Transcript United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division The Importance of UserFriendliness when Providing Data UNECE Training Workshop on Dissemination of MDG Indicators and.

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Statistical Division
The Importance of UserFriendliness when Providing Data
UNECE Training Workshop on Dissemination of
MDG Indicators and Statistical Information
Astana, Kazakhstan 23 – 25 November 2009
Steven Vale, UNECE
With input from Jessica Gardner and Anne-Christine Wanders
Contents




Effective communication
User friendliness in databases
User friendliness in data presentation
Conclusions
06 November 2015
Steven Vale - UNECE Statistical Division
Slide 2
Effective Communication




Who is your audience?
How can you catch their attention?
How can you attract more users?
How can you make your information
more meaningful?
Steven Vale - UNECE Statistical Division
Slide 3
Steven Vale - UNECE Statistical Division
Slide 4
Why
should I
read this?
Steven Vale - UNECE Statistical Division
Slide 5
User-friendliness in Databases






Many users are visiting your web site for
the first time
Is the user interface easy to understand?
Can they understand the terminology?
Can they find what they want?
Will they come back again?
Will they recommend your database to
friends and colleagues?
Steven Vale - UNECE Statistical Division
Slide 6
How to Improve User-friendliness


User feedback!
Usability testing
•
•
•
•
•
Ask some users to perform simple tasks
Ask them to say what they are thinking
Watch how they try to find information
Do not help them!
Most usability problems can be identified
after 5-10 tests
Steven Vale - UNECE Statistical Division
Slide 7
User-friendliness in Data
Presentation





Data should take centre stage
Title, headers, legends or labels should
ensure correct understanding of the data
Avoid unnecessary text or graphic
features
Use footnotes for additional information
Source of data must be identified
Steven Vale - UNECE Statistical Division
Slide 9
Good
Economic activity rate
Czech Republic, 2008
Age (years)
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70+
Women
Men
6.3
44.4
66.4
66.0
80.0
91.0
92.5
87.7
55.7
15.1
6.5
2.5
8.4
60.8
90.9
96.8
97.6
96.5
94.6
91.7
84.8
40.7
13.3
5.9
Source: UNECE Statistical Database
Better
%
100
Economic activity rate, Czech Republic, 2008
90
80
70
60
50
Women
Men
40
30
20
10
0
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69
So urce: UNECE Statistical Database
Age (years)
70+
Good
20
%
Unemployment rate, 1990-2008
France
18
Portugal
16
Spain
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
Source: UNECE Statistical Database
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
0
Better
20
%
18
Unemployment rate, 1990-2008
Spain
16
14
12
France
10
8
6
Portugal
4
2
0
1990
1992
1994
Source: UNECE Statistical Database
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Avoid three-dimensional charts
widowed
divorced
never
married
married
widowed
divorced
married
never
married
Conclusions




User-friendliness is important in all
statistical outputs, including databases!
User feedback is vital to improve services
Think carefully about the best way to
present data
Clear, simple messages are the most
effective
Steven Vale - UNECE Statistical Division
Slide 16
Making Data Meaningful
www.unece.org/stats/documents/writing/
Questions?
Steven Vale - UNECE Statistical Division
Slide 18