Narendra Modi failed to say how millions of employees — mainly rural migrants — were to get by

Hayden Library - TA418.9.N35 N3664 2012

Barker Library - T174.7.N37347 2019

[Ottawa] : Statistics Canada = Statistique Canada, 2020

At just 13 years, Malavath Poorna from Telangana has become the youngest female climber in the world to scale Mount Everest. Speaking with Rohit E David, Poorna discussed how she has emerged from a family of agricultural labourers to become a mountaineer, the difficulties she faced while navigating Mount Everest, the one thought that kept her going — and how she wants to climb many more mountains now.

Strongly condemning the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Federation of Indian Christians Organisations of North America appealed to Islamabad to bring the perpetrators of the "dastardly" crime to justice.

A team of Indian-American scientists has developed a smart tracking system, which could very well provide an honourable alternative to the radio tags.

An Indian-origin woman and her mother were sentenced to three years in prison by a South African court, which found them guilty of arranging a fake certificate of marriage to inherit property of their landlord, who died of poisoning.

A Canadian court has sentenced an Indian-origin man to life in prison for murdering his pregnant wife in 2006.

More than 1.48 lakh people registered on the government's Jan Sunwai portal on Thursday, requesting to be brought back to UP from other states that they have been stuck in since the lockdown was imposed.

The finding was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

'When Punjabis go for a movie, especially if they are abroad, they go with grandparents and parents. It is an event for them.''We always have to make family entertainers so that people feel comfortable watching with their families.'

'If I look in a certain way, have an innocent face, I will only get offers for the girl-next-door roles. As an actor and creative person, you want to explore and experiment more but you don't get the opportunity. That gets frustrating at times.'

'Sometimes, I wish someone would tell me that this will happen at this point in time, so I know how my life will be. I don't know what my evening is like. I don't know what my tomorrow will be like. The uncertainty sometimes takes a toll on me.'

'India is called the largest democracy in the world, and one cannot believe that there are two Constitutions, two penal codes and two sets of laws.'

'It's next to impossible to cast two superstars in one film as the main lead, and that's why directors and writers don't even think about attempting it.'

'I am learning good things and trying to avoid the bad. I am moving ahead with a positive attitude. That is my biggest achievement.'

'Hopefully, I will become more evolved as a performer in the future.'

'If you don't get married, it's not a crime. If you do, it's not an achievement either.'

'Pagalpanti has no double meaning, no exposure, no bloodshed... Even the villain is very cute!'

'I want to be that actress who does everything. I want to be that actress who does Lootera as well as Dabangg,' says Sonakshi Sinha.

'I feel like I came to the industry just day before yesterday, even though it's more than 30 years now.'

'I was almost forgotten after Filmistaan as nothing substantial, or should I say, successful in terms of box office, came my way.'

'When you're an outsider, the journey to make it to your first film is a movie by itself.''It has struggle, pain, rejection, transformation...'

African American Dollmaking and Puppetry: Renegotiating Identity, Restoring Community
Various speakers and artists, moderated by Camilla Bryce-Laporte

February 18, 2020, 11:30am-2:00pm
119 First Floor
Thomas Jefferson Building

African American artisans utilize ancient skills and innovative technologies to create dolls and puppets that are both whimsical and starkly serious. Their creations — incorporating clay, textiles, wood, glass, and found objects — embrace the somber reality of African American experiences and optimism for a boundless future. Working alone and in communities these artisans create dolls and puppets that articulate Black beauty, strength, style, spirituality, and truth. Their works, embodying older traditions and innovative vocabularies for storytelling, are designed to amuse, educate, and heal. Dolls of each of 8 makers will be displayed on tables from 11:30-12:00 pm and 1:30 pm-2:00 pm.

Folklorist Camila Bryce-Laporte will present six makers as they discuss their work and the stories behind that work. This will be followed with a question and answer session from 12 noon to 1:30 pm.

This program may deal with sensitive subjects and is aimed at adults rather than children.

Some of the dolls will be for sale through the auspices of the Library of Congress sales shop.

Click here for more information.

There is one big message from the recent by-elections that comes ringing in from Bihar. It has tactical implications for the politics that will unfold in the run-up to 2019: hypothetically, if there are any plans afoot to “finish off” another politician (perhaps someone from a neighbouring state) by sending her or him to jail or encircling her or him in corruption and income tax cases, it will only be counter-productive and may end up evoking sympathy for that individual.

Barker Library - TA440.E358 2012

Barker Library - TA440.S87 2013

Barker Library - TA439.S96 2013

Barker Library - TA444.F53 2015

Barker Library - TA443.P58 M63 2015

Barker Library - TA438.I58 2017

Online Resource

Given the proliferation of bike/scooter sharing services these days, I thought it would be interesting to compare the mobile app on-boarding experiences of the ones I could access. To do so, I went through the new customer flow for six of these services.

While the mobile on-boarding I experienced across these services looked really similar, the end result differed dramatically -from me abandoning the process to walking away a delighted customer. Understanding how product design impacted these outcomes is critical for anyone trying to grow a new mobile business.

Applying Design Patterns

My first encounter with bike sharing, appropriately, was in Amsterdam. I was outside the city center for a meeting and encountered a rack of Hello-Bikes. So why not bike back to my hotel in town? Here’s what happened when I tried.

Hello-Bike’s mobile on-boarding consists of several common patterns: a splash screen, a sign-up form, terms and conditions, and a tutorial. Though widely used, starting the design process off with these types of patterns often results in a flow that seems right in mock-ups or wireframes but fails to solve actual customer needs.

The designer thinks: “I know what an on-boarding flow is. It’s a splash screen, a sign-up screen and a tutorial people can swipe through.” The resulting customer experience in filling in form fields, scrolling through 17 screens of terms & conditions (yes, you are required to scroll through all of them), granting location permissions (because “background location-tracking is required”), and skipping through 6 tutorial screens featuring critical knowledge like “Welcome to Hello-Bike.”

After maneuvering through all this, I found out there were no docking stations in central Amsterdam because of government regulation. So I actually couldn’t use the Hello-Bike service to ride to my hotel. Starting the design process from the perspective of the customer would likely have revealed the importance of communicating these kinds of constraints up front. Starting by selecting design patterns would not.

• Set expectations appropriately, so potential customers don’t end a lengthy sign-up process in disappointment or frustration.
• While convenient, design patterns are no substitute for understanding and designing with your customers & their goals top of mind.

Having Desktop Bias

While modern mobile devices have been around for over ten years, desktop devices have had at least 3x more time to influence and bias our approach to software design. That’s why it’s not surprising to see desktop design concepts permeate mobile apps. In the case of Jump’s mobile on-boarding, they are all over the place.

Following the obligatory splash screen, Jump animates through a series of safety tips calling out the unique features of electric bikes. Unfortunately, so many steps follow these tips that I can’t imagine anyone remembering them when they are finally allowed to ride one of Jump’s electric bikes.

Next up are a series of permission dialogs for access to Motion & Fitness and Location data. Both requests are accompanied by explanatory text that suggests Jump needs access to this information in order to “gather data about how electric bikes affect travel patterns.” Sounds like a good thing for Jump, but it’s not clear why customers should participate or even care.

This mindset permeates the rest of Jump’s on-boarding as well: choose one of our bike “networks”, select one of our plans, verify your phone number, pick a 7 character password with numbers and uppercase letters, agree to our terms and conditions, put money into one of our accounts, etc. After ten steps of doing things for Jump and seeing no progress toward actually riding a bike, I abandoned at the “Enter Credit Card” step.

Perhaps someone at Jump heard completion rates for forms go up when you place each question on a separate screen (I’ve seen no evidence of this), but the cumulative effect of going through a desktop-design influenced e-commerce checkout flow one step at a time on my phone was quite painful.

• Make sure your customers always feel like they are making progress toward their goals, not yours.
• Desktop paradigms often aren’t a great fit for mobile. For instance, do you really need a checkout form? As we’ll see later, no.

Right Time, Right Place

After abandoning the bike-sharing process with both Hello-Bike and Jump, I had my first successful on-boarding with Spin. That’s not to say there wasn’t a lot of room for improvement. With mobile on-boarding it’s not just what we ask people to do it’s also when we ask them to do it. Spin starts off with a tutorial, which explains they are smart, I can park anywhere, and scanning a bike’s QR code will let me ride it.

Turns out that’s not entirely true as I needed to give them my email address, create a password, provide location permissions, and agree to three separate terms of service. It’s only after this gauntlet, that I’m actually able to scan the QR code on the bike in front of me. Why couldn’t we just have started the process there?

It is worth noting, however, that Spin provides much better explanations for its permission requests. When requesting location permissions, Hello-Bike told me: “background-location tracking is required” and Jump explained I could help them “gather data about how electric bikes affect travel patterns.” Spin, on the other hand, explained they use location to help me find pick-up and drop off points. They also explained they needed camera permissions so I can scan the QR code on a bike to unlock it.

After I did, my next step was to reload my Spin account, with the only reloading option being $5. This immediately felt odd as the bike ride itself was advertised as $1. So if I never rode another Spin bike again, they had 4 more dollars from me... hmmmm. On a positive note, Spin integrated with Apple Pay which meant I simply had to tap a button on the side of my phone to approve payment. No checkout forms, shopping carts, or credit card entry forms required. See? We can do things in a mobile-native vs. desktop way.

Following the payment process, I was greeted with a another tutorial (these things sure are popular huh? too bad most people skip through them). This time 4 screens told me about parking requirements. But wait… didn’t the first tutorial tell me I could park anywhere? Next Spin asked to send me notifications with no explanation as to why I should agree. So I didn’t.

Once I rode the bike and got to my destination, I received a ride summary that told me my ride was free. That’s much appreciated but it left me asking again… couldn’t we have started there?

• When you surface information to customers is critical. Spin could have told me my ride was free well before asking me to fill my account with a minimum of $5. And their Parking tutorial was probably more appropriate after my ride when parking my bike, not before it.
• Get people to your core value as soon as possible, but not sooner. It took 7 steps before I was able to scan the bike in front of me and 9 more steps before I could actually ride it. Every step that keeps customers from experiencing what makes you great, leaves them wondering why you’re not.

Tricky, Tricky

By now, Ofo’s mobile on-boarding process will seem familiar: location and notification permission asks without any useful explanations, an up-front tutorial, a phone number verification flow, a camera permission ask, and more.

For many mobile apps, phone number verification can replace the need for more traditional desktop computer influenced sign-up process that require people to enter their first and last names, email addresses, passwords, and more into a series of form fields. When you’re on a phone, all you need to verify it’s you is your phone number.

With this simplified account creation process, Ofo could have had me on my way with a quick QR code scan. But instead I got a subscription service promotion that suggested I could try the service for free. After tapping the “Try it Free” button, however, I ended up on a Choose your Plan page. It was only when I used the small back arrows (tricky, tricky) that I made it back to the QR code unlock process which let me ride the Ofo bike in front of me with no charge.

• Mobile device capabilities allow us to rethink how people can accomplish tasks. For instance, instead of multiple step sign-up forms, a two step phone verification process can establish someone’s account much quicker by using what mobile devices do well.
• While companies have revenue and growth needs, unclear flows and UI entrapments are not the way to build long-term customer loyalty and growth. You may trick some people into subscribing to your service but they won’t like you for it.

But Why?

Starting Bird’s mobile on-boarding gave me high hopes that I had finally found a streamlined customer-centric process that delivered on the promise of fast & easy last-mile transportation (or micro-mobility, if you must).

Things started out typically, a splash screen, an email form field, a location permission ask, but then moved right to scanning the QR code of the scooter in front of me and asking me to pay the $1 required to get started. Great, I thought… I’ll be riding in no time as I instantly made it through Apple Pay’s confirmation screen.

As a quick aside, integrating native payment platforms can really accelerate the payment process and increase conversion. Hotel Tonight saw a 26% increase in conversion with Apple Pay and Wish used A/B testing to uncover a 2X conversion increase when they added Apple Pay support. Turns out people do prefer to just look (Face ID) or tap (Touch ID) to pay for things on their phones instead of entering credit card or banking account details into mobile keyboards.

But back to Bird... I scanned the QR code and authorized Apple Pay. Time to ride right? Not quite. Next I was asked to scan the front of my drivers’ license with no explanation of why. Odd, but I assumed it was a legal/safety thing and despite having a lot of privacy reservations got through it. Or so I thought because after this I had to scan the back of my drivers’ license, scroll through all 15 screens of a rental agreement, and tick off 6 checkboxes saying I agreed to wear a helmet, not ride downhill, and was over 18 (can’t they get that from my driver’s license?).

Then it was back to scanning the QR code again, turning down notification permissions, and slogging through a 4 screen tutorial which ended with even more rules. The whole process left me feeling the legal department had taken over control of Bird’s first time customer experience: rental contracts, local rules, driver’s license verifications, etc. -really not in line with the company’s brand message of “enjoy the ride”. I left being intimated by it.

• Rules and regulations do exist but mobile on-boarding flows shouldn’t be driven by them. There’s effective ways to balance legal requirements and customer experience. Push hard to find them.
• When asking for personal (especially highly personal) information, explain why. Even just a sentence about why I had to scan my driver’s license would have helped me immensely with Bird’s process.

Core Value, ASAP

By now, we’ve seen how very similar companies can end up with very different mobile on-boarding designs and results. So how can companies balance all the requirements and steps involved in bike-sharing and still deliver a great first-time experience? By always looking at things from the perspective of your customer. Which Lime, while not perfect, does.

Lime doesn’t bother with a splash screen showing you their logo as a first step. Instead they tell you upfront that they know why you’re here with a large headline stating: “Start Riding Now”. Awesome. That’s what I’ve been trying to do this whole time. On this same screen are two streamlined sign-up options: phone number verification (which makes use of native device capabilities) and Facebook -both aimed at getting you started right away.

Next, Lime takes the time to explain why they are asking for location permissions with the clearest copy we’ve seen in all these examples: “to find nearby bikes and scooters”. Sadly, they don’t apply this same level of clarification to the next permission ask for Notifications. But smartly, they use a double dialog solution and if you say no (which I did), they try again with more clarity.

It’s become almost standard practice to just ask for notification permissions up front in mobile apps because up to 40% of people will just give them to you. So many apps figure, why not ask? Lots of people will say no but we’ll get some people saying yes. Personally, I feel this is an opportunity to improve for Lime.

Ignoring the notifications prompt, the rest of Lime’s on-boarding process is fast and efficient: scan the QR code (once again with a clear explanation of why camera permissions are needed), authorize Apple Pay to pay for your ride. Lime doesn’t either bother to provide other payment options. They know the user experience and conversion benefits of Apple Pay and rely on it exclusively.

And… that’s it. I’m riding. No tutorial! Shocking I know, but they do offer one on the map screen if you’d like to learn more before riding. User choice, not company requirement.

In their mobile on-boarding, Lime deftly navigated a number of significant hurdles: account set-up/verification, location & camera permissions and payment -the minimum amount necessary to ride and nothing more. They did so by explaining how each of these steps got me closer to my goal of riding and worked hard to minimize their requirements, often relying on native mobile functionality to make things as fast and easy as possible.

• It’s not about you, it’s about your customer. Put your customer’s goals front and center in your mobile on-boarding process. It starts from the first screen (i.e. “Start Riding Now”)
• Lean into mobile-native solutions: phone verification, integrated payments, and more.

More On On-boarding

For a deeper look into mobile on-boarding design, check out this 20 minute segment of my Mobile design and data presentation at Google Conversions this year:

How Senegal is trying to involve the diaspora to curb emigration. By Sofia Christensen

Shares of the company were up nearly 2%, as it kept a tight lid on costs to weather the impact of the pandemic on its business

Lower expenses drive profit number; firm had incurred a loss in the same period a year ago

Toronto ; Vancouver : Canadian Scholars, 2019.

[U.K.] : StudioCanal, [2017]

On Thursday, March 12, the Library of Congress closed all Library buildings to the public until April 1. On Tuesday, March 17, the Library announced that all public events are canceled until May 11 to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19 coronavirus. Whenever possible, the Library will reschedule the public programs that have been canceled. Please read the Library's public statement, and see the Poetry and Literature Center's event updates below.

Thursday, March 19, 7:00 PM
NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL PRESENTS JEFFREY ROSEN AND DAHLIA LITHWICK

This event has been CANCELED.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Author Jeffrey Rosen will discuss his new book, Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty and Law, with Dahlia Lithwick, a senior editor at Slate. This event is free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by the Law Library of Congress and presented in partnership with National Book Festival Presents.

Location: LJ-119, first floor, Thomas Jefferson Building <view map>
Contact: specialevents@loc.gov

Thursday, April 2, 7:00 PM
NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL PRESENTS RICHARD FORD

This event has been POSTPONED to a later date.
Note: Once a date has been confirmed, the Library of Congress will alert all those who registered for the original event date via their email addresses. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to seeing you, your family and friends very soon.

In an event titled “A Good Story Knows No Borders,” Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction winner Richard Ford will give a talk about the universality of fiction as well as participate in a discussion with his German translator, Frank Heibert. The discussion will be moderated by Library of Congress Literary Director Marie Arana. This event is free and open to the public. Presented in partnership with National Book Festival Presents.

Location: Coolidge Auditorium, ground floor, Thomas Jefferson Building <view map>
Contact: specialevents@loc.gov

Tuesday, April 21, 7:00 PM
LIFE OF A POET: KIMIKO HAHN

This event has been POSTPONED to a later date.
Note: Once a date has been confirmed, Hill Center will alert all those who registered for the original event date via their email addresses. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to seeing you, your family and friends very soon.

Poet Kimiko Hahn will discuss her work with Ron Charles, book critic at The Washington Post. This event is free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by Hill Center and The Washington Post.

Location: Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital (921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE)
Contact: poetry@loc.gov 

Thursday, April 30, 7:00 PM
NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL PRESENTS JOY HARJO

This event has been CANCELED.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Joy Harjo will participate in her closing event as the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate, which will include a moderated discussion and special musical performance. This event is free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by the Library’s American Folklife Center and Music Division, and presented in partnership with National Book Festival Presents.

Location: Coolidge Auditorium, ground floor, Thomas Jefferson Building <view map>
Contact: specialevents@loc.gov

Thursday, May 7, 7:00 PM
NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL PRESENTS JOHN HESSLER

This event has been POSTPONED to a later date.
Note: Once a date has been confirmed, the Library of Congress will alert all those who registered for the original event date via their email addresses. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and look forward to seeing you, your family and friends very soon.

John Hessler, specialist in the Library of Congress’ Geography and Map division and author of the best-seller MAP: Exploring the World, will discuss his new book on pre-Columbian cultures, Collecting for the New World. This event is free and open to the public. Presented in partnership with National Book Festival Presents.

Location: LJ-119, first floor, Thomas Jefferson Building <view map>
Contact: specialevents@loc.gov

For more information about upcoming events, please visit the Poetry and Literature Center's website. 

Here at the Wired offices, we take things very seriously. Correction, we take protecting our desk domains and sneak attacking coworkers very seriously, so we decided to put some different office warfare gadgets to the test.

What led to four major sponsors dropping one of the world's most decorated Olympic swimmers?

Check out the Pocket Artillery Mini Cannon in action.

EL-P talks about his new album which features Killer Mike, Danny Brown, and Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire.  Cancer for Cure comes out on May 22nd on Fat Possom Records.