Faulty Iowa App Was Part of Push to Restore Democrats’ Digital Edge | Hacker News Reader

Faulty Iowa App Was Part of Push to Restore Democrats’ Digital Edge

nytimes.com

6 pointstysone4 comments

Insane. "It was so rushed, they said, that there was no time to get it approved by the Apple store. Had it been, it might have proved far easier for users to install. Instead, the app had to be downloaded by bypassing a phone’s security settings, a complicated process for anyone unfamiliar with the intricacies of mobile operating systems, and especially hard for many of the older, less tech-savvy caucus chairs in Iowa.

The app also had to be installed using two-factor authentication and PIN passcodes."

Why on earth did they make an app which they didn't even have time to get approved? This could have been done easily with a website. Honestly, they could have used Google Forms. A highly secure, off the shelf, and much cheaper option would have be to setup a G Suite workplace, mail security tokens to the caucus leaders, have them make accounts on a computer, and submit the results through a form.

Probably because the entire software development process, including the bidding conducted by the Iowa democrats, was done using Waterfall. The client delivers a 50 page document detailing every single requirement that must be exactly followed, and delivered by a specific date, and who cares about incremental milestones.

If they had followed the agile process, the very first thing they should have done is get a bare-bones app uploaded and approved onto the app store, with just one or two features. Let the actual users download the app, and report all bugs and usability problems. And make sure these issues are fixed early on, before the app grows into a bloated mess with rotten foundations. Maybe they wouldn't have been able to get every single feature implemented on time, but they would at least have something that does some things really well.

Agile gets a bad rap these days, but stories like these are exactly what happens when people regress back to waterfall.

This is ridiculous. It sucks that the IDP didn't have anyone on staff to be able to legitimately evaluate if this was feasible of not, or even if Shadow Inc. was selling bullshit.

We need to educate the government + parties about tech!

They should have worked with the USDA (D for digital)

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