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. ((Photo courtesy of TreMichLan. Terrible pun – all me!)) 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!
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.
Use it to determine whether someone is a U.S. citizen.
Use it to double-check someone’s year of birth.
Use it to determine approximately when someone became a U.S. citizen. ((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.))
Use it to determine whether someone is potentially Medicare eligible. ((Thanks Chris!))
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… ((Photo courtesy of Darwin Bell)) 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.
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. ((Photo courtesy of Irene on the run))
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.
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?
