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From: Clay Johnson <cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:57:53 -0400
Message-ID: <ac15cf6c0908141257g540762f9lfaaf38fec507a08b@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [sunlightlabs] Re: Redesigning the Government: FCC
To: sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com
--0016e645b904e7179e04711f788f
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
So we had some great feedback both from our original rounds of feedback and
from people emailing in. The one lesson we got loud and clear is: THE FCC
DOES A LOT OF STUFF. AND ALL OF IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
Whether it is regulating the wireless spectrum, making sure there aren't any
swear words on broadcast TV, there aren't many agencies that have the
breadth of responsibility that the FCC does.
Because of that, I think the right way to go on the home page may be to go
with editorially focused aggregation model. Partisanship aside, you could
take ThinkProgress.org(http://www.thinkprogress.org) as an interesting
design model. It'd have to be made more obvious, but if you take the way
they color code articles based on the different beats they're covering,
you'd have an interesting way to present the front page, and driving people
to the stuff the FCC is responsible for.
The key is that the FCC is going to need a fairly significant editorial
operation to pull that off-- a team that can work with the different
departments within the agency to promote the content they need to be pushed
to the front.
Thoughts?
On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 12:02 PM, Christopher Groskopf <
staringmon...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> It seems to me that most of the central discussion here revolves around
> whether or not the architecture of the site is one that begins with
> issues on the front page and then drills down into the details relevant
> to each group that might access the site, or the reverse. However, what
> strikes me as more fundamental is that almost everyone seems to agree
> that the central motivating force is one of providing an educational
> service. To that end, I wonder if it might not be best to have some
> sort of hybrid design that provides both access to group-oriented
> portals (consumer, business, etc) and "single click" access to
> high-level information regarding hot-button issues. If the model is the
> FEC redesign page then I foresee the tabs along the top accessing these
> "portals", the "What's New" section containing blocks that drill-down
> into issue pages (a link through or minimized version of the spectrum
> map might be included here), and then the content portion of the page
> being rounded out with a news/events section, calendar, etc.
>
> However, all that describes a fairly conventional informative website.
> What might really give things more focus is if we had access to some
> information regarding how often each of the FCC's existing pages is
> being accessed. That could provide some insight into what information
> people are actively searching for and therefore provide a little more
> guidance during the redesign. Seeing that the Managing Director of the
> FCC has commented on the blog post, does anyone suppose that information
> might be made available?
>
> Christopher Groskopf
>
> Daniel Schuman wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > There's a lot the FCC could do to help raise awareness of what it
> > does, but I'd like to come back to the initial question that prompted
> > this discussion. I am also going to assume that because the FCC has
> > such a broad mandate that covers a huge range of issues, the agency
> > won't be able to pick which stakeholders to satisfy and which ones to
> > ignore.
> >
> > So, when you arrive on the FCC's home page, what kind of information
> > would you expect to see? How would you expect it to be organized?
> >
> > Would it make sense to organize information by FCC bureau? By the
> > kinds of users we would expect to access the site (consumers,
> > business, industry, regulators)? Should all information be tagged
> > (either taxonomy or folksonomy) and findable by a search engine?
> > Should there be a number of micro-websites instead of one big web
> > site? Should there be portals for different kinds of users?
> >
> > What have you seen work well on other sites? The FCC covers a huge
> > array of issues, with no obvious central idea beyond communications,
> > so how we can put this together so that it makes sense to people?
> >
> > And are there other ways, such as a blogs, RSS feeds, bulk data
> > access, etc., to help make the underlying information more readily
> > accessible?
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
> > Daniel Schuman
> > Policy Counsel | Sunlight Foundation
> > Twitter: danielschuman | 202-713-5795
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 8:55 PM, Ryan Wold <ryanjw...@gmail.com
> > <mailto:ryanjw...@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Kim,
> >
> > You make a great point. However, part of the cause of this issue
> > (that the general public has no idea), fortunately, is partially
> > addressed in the proposed solution. Much of the general public
> > does not know what the FCC does because like many
> > public/government agencies, its purpose and operations can be
> > difficult to relate to, or identify. The relevance of the
> > institution (FCC) is lost because its story is not compelling as
> > it is currently told.
> >
> > However, by bringing real, meaningful data to light, the 'story'
> > changes. By portraying the information visually, the medium
> > inherently provides a context to make the data meaningful. For
> > example, seeing the text details of documents related to spectrum
> > allocation (or many of their other functions) is not nearly as
> > compelling as a visual display of the entire spectrum. By showing
> > the entire spectrum, a user could also see relationships in the
> > data. A visualization can help users build a mental framework,
> > and the commonalities and outliers in the dataset invite users to
> > make their own meaning. And, a visual display also speaks clearly
> > to one thing that the FCC does (govern the spectrum).
> >
> > A common theme of this Transparency thread is that bringing data
> > to light will reduce the obstacles to understand and participate
> > in public affairs. So, while a formalized advertising campaign
> > may be outside the scope of this specific re-design, awareness of
> > government operations is increasing rapidly due to the many
> > transparency efforts discussed here. Hopefully, with more
> > relevant and easy-to-understand presentations of data, the
> > barriers to general public understanding will fade, while,
> > interest and participation will flourish.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 4:09 PM, Kim Rees <k...@periscopic.com
> > <mailto:k...@periscopic.com>> wrote:
> >
> > It seems that if the general public has no idea what the FCC
> > does, it would need an advertising campaign to go along with
> > it. I realize this is just a mock redesign, but if the general
> > public doesn't know what the FCC does, why would it visit the
> > site? Or a better question, how would one get those people to
> > visit the site. Probably outside the scope of this exercise.
> >
> >
> >
> > Forgive me if I'm getting things off topic. I'm sort of new to
> > this particular arena, so I probably shouldn't be chiming in.
> >
> >
> >
> > Kim
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > *From:* sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com
> > <mailto:sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com>
> > [mailto:sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com
> > <mailto:sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com>] *On Behalf Of *Luke
> > Peterson
> > *Sent:* Monday, August 03, 2009 12:44 PM
> > *To:* sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com
> > <mailto:sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com>
> > *Subject:* [sunlightlabs] Re: Redesigning the Government: FCC
> >
> >
> >
> > It seems businesses which have to work with the FCC will tend
> > to allocate resources to employ people who understand what the
> > FCC does and how. Lawyers, former bureaucrats, etc. are the
> > participants who are paid based on their ability to cut
> > through the lack of transparency in the commission's work. It
> > could be that were the business-end of the FCC more
> > transparent, these folks wouldn't be so necessary to
> > participate in the world of commercial RF transmission, thus
> > lowering the barrier of entry in the field and creating
> > opportunities for competition.
> >
> > So, while I think very good arguments could be made for
> > enhanced transparency for both the general-public and business
> > sides of the FCC's public-facing website, I think it's a false
> > choice to consider which group a re-design of the FCC's
> > website should leave out. They need to do way better across
> > the board.
> >
> > A good place to start is a design that anticipates visitors
> > often have no idea what the FCC does, and can be given a
> > education as to their role in government and who works with
> > them. At the same time, businesses already working with the
> > FCC should easily be able to access the things they rely on,
> > and businesses interested in working with the FCC should be
> > presented with a tutorial that helps them understand how they
> > can do so.
> >
> > This is in addition to presenting data in a way that allows
> > the relatively uninformed to keep tabs on what's happening
> > there, and which allows outside groups to monitor and
> > companies to capitalize on that transparency as well.
> >
> > I personally know very little about the FCC, but I understand
> > that one of the things they are in charge of is the licensing
> > of radio spectrum. The first page of this is clearly
> > out-dated, but something similar should be prominently
> > featured somewhere on the FCC's website as a way to help
> > people understand graphically what this entails:
> >
> > http://wirelessairport.org/spectrum.pdf
> >
> > -----
> > Luke Peterson
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Jim Gilliam <j...@gilliam.com
> > <mailto:j...@gilliam.com>> wrote:
> >
> > Yeah, the idea would be to completely shift the target
> > audience from businesses to consumers. There'd still need to
> > be an area for business stuff, all the press releases and
> > basic info, but that would be a secondary goal of the site
> design.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 11:17 AM, Kim Rees <k...@periscopic.com
> > <mailto:k...@periscopic.com>> wrote:
> >
> > I think would be a good approach for the general public. But
> > is that the primary audience for the site? It seems like
> > people who have to do business with the FCC should have top
> > priority.
> >
> >
> >
> > Kim
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >
> > On Aug 3, 2009, at 11:06 AM, "Jim Gilliam" <j...@gilliam.com
> > <mailto:j...@gilliam.com>> wrote:
> >
> > The vast majority of people have no idea what the FCC
> > does. And even folks like me, who do have a basic
> > understanding of what the FCC does, don't fully
> > understand what the FCC *could* do.
> >
> > Here's a very different approach to the site. Show all
> > the companies, radio, television, cell phone carriers,
> > satellite, etc that the FCC has jurisdiction over. Down
> > to specific stations even, if possible. Hello, America,
> > this is who you've given permission to use your
> > airwaves. Then collect feedback from the public on how
> > *well* these companies are using it, with the goal of
> > ranking the stations/companies on how well they are
> > serving the public. Which can then guide what the FCC
> > does.
> >
> > Jim Gilliam
> > http://act.ly/
> > http://twitter.com/jgilliam
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 8:03 AM, Clay Johnson
> > <cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com
> > <mailto:cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com>> wrote:
> >
> > Hey all,
> >
> > As you know, we've been doing a lot of mock-redesigns of
> > federal websites. We've done the FEC, USA.gov
> > <http://USA.gov>, EPA, and the Supreme Court. Now we want
> > to tackle the FCC. This is probably the most ambitious of
> > all-- the FCC serves so many different functions that
> > figuring out how to architect and build a design for the
> > website is really tough. Check out:
> >
> >
> http://sunlightlabs.com/blog/2009/07/31/how-do-we-redesign-fccgov/
> >
> > We need some help and some ideas on how to do it. We'd
> > love to have yours. If you have any advice or comments, or
> > know somebody who does, please add them either in this
> > thread (to kick off a great discussion) or as a comment in
> > the blog post. We'll collect the comments, and feed them
> > to our designer and see what comes out of it.
> >
> > So: what do you think fcc.gov <http://fcc.gov> should do?
> > We're pretty clear on the tech stuff, and Ali can make it
> > look pretty. We know that the FCC should "publish things
> > in RSS" and stuff like that, but in your ideal world, what
> > would be on the front page of FCC.gov <http://FCC.gov>?
> >
> > --Clay
> >
> > --
> > Clay Johnson
> > Director of Sunlight Labs
> > cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com
> > <mailto:cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com>
> > AIM: knowpost
> > Google: clayjohnson
> > Calendar: http://bit.ly/xWvu
> > You should follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/cjoh
> > 2afa8aa5f689ec8ef84f0911aab0895d
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >
>
> >
>
--
Clay Johnson
Director of Sunlight Labs
cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com
AIM: knowpost
Google: clayjohnson
Calendar: http://bit.ly/xWvu
You should follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/cjoh
2afa8aa5f689ec8ef84f0911aab0895d
--0016e645b904e7179e04711f788f
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
So we had some great feedback both from our original rounds of feedback and=
from people emailing in. The one lesson we got loud and clear is: THE FCC =
DOES A LOT OF STUFF. AND ALL OF IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT.<br><br>Whether it i=
s regulating the wireless spectrum, making sure there aren't any swear =
words on broadcast TV, there aren't many agencies that have the breadth=
of responsibility that the FCC does. <br>
<br>Because of that, I think the right way to go on the home page may be to=
go with editorially focused aggregation model. Partisanship aside, you cou=
ld take ThinkProgress.org(<a href=3D"http://www.thinkprogress.org">http://w=
ww.thinkprogress.org</a>) as an interesting design model. It'd have to =
be made more obvious, but if you take the way they color code articles base=
d on the different beats they're covering, you'd have an interestin=
g way to present the front page, and driving people to the stuff the FCC is=
responsible for.<br>
<br>The key is that the FCC is going to need a fairly significant editorial=
operation to pull that off-- a team that can work with the different depar=
tments within the agency to promote the content they need to be pushed to t=
he front.<br>
<br>Thoughts?<br><br><br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Tue, Aug 4, 2009=
at 12:02 PM, Christopher Groskopf <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:=
staringmon...@gmail.com">staringmon...@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><=
blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 2=
04, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
It seems to me that most of the central discussion here revolves around<br>
whether or not the architecture of the site is one that begins with<br>
issues on the front page and then drills down into the details relevant<br>
to each group that might access the site, or the reverse. =A0However, what<=
br>
strikes me as more fundamental is that almost everyone seems to agree<br>
that the central motivating force is one of providing an educational<br>
service. =A0To that end, I wonder if it might not be best to have some<br>
sort of hybrid design that provides both access to group-oriented<br>
portals (consumer, business, etc) and "single click" access to<br=
>
high-level information regarding hot-button issues. =A0If the model is the<=
br>
FEC redesign page then I foresee the tabs along the top accessing these<br>
"portals", the "What's New" section containing bloc=
ks that drill-down<br>
into issue pages (a link through or minimized version of the spectrum<br>
map might be included here), and then the content portion of the page<br>
being rounded out with a news/events section, calendar, etc.<br>
<br>
However, all that describes a fairly conventional informative website.<br>
What might really give things more focus is if we had access to some<br>
information regarding how often each of the FCC's existing pages is<br>
being accessed. =A0That could provide some insight into what information<br=
>
people are actively searching for and therefore provide a little more<br>
guidance during the redesign. =A0Seeing that the Managing Director of the<b=
r>
FCC has commented on the blog post, does anyone suppose that information<br=
>
might be made available?<br>
<br>
Christopher Groskopf<br>
<div><div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br>
Daniel Schuman wrote:<br>
> Hi all,<br>
><br>
> There's a lot the FCC could do to help raise awareness of what it<=
br>
> does, but I'd like to come back to the initial question that promp=
ted<br>
> this discussion. I am also going to assume that because the FCC has<br=
>
> such a broad mandate that covers a huge range of issues, the agency<br=
>
> won't be able to pick which stakeholders to satisfy and which ones=
to<br>
> ignore.<br>
><br>
> So, when you arrive on the FCC's home page, what kind of informati=
on<br>
> would you expect to see? How would you expect it to be organized?<br>
><br>
> Would it make sense to organize information by FCC bureau? By the<br>
> kinds of users we would expect to access the site (consumers,<br>
> business, industry, regulators)? Should all information be tagged<br>
> (either taxonomy or folksonomy) and findable by a search engine?<br>
> Should there be a number of micro-websites instead of one big web<br>
> site? Should there be portals for different kinds of users?<br>
><br>
> What have you seen work well on other sites? The FCC covers a huge<br>
> array of issues, with no obvious central idea beyond communications,<b=
r>
> so how we can put this together so that it makes sense to people?<br>
><br>
> And are there other ways, such as a blogs, RSS feeds, bulk data<br>
> access, etc., to help make the underlying information more readily<br>
> accessible?<br>
><br>
> What do you think?<br>
><br>
> Daniel Schuman<br>
> Policy Counsel | Sunlight Foundation<br>
> Twitter: danielschuman | 202-713-5795<br>
><br>
><br>
> On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 8:55 PM, Ryan Wold <<a href=3D"mailto:ryanjw=
o...@gmail.com">ryanjw...@gmail.com</a><br>
</div></div><div><div></div><div class=3D"h5">> <mailto:<a href=3D"ma=
ilto:ryanjw...@gmail.com">ryanjw...@gmail.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 Hi Kim,<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 You make a great point. =A0However, part of the cause of this =
issue<br>
> =A0 =A0 (that the general public has no idea), fortunately, is partial=
ly<br>
> =A0 =A0 addressed in the proposed solution. =A0Much of the general pub=
lic<br>
> =A0 =A0 does not know what the FCC does because like many<br>
> =A0 =A0 public/government agencies, its purpose and operations can be<=
br>
> =A0 =A0 difficult to relate to, or identify. =A0The relevance of the<b=
r>
> =A0 =A0 institution (FCC) is lost because its story is not compelling =
as<br>
> =A0 =A0 it is currently told.<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 However, by bringing real, meaningful data to light, the '=
story'<br>
> =A0 =A0 changes. =A0By portraying the information visually, the medium=
<br>
> =A0 =A0 inherently provides a context to make the data meaningful. =A0=
For<br>
> =A0 =A0 example, seeing the text details of documents related to spect=
rum<br>
> =A0 =A0 allocation (or many of their other functions) is not nearly as=
<br>
> =A0 =A0 compelling as a visual display of the entire spectrum. =A0By s=
howing<br>
> =A0 =A0 the entire spectrum, a user could also see relationships in th=
e<br>
> =A0 =A0 data. =A0A visualization can help users build a mental framewo=
rk,<br>
> =A0 =A0 and the commonalities and outliers in the dataset invite users=
to<br>
> =A0 =A0 make their own meaning. =A0And, a visual display also speaks c=
learly<br>
> =A0 =A0 to one thing that the FCC does (govern the spectrum).<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 A common theme of this Transparency thread is that bringing da=
ta<br>
> =A0 =A0 to light will reduce the obstacles to understand and participa=
te<br>
> =A0 =A0 in public affairs. =A0So, while a formalized advertising campa=
ign<br>
> =A0 =A0 may be outside the scope of this specific re-design, awareness=
of<br>
> =A0 =A0 government operations is increasing rapidly due to the many<br=
>
> =A0 =A0 transparency efforts discussed here. =A0Hopefully, with more<b=
r>
> =A0 =A0 relevant and easy-to-understand presentations of data, the<br>
> =A0 =A0 barriers to general public understanding will fade, while,<br>
> =A0 =A0 interest and participation will flourish.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 4:09 PM, Kim Rees <<a href=3D"mailto=
:k...@periscopic.com">k...@periscopic.com</a><br>
</div></div><div class=3D"im">> =A0 =A0 <mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:kim=
@periscopic.com">k...@periscopic.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 It seems that if the general public has no idea what t=
he FCC<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 does, it would need an advertising campaign to go alon=
g with<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 it. I realize this is just a mock redesign, but if the=
general<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 public doesn't know what the FCC does, why would i=
t visit the<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 site? Or a better question, how would one get those pe=
ople to<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 visit the site. Probably outside the scope of this exe=
rcise.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Forgive me if I'm getting things off topic. I'=
m sort of new to<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 this particular arena, so I probably shouldn't be =
chiming in.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Kim<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 *From:* <a href=3D"mailto:sunlightl...@googlegroups.co=
m">sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com</a><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:sunlightlabs@googlegroups=
.com">sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com</a>><br>
</div>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 [mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:sunlightlabs@googlegro=
ups.com">sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com</a><br>
<div class=3D"im">> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:sunligh=
tlabs@googlegroups.com">sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com</a>>] *On Behalf O=
f *Luke<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Peterson<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 *Sent:* Monday, August 03, 2009 12:44 PM<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 *To:* <a href=3D"mailto:sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com"=
>sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com</a><br>
</div>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:sunlightlabs@google=
groups.com">sunlightlabs@googlegroups.com</a>><br>
<div><div></div><div class=3D"h5">> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 *Subject:* [sunlight=
labs] Re: Redesigning the Government: FCC<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 It seems businesses which have to work with the FCC wi=
ll tend<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 to allocate resources to employ people who understand =
what the<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 FCC does and how. =A0Lawyers, former bureaucrats, etc.=
are the<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 participants who are paid based on their ability to cu=
t<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 through the lack of transparency in the commission'=
;s work. =A0It<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 could be that were the business-end of the FCC more<br=
>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 transparent, these folks wouldn't be so necessary =
to<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 participate in the world of commercial RF transmission=
, thus<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 lowering the barrier of entry in the field and creatin=
g<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 opportunities for competition.<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 So, while I think very good arguments could be made fo=
r<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 enhanced transparency for both the general-public and =
business<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 sides of the FCC's public-facing website, I think =
it's a false<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 choice to consider which group a re-design of the FCC&=
#39;s<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 website should leave out. =A0They need to do way bette=
r across<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 the board.<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 A good place to start is a design that anticipates vis=
itors<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 often have no idea what the FCC does, and can be given=
a<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 education as to their role in government and who works=
with<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 them. =A0At the same time, businesses already working =
with the<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 FCC should easily be able to access the things they re=
ly on,<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 and businesses interested in working with the FCC shou=
ld be<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 presented with a tutorial that helps them understand h=
ow they<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 can do so.<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 This is in addition to presenting data in a way that a=
llows<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 the relatively uninformed to keep tabs on what's h=
appening<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 there, and which allows outside groups to monitor and<=
br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 companies to capitalize on that transparency as well.<=
br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 I personally know very little about the FCC, but I und=
erstand<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 that one of the things they are in charge of is the li=
censing<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 of radio spectrum. =A0The first page of this is clearl=
y<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 out-dated, but something similar should be prominently=
<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 featured somewhere on the FCC's website as a way t=
o help<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 people understand graphically what this entails:<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <a href=3D"http://wirelessairport.org/spectrum.pdf" ta=
rget=3D"_blank">http://wirelessairport.org/spectrum.pdf</a><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 -----<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Luke Peterson<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Jim Gilliam <<a hre=
f=3D"mailto:j...@gilliam.com">j...@gilliam.com</a><br>
</div></div><div class=3D"im">> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <mailto:<a href=3D"ma=
ilto:j...@gilliam.com">j...@gilliam.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Yeah, the idea would be to completely shift the target=
<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 audience from businesses to consumers. =A0There'd =
still need to<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 be an area for business stuff, all the press releases =
and<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 basic info, but that would be a secondary goal of the =
site design.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 11:17 AM, Kim Rees <<a href=
=3D"mailto:k...@periscopic.com">k...@periscopic.com</a><br>
</div><div class=3D"im">> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:k=
i...@periscopic.com">k...@periscopic.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 I think would be a good approach for the general publi=
c. But<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 is that the primary audience for the site? It seems li=
ke<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 people who have to do business with the FCC should hav=
e top<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 priority.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Kim<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Sent from my iPhone<br>
><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 On Aug 3, 2009, at 11:06 AM, "Jim Gilliam" &=
lt;<a href=3D"mailto:j...@gilliam.com">j...@gilliam.com</a><br>
</div><div class=3D"im">> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:j=
i...@gilliam.com">j...@gilliam.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 The vast majority of people have no idea what =
the FCC<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 does. =A0And even folks like me, who do have a=
basic<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 understanding of what the FCC =A0does, don'=
;t fully<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 understand what the FCC *could* do.<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Here's a very different approach to the si=
te. =A0Show all<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 the companies, radio, television, cell phone c=
arriers,<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 satellite, etc that the FCC has jurisdiction o=
ver. =A0 Down<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 to specific stations even, if possible. =A0 =
=A0Hello, America,<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 this is who you've given permission to use=
your<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 airwaves. =A0 Then collect feedback from the p=
ublic on how<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 *well* these companies are using it, with the =
goal of<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 ranking the stations/companies on how well the=
y are<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 serving the public. =A0 Which can then guide w=
hat the FCC<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 does.<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Jim Gilliam<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <a href=3D"http://act.ly/" target=3D"_blank">h=
ttp://act.ly/</a><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <a href=3D"http://twitter.com/jgilliam" target=
=3D"_blank">http://twitter.com/jgilliam</a><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 8:03 AM, Clay Johnson<b=
r>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <<a href=3D"mailto:cjohnson@sunlightfoundat=
ion.com">cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com</a><br>
</div><div class=3D"im">> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <mailto:<a href=3D"=
mailto:cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com">cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com</a>=
>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Hey all,<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 As you know, we've been doing a lot of moc=
k-redesigns of<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 federal websites. We've done the FEC, USA.=
gov<br>
</div>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <<a href=3D"http://USA.gov" target=3D=
"_blank">http://USA.gov</a>>, EPA, and the Supreme Court. Now we want<br=
>
<div class=3D"im">> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 to tackle the FCC. This is p=
robably the most ambitious of<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 all-- the FCC serves so many different functio=
ns that<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 figuring out how to architect and build a desi=
gn for the<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 website is really tough. Check out:<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <a href=3D"http://sunlightlabs.com/blog/2009/0=
7/31/how-do-we-redesign-fccgov/" target=3D"_blank">http://sunlightlabs.com/=
blog/2009/07/31/how-do-we-redesign-fccgov/</a><br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 We need some help and some ideas on how to do =
it. We'd<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 love to have yours. If you have any advice or =
comments, or<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 know somebody who does, please add them either=
in this<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 thread (to kick off a great discussion) or as =
a comment in<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 the blog post. We'll collect the comments,=
and feed them<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 to our designer and see what comes out of it.<=
br>
><br>
</div>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 So: what do you think <a href=3D"http://=
fcc.gov" target=3D"_blank">fcc.gov</a> <<a href=3D"http://fcc.gov" targe=
t=3D"_blank">http://fcc.gov</a>> should do?<br>
<div class=3D"im">> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 We're pretty clear on th=
e tech stuff, and Ali can make it<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 look pretty. We know that the FCC should "=
;publish things<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 in RSS" and stuff like that, but in your =
ideal world, what<br>
</div>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 would be on the front page of FCC.gov &l=
t;<a href=3D"http://FCC.gov" target=3D"_blank">http://FCC.gov</a>>?<br>
<div class=3D"im">><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 --Clay<br>
><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 --<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Clay Johnson<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Director of Sunlight Labs<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <a href=3D"mailto:cjohnson@sunlightfoundation.=
com">cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com</a><br>
</div>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:cjohnson@su=
nlightfoundation.com">cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com</a>><br>
<div><div></div><div class=3D"h5">> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 AIM: knowpos=
t<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Google: clayjohnson<br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Calendar: <a href=3D"http://bit.ly/xWvu" targe=
t=3D"_blank">http://bit.ly/xWvu</a><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 You should follow me on twitter: <a href=3D"ht=
tp://twitter.com/cjoh" target=3D"_blank">http://twitter.com/cjoh</a><br>
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 2afa8aa5f689ec8ef84f0911aab0895d<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> ><br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>Clay Johnso=
n<br>Director of Sunlight Labs<br><a href=3D"mailto:cjohnson@sunlightfounda=
tion.com">cjohn...@sunlightfoundation.com</a><br>AIM: knowpost<br>Google: c=
layjohnson<br>
Calendar: <a href=3D"http://bit.ly/xWvu">http://bit.ly/xWvu</a><br>You shou=
ld follow me on twitter: <a href=3D"http://twitter.com/cjoh">http://twitter=
.com/cjoh</a><br>2afa8aa5f689ec8ef84f0911aab0895d<br>
--0016e645b904e7179e04711f788f--
Message from discussion Redesigning the Government: FCC
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