 50% Obama, 48%
Romney– 2004 elections had 126 million voters– In other words only 2.5 million more
votes– Not much considering population is
311.5 million
Case study
Systems
• Narwhal– Obama’s
• Orca– Romney’s (named because Orca is
Narwhal’s only predator)
Case study
Question
• What role does technology play in a presidential election?
• What are the benefits?• What are the downsides?
Case study
Orca
• Mitt Romney’s management tool• Who voted and where• Decision management software–Where should last minute spam-a-phone
efforts be directed?– X number of volunteers– Should you focus in a state that is all
democrat, or one that you have a chance in winning?
–What about specific counties / cities?
Case study
More info
• 34,000 volunteers working on election day to record data
• 800 people collecting / managing data• Goal = Best exit polling in the world– How many voted (listen to each person when
they register)– What is the racial makeup of voters– If possible who voted for who– Wanted to be able to handle millions of votes
in one day
Case study
Software
• What it looked like
Case study
Usability
• On a scale of 1-10 how easy to use would you rate this app (w/ 1 being not and 10 being it’s so easy)
• How long would it take to teach someone to use it?
• How easy would it be to get help?
Case study
Problem #1
• "The primary issue was we beta-tested in a different environment than the Garden [Boston Garden, where the 800 campaign staffers were working]. There was so much data coming in -- 1200 records or more per minute -- it shut down the system for a time. Users were frustrated by lag, and some people dropped off and we experienced attrition as a result.” – Zac Moffat
Case study
More Problems
• Wrong passwords all over the place– Reset tool didn’t work
• System went down for hours• Some regions could not login• Was stress tested using automation
(internal network)• Single web server handling input…
Case study
End result
• 30,000 of the most motivated Romney supporters couldn’t do anything
• Frustration++• Flying blind• Let things run their course
Case study
Failures
• Where do you think the process failed– Requirements– Design– Implementation– Testing– Didn’t even get to maintenance…
Case study
Narwhal
• Obama’s system• Combination of multiple information
sources– Age,sex,race, voting record, location– Social networks– Consumer data sources– Field workers
• Allowed Obama to customize his robo-call / volunteers messages
Case study
Micro-targeting
• Detailed maps of each area, who was a staunch republican / democrat
• Undecided or independent voters• Goal = Spend time on people who
matter• People that have experienced X
event– Just so you know I created / approved
legislation that helps you…
Case study
Which method?
• What approach do you think is better?
• What are the advantages / disadvantages of each approach?
Case study
Issues
• Obama had 4+ years to build his system
• Romney had ~6 months due to primaries– Republicans not united and it showed
Case study
Review
• Orca vs Narwhal• What should / should not be done
when developing software