And now, the end is near and so I face the final curtain
Dear Reader,
Oh what a journey something something I’ve learned so much something something incredible experience something yadda yadda let’s face it this was never about me and my personal validation as an unparalleled wordsmith.
This was all about YOU. Yes you! Our digital stars.
Congratulations to all the winners and to all those who worked to make sure these two days went off without a hitch. It was an amazing 48 hours filled with laughter, trials and tribulations, blood, sweat and tears and all manner of other idioms.
To quote one Amy Poehler,
It’s very hard to have ideas. It’s very hard to put yourself out there, it’s very hard to be vulnerable, but those people who do that are the dreamers, the thinkers and the creators. They are the magic people of the world.
To everyone who participated in the Hackday, you are all magic!
-Rasha
Special thanks to Michael and Jon who gave my fingers a break at the end there. You rock!
And finally, best overall hack goes to...
Mark Ottaway, Antonio Favata, Sophie Lambrakis, Anna Leach, Shermaine Waugh and Shehani Fernando with ‘See your AiR’! The amazing augmented reality hack to show the state of the air around us
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Most entertaining...
Paul and John for their Patron’s hack. The hats sealed it
Best conceptual hack...
Scott Painter. Who did something, I can’t remember what. But well done!
Most ambitious failure goes to...
Dana! For her attempts to make the news sing. We heard the results, it was horrifying. So well deserved!
Being the classy guy he is, Adam is foregoing the puns, and is instead thanking all those who have put huge amounts of effort into organising the hackday. And of course, the amazing Rasha for writing this blog (she’s not writing this block, so this isn’t shameless self promotion)
Audience participation please: What will be more shocking, MC Adam’s jokes, or the winners? Answers on a postcard
And that’s it for presentations. Everyone is furiously voting (speedily, not angrily). We should have results in a few short minutes...
The suspense is outrageous. There’s even a Penguin trophy
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Evergreen content
50,000 page views a week to some cover letter examples! Incredible but true. How could we help to track such long-tail content?
Sia, Mariot, Regis, Peter have been diving into the data lake to find them. Over 1,000 page views a week, over 3 weeks old: it goes into the dashboard.
It doesn’t work yet but looks promising. A few years ago The Guardian built Ophan to do up-to-the-minute analytics for content. If this one doesn’t get called Slowphan I’ll eat my hat.
Jon is presenting without slides or even a laptop! Despite appearing to be from the past he’s talking about how people could be able to file copy via email in the future.
“It doesn’t work, I haven’t finished it”. Spirit of hackday right there.
The website must load faster. So says Santiago and everyone agrees.
Useful tips on how to optimise for first meaningful paint. Good size reductions and fighting webpack bugs. Good hackday stuff.
Guardian Organise
A hack with a snappy name?! I’m game.
Paul and Leigh-Anne are looking to empower people to get involved and make a difference:
- Signing petitions on change.org
- Emailing your MP
- Volunteering near you
It’s all context sensitive to the page you’re looking at.
Quote Attribution
Attributing sources is hard but luckily Jonny and Tom are here.
They’ve hacked an attribution menu into our CMS, automatically extracting the names from the quotes.
With just a little bit of data we can get more visibility on gender bias in sources as well as making it easier to get in touch with a variety of different sources.
Nice.
Yes Crosswords!
Jordan is up - recreating app crosswords for the year 2018.
Brand new programming language, multiplayer support. It’s impressive stuff.
Simon has been working on adding a dyslexia friendly font, low contrast mode and night mode. The lights go out during the night mode demo. Coincidence or carefully planned?
The whole lot has been synced up to our preferences. Slick.
Alex takes us on a deep-dive of the current state of screen-reader tools.
Accessibility triple bill
Time to go in-depth on some of our site accessibility efforts. This is a 6 minute presentation, hold on to your boots.
Yesterday they set up a road-show with a few exercises to understand more about screen-readers, keyboard navigation and more.
Plenty more work to be done and lots of excitement in the room to get started.
Man of the Match
Gwyn has been working on adding Man of the Match voting into live reports. You also get notifications about who wins.
Traditional football action with a Guardian spin. Nice!
Infinite cartoons
Phil and Mat have a problem. They also have a long-standing bug bear with the website.
You see a smashing cartoon and can’t wait to see more. Standing in your way is your old nemesis, the browser back button.
Simply adding a forward and back button to the full-screen view and Phil is away browsing cartoons. We suspect he is still browsing.
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News curation tool
Shaun is up next! He’s been working with the News Wise crew at the Guardian Foundation to build a mini version of our very own front page editor.
It’s impressive stuff, even at 800x600 resolution and the presentation ends with a powerful photoshop image.
The news is in, Shaun’s been hacking
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DAB Smart Alarm
Simon is a man on a mission. That mission is to win “most cables used in a single hack 2018”.
You never know which Today programme presenter will wake you up in the morning. For Simon, this lottery is unacceptable.
Using a frankly irresponsible contraption formed of a Raspberry Pi, an Alexa and a literal software-controlled DAB radio - humanity now has the tools to parse the presenter name and avoid turning on the radio entirely if it’s fronted by “you know who”.
All in the room agreed, the world has changed today.
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Colin is up next!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when you know you’re on one website, it can be incredibly perplexing when you click on a video link and it takes you directly to a completely different website. How can you ever find your way back?
Well fear no more! Colin has the answer. He has made it possible to click on a link and, voilà!, it opens into a completely new tab. You never have to feel lost again.
Time to take a look at the Patron page.
Paul and John think it needs some TLC. Or at least patron does. As a patron I may want a personal thank you for my donation. Why not? I deserve one!
So what happens?
Well as soon as my payment goes through I can choose to get a phone call from a journalist at the Guardian to personally thank me for my support. Wow how lovely! I’m feeling the warm fuzzy the love.
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Q&A Everywhere!
Thomas has created a web brower extension to answer the burning questions you get after reading an article. We serve lots of Q&A snippets on the Guardian website, but what if you could get the use of them on any other website? Thomas’ extension checks when there is a relevant Guardian Q&A when you view content elsewhere, and shows you all the answers. For example if you read an article that lists 128 new tariffs that the US has imposed on China. You’re only likely to get 3 or 4. But gosh darn-it you want to know all the other 124!
By using this extension you can click on a wee Q&A button that will appear in the article and BAM! You now know all.
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Could the way you donate to the Guardian be simpler? At the moment it takes far too many clicks and key presses to make a quick speedy, small contribution.
Joe has found a way to reduce the time it takes to donate from minutes to mere seconds! He runs us through the procedure.
Joe bravely goes for the live demo approach; time for some tense music (Bourne Identity soundtrack, classy).
Music intensifies.
Yes! Success! Quick contributions are no longer the stuff of dreams
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Elvis who was working on the World Cup is sure the Guardian can do a better, more engaging job of reporting on the football to involve and include all fans from the frenzied to the ‘meh’. How do you this? Well how about start dropping some hardcore super cool facts that have nothing to do with football?
Have you ever wondered if the speed of a football shot can match the speed of a train? Is it a burning question in the back of your mind as you watch the players go back and forth? Elvis has your answer.
Our first presentation is Susie. She was the happy programmer working on the News Comparison for kids! How did Susie get on?
Ah yes it works! Well done Susie.
Hacking is over! Presentation time
Here we go! It begins.
Time for presentations.
Adam MCing and looking swish in his navy blue blazer. Award for Most Stylish MC to you Adam.
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T-minus 15 minutes till the presentations and the awards!
I am terribly saddened that I couldn’t get round to everyone in the last 2 days. I know there were quite a few more ideas floating around and being hacked to high heaven and they all deserve to shine in the spotlight.
All I can say now is good luck to all and happy presenting!
The awards ceremony approaches.
Who else can I quickly accost?
Perhaps a final update from Jon? His journey sure felt like a rollercoaster ride and I have to know how it ended.
Yeah it doesn’t work.
Gah. As crushing an end as that of Titanic. Jon abandons his idea just as Jack abandons the idea that both he and Rose could fit on that door.
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Right, I now nervously approach Phil praying that his idea will be a little easier to digest.
Lucky me, it is!
Apparently there is a serious ‘Next’ button shortage on the Guardian website, something that sounds pretty concerning and like it should be urgently addressed. Phil is currently focusing on the cartoon page. It appears once you click to view a certain cartoon, it is not possible to view the next one automatically without going back to the main page first. A positively shocking revelation that has left this humble blogger shaken to her very core.
But Phil is very reassuring. He plans to change all that. Soon one will be able to skim through all the cartoons that their hearts desire by the click of the one button. Thank you Phil. Absolutely revolutionary stuff. We need more people like you in the world.
The downside of being back on home turf today is everyone is a lot more scattered and I’m not just figuratively prowling anymore. Hmm…
Aha! I see one! Tall, dark and debonair, it is Jorge and I’m sure he’s working on something incredibly interesting.
3 minutes later
Jorge is trying very hard to explain his idea to me in a way that won’t hurt my brain. He needs a moment to formulate his explanation.
More minutes tick by
Crickets.
….
Wait no, he’s found the words!
….
Yeah ok so it’s very technical. VERY. Technical. But whatever it is it’ll hopefully mean less work for Jorge. Yay!
Shehani, Shermaine, Anna, Mark, Sophie and Antonio are a mouthful. And for good reason. They are tackling a biggie, Air Pollution! Gasp.
So what’s the idea? Well they are creating an iOS app that will help the user visualise, in real time, the air pollution around them in an Augmented Reality setting. ‘Ew who really wants to see that?’ you may ask but newsflash folks, right now pollution is the 4th highest cause of death worldwide. Holy Moly! Did you know this?!
Personally I think this should drive a full blown bloody uprising but right now their goal is a little bit more modest. They want to raise awareness and engage with the users to help them find ways to decrease their exposure where possible for a healthier lifestyle.
This idea sounds like a breath of fresh of air. Vive la révolution!
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Hey Kids! Are you interested in the news? Are you after a more critical view of the world? Would you like more comprehensive access to articles from the serious to the absurd? Then Susie has just the thing for you! It’s all about making sure you get the most inclusive view on a subject you possibly can when looking up stories online. The goal of this website is to help kids easily perceive the contrast between different news agencies around the world today, help them form a more critical analysis of any specific story and ultimately shape a more healthy world view.
Susie’s flatmate Anna (a full-fledged adult) comments,
I think I’d actually use that.
High praise indeed. Here’s what it could look like:
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...and we're back!
Good morning! Intermission over and today we are back at Guardian central for our 2nd and final day of our first Hackday of 2018.
What other exciting ideas is our digitastic crew working on and who will be showered with accolades later this afternoon? Time to go back on the prowl and find out.
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End of day one
And on that note it appears we have reached intermission.
Stay tuned for our next and final installments tomorrow where we will find out about some more hacks and, among other things, if Dana has something to sing about, can dyslexics now truly rejoice, did Jon actually get anywhere, and who will win all the awards??!
Dum dum duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum!
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And back to Jon, progress?
Better than earlier I will go that far
That’s more like it Jon.
On my way back from the loo I have passed by Simon and Jamie. They were the ones tackling accessibility earlier today. I thought it best to check if they had achieved any of their goals so far and so they have.
They have now created the Accessibility button on the website with a dropdown of the options on the front page and have implemented ‘Low Contrast Mode’ which turns the background a soft yellow.
During their research for this idea, they came across this scientific study which suggests that if you have dyslexia then using a creamy yellow background with black text helps.
Simon says,
It looked scientific when I read it.
As before, positively inspiring words from Simon.
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Team Evergreen – Punchy name but no it’s nothing to do with the environment. It’s more about keeping old articles ‘forever alive’. They very graciously and patiently explained their goal to me. Honestly, there was some technical talk involving meta-data, whereupon my brain dissolved slightly through my nose but I did gather the big picture. It is all about monitoring user traffic and bringing readership to old stories that look to have long term value, keeping them relevant, and up to date where possible.
In group member Siamak’s words its,
About recognising the content that lives beyond the news cycle
Moving stuff.
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Just ran into Dana in the pink jumper. Has she figured out how to get a Guardian article into the Top 40 Billboard charts?
Ummmm…
Not quite yet. She’s hitting a lot of roadblocks. What the iOS system allows you to do with speech is apparently very limited. You certainly can’t sustain a note or change its characteristics. She’s now trying to make a Mac app which has more audio options and flexibility.
She’s definitely not singin’ the blues yet.
Stop the presses!
I just spotted Elvis! He’s alive!... and working at the… Guardian?! Who would have known?
Well turns out he’s also working on the World Cup and he wants to make sure all you not-really-a-football-fan fans can feel included too. His idea is to lure you in with some super interesting statistics (no no stay with me this is good) like how far have players run through the match. That number will then be compared to, for example, the length of Central Park in New York. This could then lead you to an article on the top 10 books about the miscarriages of justice where the number 1 book is The Central Park Five. Get it now? Pretty Neat!
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Football fan? Want to feel a bit more involved? Desperately want to scream at someone (besides the television) who you think played better than the rest? Well despair no more! Gwyn, the man with the digital department’s most stylish shirts, is working on something for the upcoming World Cup! The idea is called ‘Man of the Match.’ As the game is being played, 10 minutes before the end, the Guardian editor writing the blog will select 4 players who he thinks have performed the best.
The user will sign up to get a notification when voting is open. Then, you guessed it, they vote for who they think is the best. At the end of the game the winner is Man of the Match. It’ll look a little something like this:
I told Gwyn I feel this is going create much ‘debate’ amongst fans and that’s apparently the point!
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Next, we check in with Jon. How is his automation dream proceeding? Jon says,
Er, it’s not working at the moment...
Don’t give up Jon.
So remember Paul and Leigh-Anne? They were working on getting people more actively involved in the big issues. Concerned about the use of plastics? Air pollution? Where you get your eggs? At the end of an article they want to offer readers a concrete action or set of actions they can take to help make a difference and, at the same time, link them up with the relevant representatives, organisations and support groups.
Right now they’re tackling some fundamental hurdles, one of which is, how the Guardian should best act as a middle man. Can we ultimately be 100% objective in our drive to make information available to the readers or will the ‘views of the Guardian’ make us lean towards certain issues or organisations above others? Hmmmmmmmm.
Special shout out to the Tiny Laptop. No banana on hand for scale, sadly, but hopefully the coffee mug and Adam’s normal sized hands (seen here modelling some luscious lime nail polish) will suffice.
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I just spotted post-its! And diagrams! So I had to ask Nathan, Sarah, Calvin and Priscilla to ‘help’ me understand them. And turns out they are the perfect group to ask. They’re actually working on the Guardian help page to reformat and revamp its looks and functions. Right now its confusing, difficult to navigate and not very user friendly.
We all agree that’s not the best 3 ways to describe a help page.
I’ve come across Jon, another loner. His idea is to have a more automated procedure for journalists submitting their work via email to reduce some of the workload for our subeditors. Jon thinks it’s too boring to blog about but I disagree. Whilst not as exciting as singing articles, his is an example of one of the more practical ideas that can really make a difference and improve productivity.
Jon’s idea has just ignited a hot debate between his fellow coworkers seated near him about email and security. Let’s keep an eye on how Jon may or may not solve this conundrum.
Dana is a lone wolf. Her idea revolves around Text to Speech on the iOS app of the Guardian and she wants to do something a little bit fun with it. Dana is a little bit shy about her end goal as she’s not quite convinced it’s going to work. With some more coaxing though she reveals she wants to have the articles sing in the end. Now that is definitely fun! You can do it Dana, I believe in you!
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My first duo are Paul and Leigh-Anne who are working on an idea that would make it easier and more accessible for people to actively participate in the issues they care about. Still at the conceptual stage, I will check back on them a little later to see how they plan to achieve this goal.
Near them are Jamie and Co who are interested in promoting all round better accessibility. How about a drop down menu on the website where users can select options such as high contrast mode, night mode, reduced animation and the like? Simon says,
We might end up with a design that is better than the actual website.
Bold words Simon!
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Welcome to the hackday!
Good morning all! And what a beautiful morning it is to be at Amazon headquarters where our digital department is currently congregating. We will be spending the day putting our heads together to solve all the world’s problems! Or at least come up with some pretty cool hacks.
Join this layman on an 8 hour journey poking and prodding some of our brightest and most innovative minds to find out more.
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