SNS Improvement Project U sers , their needs and priorities for improvements to the live site

1. SNS Improvement Project Users, their needs and priorities for improvements to the live site

2. Summary • Stages of development • User engagement activity • Web traffic information • Types of users and their needs • What users like • Areas for development • Next steps

3. Improvements to the live site • Phase 1 – Develop a better understanding of users, their experience and their needs • Phase 2 – Make proposals for an improved site that will make a real difference to users • Phase 3 – Develop and test new site • Phase 4 – Roll out and promotion

4. Gathering information on users and their needs • Learning from others with experience • Project Board • Nomis, NeSS, NRS, KnowFife • Lesley Thomson – Creativity team • Web team • Initial exploration of views • Feedback we already had from users • Small area statistics workshops • Statistics standards seminar • User questionnaire • advertised via Scotstat, SNS site, AQuMEN, topic user groups • informed by evidence from workshops • 3rd sector event • Holyrood Big Data Public Sector workshop • Reviewing web traffic information • Google analytics • Adding more tracking into the SNSadmin site • More detailed work to explore user experience and use of routing • One-to-ones with a users from key user goups • Develop more detailed user profiles Plus lots more engagement as we move to the next phases

5. Google Analytics • Only tracks a sample of users (around a third) and probably biased • Changing to opt-out option – should mean many more users included • A third of visits are from new users, two thirds are returning • A third leave straight away • A fifth have visited more than 25 times • Average visit duration is 7.5 minutes – but much variation • Average 12 pages visited • A third of our visits are directly to SIMD • Majority of visits are 9-5 Mon to Fri with peaks on Mon and Wed and a noticeable drop-off on Fri • A tenth of visits are via a mobile or tablet (mainly iPhone and iPad) • Roughly half of visitors use Internet Explorer, with Chrome, Firefox and Safari being the next most popular browsers • Roughly half Internet Explore visits are using IE8 and half evenly split between IE7 and IE9 • (Based on data for 20 April – 20 May)

6. Who are the users of SNS? What do they use the data for? Who else could be making use of SNS?

7. Types of user Many users are only interested in data for a particular area or topic Users wanting big data downloads Area users Topic users SIMD users A third of visits to SNS are directly to the SIMDsection

8. Area & SIMD users - looking for key figures for a particular area/s or to identify deprived areas School pupils and teachers working on a school project on their local area General public Looking to inform lifestyle choices SPICE looking to provide information services to MSPs LAs, CPPs, Health Boards and other Public Sector users users: Allocating or applying for funding Targeting service delivery Reporting on performance Data on own and other areas to inform decisions on where to move, choice of schools etc. Data on local area to inform learning/ school projects Constituency level data Data to evidence policy and service delivery decisions and evaluation Data to evidence performance and to allow comparison with others Data (particularly on SIMD) to Inform eligibility decisions and provide evidence for applications

9. Topic users – looking for key figures on a particular topic Scottish Government working on policy development Private Sector companies considering strategic planning Media producing an article Third Sector Working on improvement projects Applying for funding Data to help target and assess impact of projects Data to Inform eligibility decisions and to provide evidence for applications Data to evidence policy and service delivery decisions and evaluation Data to provide evidence to support article Data on key demographics to inform marketing strategies

10. Those looking to download large quantities of data Local Authorities & other public sector with own sites/systems for providing access to local data Private Sector developing systems and applications for profit Researchers working on projects for Government or others Academics working on a PhD or writing a book or article Data to feed into own bespoke systems Data to feed into own applications to generate revenue To perform data linkage with other data (need more info on how used) To analyse a topic in detail and to publish results For detailed analysis to inform or evaluate government policies

11. What users particularly like Range of data available SIMD interactive mapping section Mapping functionality Quick profiles • Users like the SIMD section and tend to find it easy to use.

12. Key areas for improvement • Finding Data/navigating the site: • Users tend to use the part of the site they are most familiar with, even when this is not the best route. • They are often unsure where to find data that they do not access frequently. • Often users do not realise that the reports are the main route into the data. • Some go to data downloads even when looking for just a few key figures, others start by using the search facility which is of little help, • Many users do not know which indicators are in the standard reports so can spend time looking around before they get to the right report. • The ‘back’ arrow does not take the user to previous page when in a report. • The structure of the advanced reporter page is confusing. Users are not clear whether they should be choosing from the left or right of the page. • It is not clear in advanced reporter that ‘next’ will take the user to the screen allowing them to choose indicators. • Advanced reporter retains information from the previous report – confusing. Include an option in advanced reporter to start a new report and clearer previous criteria. Have a navigation system that runs smoothly though-out the site. e.g. all menus flowing downwards. Make site more intuitive with a better description of data available. Allow users to access data via a topic or area route directly from home page Improve guidance, provide training and promote.

13. Data Availability: • Many users say that out of date data is a problem. • Part of this problem is perceived, as it is not clear when indicators have been discontinued. • A few users have asked for access to more data. Develop an API to update labour market data automatically from Nomis so it will always be up to date. Make it easier for data owners to load data onto SNS. Encourage data owners to load data promptly by encouraging joint ownership. Ensure that indicators are kept under review as new sources of data become available. Adopt better archiving procedures for discontinued indicators.

14. Information on the data: • Having any relevant provisos/explanations/health warnings for the data easily accessible alongside the data would be helpful. • A few users mentioned having information or links to other data sources. • Some of the terminology used could be more user friendly. Use ‘write well write less’ concept on the site and keep language consistent with the SG website. Split tables by topic with footnotes directly below each – similar to the format on Nomis which users like Within each topic area provide a link to the relevant topic page of the SG statistics website

15. Downloading Data: • Many users want more download format options – Word for reports and SAS, SPSS and Access for data files. • The labelling of variables in data downloads is often not clear. • The download process could be faster. • Some misunderstanding about the need to sign in to create and save user defined downloads and reports. “Why do I need to sign in to access public data?”. • Some users would like to be able to get a live data feed to their own systems. Investigate options for providing the data in additional formats. Include an explanation of the purpose of signing in. Improve labelling of variables in downloads. Consider moving to bigger servers or virtual machines to speed up downloads. Investigate options for putting the data onto an open data platform to allow automatic links from other systems.

16. Geographies: • Users would like to be able to select more than one geographic level at a time within reports and downloads. • Some users want more pre-defined geographies, e.g settlements and towns. • It is not clear which data is available at which geographic level. • Users do not find it easy to define customised geographies. Allow users to choose more than one geographic level within reports and downloads. Consider adding further geographies – need to consider possible duplication of area names.

17. Presentation of the data: • Users would like a map and key stats on one page. • They want to be able to create customised reports more easily. • They would like to be able to map multiple indicators on the same map • The aerial photography icon is not at all clear. • Some users want more options to customise maps, including different colour schemes. Change the standard format of reports to include a map and data on the same page. Split tables by topic. Consider improved functionality for users to customise reports and maps. Make the aerial photography option clearer.

18. Questions for Advisory Board Q1. Do you agree with the segmentation of users? Q2. What are your thoughts on the areas identified for improvement? Q3. What is of highest priority?

19. Next steps Phase 2 – Agree priorities for improvements and develop specification Phase 3 – Develop and test new site Phase 4 – Roll out and promotion