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Improving the Usability of Spatial Information Products: An Australian Case Study

Improving the Usability of Spatial Information Products: An Australian Case Study. Dr Sytze de Bruin, Prof. Arnold Bregt Center for Geo-Information Wageningen University The Netherlands. A/Prof. Gary Hunter Department of Geomatics University of Melbourne, Australia garyh@unimelb.edu.au. &.

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Improving the Usability of Spatial Information Products: An Australian Case Study

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  1. Improving the Usability of Spatial Information Products: An Australian Case Study • Dr Sytze de Bruin, Prof. Arnold Bregt • Center for Geo-Information • Wageningen University • The Netherlands • A/Prof. Gary Hunter • Department of Geomatics • University of Melbourne, Australia • garyh@unimelb.edu.au • &

  2. Funded through the major Dutch government research and development initiative: Space for Geo-Information (RGI). RGI-017: “Geo-information Requirements for Agri-Environmental Policy”. Part of the project is to test Geo-information usability in both rural (Dutch) and urban (Australian) environments. The Australian part of the project will determine how the usability of a Victorian government on-line property report can be improved for clients. Why? Because customers are not happy with the product, even though they download 80000 reports per month ! And the government has stopped logging email complaints ! Background

  3. EFFICIENCY Convenience Security Data integration Adherance to standards Searchability Speed of access Best practice Cost Exclusiveness Some Usability Elements • EFFECTIVENESS • Type of application • Type of decision • Adding of value • Popularity • Novelty • Content • Benefits • Ease of use • Product purpose • SATISFACTION • Visual appearance • Producer’s reputation • Legal defensibility • Authoritativeness • Trust & Reliability • Validity & Integrity • Certification • Caveats on use • Quality & metadata

  4. P Free version of the product showing text describing the details of the property. P

  5. x Free version of the product showing more text plus the map x

  6. Pay version of the same product (2 Euros) which has the previous information plus this additional parcel map. x x x

  7. Question: “The dimensions of the parcel do not agree with my copy of the official certificate of title. Which one is correct? Why is one different to the other?” Answer: This is because there are two parcel databases – the official one, plus this one which is digitized and made to fit nicely together - but customers don’t know this. Also, the government wants customers to first buy this approximate product and then buy the 10 Euro official certificate of title if necessary. Solution: (1) make the dimensions more approximate e.g. 35m instead of 35.1m and tell clients that only the official certificate of title contains the exact government guaranteed bearings and distances; or (2) do not sell the 2 Euro diagram with its errors at all, but instead only sell the official 10 Euro dimension diagram which is the official version ! The finalcial cost here is not a big issue, but information integrity is. What’s Wrong with the Product ?

  8. Question: “Recent changes to the shape of my parcel are not yet shown in the diagram” Answer: There are differences in the update timeframes of the two parcel databases. Solution: Tell clients about the updates timeframes and what they need to do to get the very latest information (e.g. An official title search). Once again the issue comes down to buying a 2 Euro or a 10 Euro information product. Question: “Why is there a warning about the planning zone information? Why should I spend more money on a more expensive product when I have just paid for this product? If this one is correct, then I prefer to use this.” Answer: The government sells an official planning certificate for 20 Euros. Solution: A very good question ! If there are errors in the planning information, then delete it from the product and tell clients they have to pay 20 Euros for the official, government guaranteed planning zone information.

  9. Question: “What do the numbers in the diagrams mean?” Answer: Some are street numbers and some are crown allotment numbers which nobody except us know about. Solution: Delete numbers which have no meaning to consumers and add a legend explaining the remaining numbers. Question: “What about the dimensions less than 1 metre?” Answer: They are too small to show graphically, that is why they are left out. Solution: One more reason to sell customers the guaranteed 10 Euro official certificate of title with all the correct dimensions.

  10. Some Observations • In terms of product usability, the customers like the on-line property reports as they are inexpensive, easily accessibly 24 hours a day, convenient and easy to understand. And 1 million reports downloaded annually says they are successful ! • However, the product complaints are not about positional or attribute accuracy, logical consistency or completeness – instead they are about unmet expectations and lack of trustworthiness • With a few changes made (as described) a more successful product should be achieved. • How will we measure this success? By a decrease in complaints.

  11. Thank you Any Questions?

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