From listening to launching: our continued work on Scotland’s open data service
What happens after Discovery? It's a question that matters to us. Research can produce valuable findings, but its real impact comes when those findings shape what gets designed, built and delivered.
When we first worked with the Scottish Government’s Open Data Team, our focus was on understanding the people using statistics.gov.scot. We spoke to statisticians, analysts, policymakers, developers and data publishers to learn what they needed from Scotland’s open data service, and what was getting in their way.
That research pointed to a deceptively simple ambition: make Scotland’s data easier to find, understand and use.
Since then, our work with the Open Data Team has continued through the design, development and testing of a completely new service. On 25 August 2026, data.gov.scot launched as a public beta, marking an important milestone in that journey.
Carrying the research into delivery
Our Discovery research showed that users didn't necessarily want more sophisticated functionality. They wanted a service that got the fundamentals right.
People needed to know what data was available, whether it was current and what it meant. They wanted to reach useful information without having to understand specialist terminology or the technical structures behind it. And when they found the right dataset, they wanted to be able to examine and use it without unnecessary friction.
Those needs stayed central as our work moved from research into delivery.
Working as the Scottish Government's delivery partner, we helped turn the findings from Discovery and Alpha into a functioning public service. That meant making hundreds of decisions about how information should be organised, how people should move through the service and how complex data could be presented more clearly.
It also meant thinking beyond the public-facing experience.
Open data services depend on the people and organisations that publish the data. If publishing is difficult, inconsistent or disconnected from the needs of users, that will eventually affect the quality of the public service.
For that reason, data.gov.scot has been designed as a joined-up service for both audiences: the people looking for data and the people responsible for publishing and maintaining it.
Designing around confidence
One of the strongest themes in our original research was trust.
Confidence in a data service isn't created by a single feature. It comes from lots of details working together: clear language, useful descriptions, consistent metadata, predictable navigation and an obvious route to the data itself.
The new service gives people a much clearer way to explore Scotland’s public sector data. They can search across organisations and subject areas, review information about a dataset and preview its contents before deciding whether to download it.
Data dictionaries help explain what individual fields mean. For people working more technically, the underlying data and metadata can also be accessed programmatically.
These capabilities matter, but the thinking behind them matters more. They are there to remove doubt and help people answer basic questions quickly:
Is this the right dataset? What does it contain? Can I understand it? Can I use it?
Keeping the experience grounded in those questions helped us avoid designing around the technology rather than the user.
Auren Clarke, Senior Product Manager, Open Data Team, Scottish Government said "Data.gov.scot has been shaped through collaboration between the Scottish Government, Storm ID, and our wider community of users and publishers. From Discovery through Alpha and into Beta, Storm ID have been a committed delivery partner and service provider. Their user research, delivery and technical expertise, coupled with an ability to work at pace, have helped us launch data.gov.scot in public beta. Together, we've delivered the first of three phases of our new open data platform, providing a strong foundation for publishing and accessing public sector data in Scotland. We look forward to continuing the journey together and the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Data.gov.scot has been shaped through collaboration between the Scottish Government, Storm ID, and our wider community of users and publishers.
Building for publishers as well as users
Alongside the public service, we worked with the Open Data Team to create a dedicated publishing experience.
This gives public sector data publishers a structured way to add, review, update and publish datasets and supporting information. It connects the work happening behind the scenes with what users eventually see on data.gov.scot.
The wider service brings together purpose-built publishing tools, content management and established open data technology. It uses the Scottish Government Design System to create a consistent and accessible experience, while fitting within the Government's existing technology and cloud environment.
You can read more about the different parts of the service in the Scottish Government's post, “Getting ready for beta: inside data.gov.scot”.
For us, this was an important service-design challenge. We weren't designing one isolated user journey. We were helping to connect an ecosystem of publishers, content, metadata and data-management tools into something that felt coherent to the people using it.
Linsey Lydon, Managing Director, Storm ID, said “It has been a real pleasure to work alongside the Scottish Government’s Open Data Team, turning deep user insight into a national service that makes Scotland’s public data easier to find, understand and use. We’re incredibly proud to see data.gov.scot launch in public beta and look forward to continuing the journey together.”
Getting ready to go live
The final stages before launch involved a great deal of work that users will hopefully never notice.
Together, the teams refined the service through user feedback, completed security, accessibility and user acceptance testing, and prepared for the migration of datasets from statistics.gov.scot.
The transition also had to work for data publishers. Guidance and training materials were developed; publishers were onboarded and training sessions helped organisations prepare for the new processes.
This work was just as important as building the service itself. Launching a national platform isn't simply a technical release. It involves helping people change established ways of working while maintaining continuity for everyone who depends on the existing service.
The Scottish Government's beta-launch update explains how the transition is being managed, including the planned retirement of statistics.gov.scot.
It has been a real pleasure to work alongside the Scottish Government’s Open Data Team, turning deep user insight into a national service that makes Scotland’s public data easier to find, understand and use.
A milestone, not a finish line
Data.gov.scot launched with datasets from 14 public sector organisations, including National Records of Scotland, NatureScot, Public Health Scotland, Social Security Scotland and the Care Inspectorate. But launching as a beta is an acknowledgement that the service will continue to change.
Real-world use will reveal things that no pre-launch testing can. The Open Data Team will continue gathering feedback, supporting publishers and prioritising improvements as the platform develops.
That ongoing approach reflects how the work began. Discovery was never intended to provide all the answers at once. It created a better understanding of the problem and a strong foundation for continued learning.
We’re proud to have worked alongside the Scottish Government's Open Data Team from those early research conversations through to the launch of a live national service.
Most of all, we're pleased to see the original research being carried forward into something tangible: a clearer, more approachable and more sustainable home for Scotland's public data.
And, because this is a beta, the listening continues.