Measures of Australia's Progress (MAP) helps Australians address the question, 'Is life in Australia getting better?'. To help it do this we're planning on refreshing MAP for its next full scale release in late 2013. The main aspect of this refresh is that MAP will take on board the results of a recent broad ranging public consultation, which asked Australians what aspects of life are important for national progress. Another element of the refresh though is an enhancement of MAP's website.
Because MAP brings together information from so many diverse areas, we want to ensure its website is easy to use so that people can readily make an overall assessment of national progress. We also want to clearly communicate the stories behind the statistics, and allow users to directly access data they are interested in.
Take a look at the mock-ups below and let us know if you like the new layout and functionality.
Mock-up inclusions:
- A MAP summary dashboard homepage - with an alternate view
- A MAP summary animation
- A MAP Health Infographic
- and MAP's 'Health' theme page
Note: The content in these mock-ups is just dummy and is not intended for use other than to demonstrate the website's functionality enhancements.
#1: Heather
Dear MAPpers,
The colours and backdrop look bright and attractive and draws the viewer in.
I agree with Karl that the ticks and crosses are confusing. Other alternatives to consider might be:
plus sign (+) for improvement with green background
minus sign (-) for regress with red background
OR
FORWARD slash style symbol with green background for improvement
BACKWARD slash with red background for regress
HORIZONTAL DASH with the yellow/neutral colour for no change
The question mark is clear and self-explanatory.
The health page data is much clearer than the current website and easy to read.
The animation goes a little too quick for aged or visually impaired people (not sure if that will be the final speed). Other than that, it looks great.
It's attractive because it appears as a presentation (images/interaction) rather than looking like a publication (a large bunch of text!).
Cheers, Heather NIRS
#2: Karl
The ticks and crosses are misleading. Ticks and crosses indicate status, not change.
If you get your uni exam back with ticks, it means you are correct but does not necessarily mean you are improving.
This could be easily improved via the following ways:
- Change the green tick to a green arrowhead pointing up
- Change the red cross to a red arrowhead pointing down
- Put a heading above the infographics emphasising 'change' in headline indicators (as opposed to level)
- put a summarised legend above the graph, otherwise it can't be seen on most computer screens without having to scroll
#3: Judy
These prototypes look great and will go a long way toward users viewing the ABS website as much more user-friendly.
As an ABS presenter and trainer of ABS website usage, one of the greatest challenges was knowing how to "unlock" the information "trapped" in downloadable publications/datasets. This new site should go a long way to holding the user's attention and hopefully loweing the barriers to seeking more data.
#4: Debbie
I know I am very biased but I just demo'd this to a non ABS person and they are impressed with the professional commentary and development of the animation!! Well done team MAP!!!
#5: Richard
This beta site looks very interesting. From a very quick inspection, I wonder if, under the economy banner, there might by some reflection of change by (broad) industry group. As such, and by some measures, the progress that some industries may be making is one of absolute or relative decline.
One further thought: it is not always easy to link contributors to ABS conducted surveys to outputs from these surveys (there can be so many). It would be useful, in my opinion, to better link such surveys to measures of progress or change. Thus, a farmer say, when providing suvey data, might more easily access earlier outcomes from such surveys giving their contribution significance while allowing them to appreciate broader change/progress in the agricultural sector. This thinking rather reflects the narrow vision of my immediate challenges.
Apologies for these musings authored while a system I am trying to use has lost iteself in a 'blue circle death spiral' (BCDS).
Good luck
Richard