What?
The Mapping Dashboard is an interactive heat-map, coupled with an array of charts. The aim of this prototype is to demonstrate a very hands-on, interactive way to view our geospatially-enabled data. On this version of the product we have a collection of time-series from the 2001, 2006 and 2011 Australian Censuses.
The Dashboard should allow the user to explore relationships between geography, time and data items quickly and easily. Although the data in this version is validated Census data it has not been validated for this purpose and the Dashboard should not be used as the basis for informed decision-making.
Why?
Although the ABS produces a lot of quality geospatially-enabled data, it can be difficult for casual end-users to explore the data in a meaningful fashion. Maps are the most logical way to explain and display geospatial data, and the Dashboard aims to provide a framework on which the user can play. With customisable graphs, legends and geographies, the Dashboard puts the power in the hands of the user.
When?
To be DeterminedPlease note this concept has been optimised for a 1680 x 1050 screen resolution. Data used in this concept is for demonstration only and should therefore not be used for any serious analysis.
#1: Angkana
Looking forward to seeing this - but it didn't load :(
Thanks David - colorbrewer2.org was a good tip
#2: Yvonne
I would imagine people would enjoy playing around with this. I suggest though that if you use acronyms you use acronyms that are widely known by the public. If you do need to use inhouse acronyms then please provide an easy and visible way for users to find out what they mean. I don't know many people who would have any idea what " SA4s", "SA3s" and "SA2s" are.
Secondly, I would find a map that expressed the statistics in terms of % of population would be more interesting. If the maps are just expressed in terms of numbers, generally NSW will always have the largest numbers.
I found this site because I am looking for a .kml or .kmz files for NSW Local Government Areas (LGAs). ABS seems to only provide shapefiles in Mapinfo Interchange or ESRI formats. This is not much use for people who don't have access to proprietary software whereas everyone can use the .kml/.kmz formats through Google Earth which is free.
Providing files in .kml/.kmz is another way of achieving your goal of helping "casual end-users to explore the data in a meaningful fashion", albeit casual users with more skills with technology than many people.
#3: David
I'm looking forward to using this tool more in future. However, I would love to see results using a different color scheme. The rainbow scheme currently used can be difficult to quickly interpret, and can also be problematic for some colourblind people. An alternative would be a scheme such as that from colorbrewer2.org or based on papers by Cynthia Brewer
#4: John
Even though the front end of this dashboard could look nicer and usage documentation could be better, the purpose and functionality of this tool, I think, far exceeds anything we currently have. This dashboard should be the standard for all standardised data with a geospatial dimension.
Wondering, could it look or have a front end (in terms off appearance) to Google Maps with the hybrid and satellite images?
#5: andrew
Great example of leaving developers in a room alone for too long. GREAT idea delivered embarrassingly poorly. Unusable on my mac running firefox. You can see why there are third party providers for abs data...
Why is consumer-friendly access to rich data so damn difficult for abs??
#6: Ben A
Thanks very much for the feedback. A large part of any further development of this product will focus on User Experience in order to make it more intuitive and logically structured (and yes, a review of font choices will be involved too :P)
#7: ABS Officer
This seems to be a great concept but is not very user friendly and is rather chaotic. It might be better if it was more simplistic i.e. less is more.
#8: Michael
I like the concept, but I would love to see more thought given to interface design. Times New Roman???
#9: ABS Officer
Really love this tool and the functionality it offers. Only improvement I would like to see is a standardised legend and a single document with easy step by step instructions so I could have understood it more fully before starting to play.