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Sep
1
2009
Author, Calculators, Design, PDRater, Subscription Features, Technobabble, User Interface, Website Updates

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Dont worry, its not your fault
Don't worry, its not your fault

Yesterday I received an e-mail from a beta tester, Jeff Duarte, who was having trouble with one of my calculators.  He said that he didn’t really understand how to use a particular calculator.  My response was:

The problem is not you, its me.  :)  If I designed my calculator better you wouldn’t have any questions.

Seriously – sorry Jeff, its my bad.  My goal is to make these calculators so easy and intuitive to use that no workers’ compensation professional would have any trouble figuring out how to use them.  If you don’t figure out how to use it just by looking at it, I designed it wrong. 1 Getting feedback is a very important and instructive process for me.  It lets me figure out what works for people and what doesn’t.

The good news is that Jeff”s suggestions have given me an idea on how to make two calculators easier to use and for two entirely new features!

So, send me an e-mail if you have an idea on how I can make a calculator more intuitive, easier to use, or just plain work better!

The problem is not you, its me.  :)  If I designed my calculator better you wouldn’t have any questions!
  1. Photo courtesy of TreMichLan.  Terrible pun – all me! [↩]
Aug
31
2009
Author, Calculators, Cell Phones, PDRater, Workers Compensation Resources

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Theres nothing silly about Verify!(R)
There's nothing silly about Verify!®

A few weeks ago I launched a Social Security Number verification tool powered by Verify!®.  Since its launch its become a very popular tool.  One of the coolest things about having these calculators is finding out all of the new ways people think of to use them.  These new and unintended uses are almost always far more interesting than the original pedestrian reasons for which a tool was created.

Take Silly Putty for instance.  Silly Putty was originally created as a potential replacement for rubber during World War II.  It didn’t work as a replacement for rubber, scientists were unable to think of a use for it, and it sat in a lab for years before a toy store owner began stuffing it in plastic eggs.1

Here are a few ideas:

  1. Use it to determine whether someone is a U.S. citizen.
  2. Use it to double-check someone’s year of birth.
  3. Use it to determine approximately when someone became a U.S. citizen.2
  4. Use it to determine whether someone is potentially Medicare eligible.3

What other uses can you think of?

  1. Photo courtesy of unloveablesteve [↩]
  2. I thought of this one during a deposition last week when a deponent couldn’t recall when they first came to the United States.  I just fired up the cell phone web browser, went to the calculator page, and asked the follow up question. [↩]
  3. Thanks Chris! [↩]
Aug
19
2009
Author, Blogging, Road Warrior

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Bridge #2
Bridge #2

Last Wednesday I set another personal record.  The last one I mentioned was doing two walk throughs at two different WCAB district offices in the same morning.

Wednesday I had to be in Novato, San Francisco, and then back at my office in Pleasant Hill.  As a result, I traveled over three bridges in the same morning – San Rafael, Golden Gate, and Bay Bridges.

I guess paying $10.00 in bridge tolls in one day is also a record…1  I was all out of singles so the CHP officer at the Golden Gate Bridge gave me the stink-eye when I paid with a $100.00 bill.

Seriously, that guy was NOT happy.  The officers at the Oakland Board are a lot friendlier.

  1. Photo courtesy of Darwin Bell [↩]
Aug
14
2009
Author, Calculators, Free, PDRater, Workers Compensation Resources

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PDRater: Making EAMS more user friendly!
PDRater: Putting a friendly face on EAMS!

I’ve just built  another new workers’ compensation calculator.  Actually, it is a look up tool that will help workers’ compensation professionals file documents with EAMS.1

While I think the recent Verify!® social security number validator may be more intriguing for defense attorneys and claims examiners, I think this new EAMS tool will probably be more useful to Applicant attorneys.

Interested?  Just drop me a line to become a beta tester!

  1. Photo courtesy of Irene on the run [↩]
Aug
10
2009
Author, Design, EAMS, PDRater, User Interface, Workers Compensation Resources

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EAMS: Your filing is not just rejected, its terminated
It is strongly encouraged you take the EAMS survey

The Division of Workers’ Compensation has posted a link to an EAMS survey.  I noticed a lot of fliers around the Oakland District office of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board for this survey in the last few weeks.

Having taken the survey, I’m not optimistic its going to do anyone any good.  My problem with the survey is the inherent question bias.

Several of the survey questions deal with the availability and efficacy of EAMS training resources.  Take it from someone who actually designs software user interfaces – if people don’t like the user interface or the way your software works, they will either not use it or try to find ways around it.  The only viable solution is to design a system that doesn’t need a lot of training and explanation.

This is really shows the engineering perspective on the problem.  Once engineers have designed the system, its up to the user to read the manual and figure it all out.  The problem is not sufficient education, training, and understanding.  People are not suddenly going toembrace EAMS because now they understand how it works.

While its more work to comb through open ended responses from users, at least those answers will be more representative of their opinions.  Take the final question, for example:  “Please identify the top 3 improvements that you would like to see in EAMS . Please choose three and rank them in order of priority.”  Your only choices are:

  • Completing the OCR forms (formatting issues)
  • Completing the OCR forms (ambiguity re: required information)
  • Completing the OCR forms (technical issues)
  • Document processing times at the WCAB offices
  • WCAB clerks’ lack of knowledge regarding EAMS
  • Availability of EAMS information and documents when appearing at the WCAB for hearings.
  • Procedural inconsistencies amongst WCAB offices
  • Too much paper
  • Too few forms available online
  • Cover sheet / Separator Sheet
  • Limited availability of EAMS Access for external users
  • Limited amount of information available on public search
  • Assistance with EAMS forms from DWC call center
  • Other

This can’t possibly be an exhaustive list of user concerns with EAMS.  What other EAMS related issues do you perceive?

Aug
5
2009
Author, Calculators, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates

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I can fix that!
Broken calculators? Nothing a little duct tape won't fix...

Yesterday from about noon to 4pm the server which hosts this website (and many others) was down.  This unfortunately lead to an interruption for which I apologize.1  During this time I was unable to send/receive emails and the website was unavailable.

The hosting company I use is very good.  When there’s been downtime it normally occurs during non-peak hours and is very short in duration.  This was an anomaly.

Anyhow, everything is back on line and open for business.

  1. Photo courtesy of mhuang [↩]
Jul
31
2009
Author, PDRater, Road Warrior, Workers Compensation Resources

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THIS is how you do an expedited hearing

I obtained two walk through settlements yesterday morning.  I’m feeling pretty good.

Oh, did I forget to mention one was in Santa Rosa and the other in Oakland?1

What has four eyes and smells like burning rubber?

Me

  1. Photo courtesy of brian.stein [↩]
Jul
21
2009
Author, Not Workers Compensation, Road Warrior

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Please don't sue us!
Please don't sue us!

This last weekend I stayed overnight at a hotel in Chico.  In the planters next to the parking lot they had placed these disclaimers/warning labels that read, “OXFORD SUITE HOTEL NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WATER SPOTTING DUE TO SPRINKLERS.”1

This brought to mind any number of responses:

  • “Oxford Suite Hotel not responsible for water”
  • “Oxfor Suite Hotel not responsible for H2O on your H2”
  • “Oxford Suite Hotel:  You failed physics in high school, didn’t you?”
  • “Oxford Suite Hotel:  Newton and Einstein – what bastards!”
  • “Oxford Suite Hotel:  Life’s tough.  Buy a helmet.”
  • “Oxford Suite Hotel not responsible for the administration of midnight beating for people who complain about water spotting due to sprinklers.  You brought that on yourself.”

I’m sure some idiot called their management to complain about how the sprinklers had left spots on their car.  When you think about it, Oxford Suite Hotel should be responsible for the installation, functioning, and maintenance of their own sprinklers, just as people who own vehicles should be responsible for the care and maintenance of their own vehicles.

There’s no making some people happy.  If they are going to complain about thier vehicle getting wet, while it’s outside, they’re going to complain about the lighting, the room, the service, the sheets, the ice being too cold, the A.C. being too loud, and the TV being too dry.

Here’s a decent business model: sprinklers automatically spray a customer’s car as soon as they pull up.  If they moan about spotting, send them on their way.  If they thank you for washing their car, offer them a complimentary breakfast with their stay.

In any case, I blame the huge evil sign industry that has purchased our elected officials.

  1. Sign, parking lot, shrubbery, and wood chips are the sole responsibility of Oxford Suite Hotel – no matter what disclaimers they put up.  Photo by Jay Shergill, all rights reserved. [↩]
Jun
30
2009
Author

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...and she was reading this!
...and she was reading this!

Yesterday morning I was driving to the San Jose Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board along 680 in the midst of some pretty gnarly traffic.  A woman followed me in her black Infiniti from roughly Danville to Dublin, tailgating.1

She was following me so closely, I could literally read her lips as she was chanting, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”

I kid you not.

  1. Photo courtesy of BillyPalooza [↩]
Jun
9
2009
Author, Blogging, Marketing, Not Workers Compensation, Technobabble

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We can

It turns out that this website is actually in the top 5% of all blogs in the WORLD.  Where did I get this incredible statistic?  The Internets, of course.1

While there are some 133,000,000 blogs in the world, all but 7,400,000 of them have been abandoned. 2  Since I add a blog post on average at least once a week, I’m quite safely in the top 7.4 million blogs.  That doesn’t even count the number of updates to the permanent impairment and permanent disability calculators.

Top 5%!  I wish I had prepared a speech.

  1. Photo courtesy of Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com [↩]
  2. Apparently not updating a blog in four months is considered abandoning it. [↩]