Transforming access to Scotland's open data

The Scottish Government provides open access to Scotland's official statistics through statistics.gov.scot. Our work with the Open Data Team in the Discovery phase of the redevelopment of the site found that users of the current site valued basic findability and easy access to data over advanced functionality such as bespoke visualisation and data slicing. In Alpha it was time to test our findings with a wide range of users, using a set of new prototypes.

One team

For Alpha, we maintained our 'one team' approach to collaboration from Discovery, myself enjoying a short walk over to Victoria Quay at least every Tuesday, to work with the Open Data Team.

Together, we planned and facilitated two rounds of one-on-one usability and accessibility testing sessions with 29 users from various backgrounds, and with a range of accessibility requirements. Participants included statisticians, analysts, policy advisers, data publishers, commercial users, and citizens with varying interest in data and statistics. Up to two observers joined each session, being colleagues from the Open Data Team, or Scottish Government colleagues who had participated in Discovery. Having observers in sessions was both productive and enlightening, offering colleagues a chance to gain first-hand awareness of real-life challenges faced by users, so prompting richer discussions about how to create a user-centred experience.

System Usability Scale

We also surveyed users with questionnaires including an established measure of usability, being the System Usability Scale. Participants were directly invited to complete this anonymously at the end of each testing session. We also distributed the questionnaire to a wider network of known user, resulting in 50 total responses. We used separate questionnaires for each prototype, allowing us to compare perceived usability between our prototypes, and against industry benchmarks.

In this way, we tested four prototypes with users, including a data publishing prototype that we created and rapidly refined collaboratively mid-phase, using Figma Make, a relatively new AI-powered prototyping tool.

Test and learn

While our Discovery work was more exploratory and thematic in understanding user experiences and needs relative to the current platform, the emphasis in Alpha was on testing and iterative refinement. After two rounds of usability and accessibility sessions, we were confident that the prototypes were heading in the right direction, towards:

• a simple, accessible, and intuitive open data portal with data previews that encourage newer users to explore, and
• a reliable, efficient and accessible data publishing platform, with clear guidance and reassuring checks before publication.