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ITEC 370

ITEC 370. Lecture 26 Case study. Review. Questions? F give update on project (demo optional) Life cycles eXtreme programming. 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

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ITEC 370

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  1. ITEC 370 Lecture 26 Case study

  2. Review • Questions? • F give update on project (demo optional) • Life cycles • eXtreme programming

  3. 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

  4. Systems • Narwhal • Obama’s • Orca • Romney’s (named because Orca is Narwhal’s only predator)

  5. Question • What role does technology play in a presidential election? • What are the benefits? • What are the downsides?

  6. 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?

  7. 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

  8. Software • What it looked like

  9. 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?

  10. 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

  11. 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…

  12. End result • 30,000 of the most motivated Romney supporters couldn’t do anything • Frustration++ • Flying blind • Let things run their course

  13. Failures • Where do you think the process failed • Requirements • Design • Implementation • Testing • Didn’t even get to maintenance…

  14. 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

  15. 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…

  16. Which method? • What approach do you think is better? • What are the advantages / disadvantages of each approach?

  17. Issues • Obama had 4+ years to build his system • Romney had ~6 months due to primaries • Republicans not united and it showed

  18. Review • Orca vs Narwhal • What should / should not be done when developing software

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