What?
Measures of Australia's Progress (MAP) helps Australians address the question, 'Is life in Australia getting better?', and is developing it's website structure and functionality for the 2013 release. We have prepared 3 sample web pages to demonstrate the planned direction of these enhancements:
- The 2013 MAP Home Page
- The 2013 MAP Society Summary Page
- The 2013 MAP Health 'Theme' Page
Focus on how these pages communicate their stories, not what they are saying
The content within this BetaWorks project (such as the text , data and assessments of progress) are only for illustrative purposes as we are seeking feedback on the proposed layout of this website and the functionality it offers. The data is not necessarily real or correct, is not validated, and should not be used for any other purpose. The content of these pages is not necessarily reflective of the final findings of the current consultation process or of the direction that the final MAP 2013 release will take. So when looking through the three pages, don't focus on what the pages are saying, but rather on how they are saying it (i.e. how does the layout of the page and the functionality of the page assist in easily communicating the messages about progress in this area).
Features of this test version
A key feature of this test version is the ability to access information about sub-groups in the population as well as national aggregate data. For instance, depending on the indicator, information may be available about young people, older people, people with a non-english speaking background or disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and so on.
Why?
MAP brings together a lot of data across a diverse range of areas to inform on national progress. It is important this information is presented simply so people can readily make an overall assessment of national progress. We want to ensure the MAP website is easy to use and provides the data in a meaningful context. We want to clearly communicate the stories behind the statistics, and allow users to directly access data they are interested in. Feedback on whether this BetaWorks test version achieves these outcomes would be appreciated.
When?
While there will be an update of MAP's summary indicators later this year, these enhancements are proposed for a more comprehensive release in late 2013. The 2013 MAP release will not only include enhanced web pages such as these, but will incorporate findings of the MAP 2.0 public consultation (see the MAP 2.0 blog for more details). Other possible enhancements may include a functionality to allow selected indicators to be considered in the light of future sustainability, and a page of resource links for communities or regions interested in assessing their own progress.
#1: PD
Love the use of colour and logos. MAS would like to use similar in their own look up tables.
#2: Emily
It looks great especially the home page - it looks amazing! Just some feedback about the Health page though - it is tricky to read the heading with the Sydney Harbour Bridge photo behind it. Also it would look better if each section/tab on the Health page was static rather than a drop down.
#3: Craig
A little blocky, but very functional :)
Also appears to lend itself well to touch screens.
It would be good to pull forward info where possible, or give people lead ins to interesting data to help them start exploring.
#4: Karen Moore
Looks great! It is colourful and inviting. The navigation taps on the Health Page are user friendly and I really like the interactive graphs.
A couple of extra comments/suggestions:
- When you Expand All Areas on the Home Page, click on a 'See the X Page for more information', then use the back arrow to return to the Home Page all of the Area boxes on the Home Page close up. If you then want to keep exploring the Areas you need to expand them again. Is it possible to keep the Areas open when you return to the Home Page to prevent this repetition?
- In the 'What do the ticks and crosses mean?' box on the Home Page, would it be more logical to order the symbols with the amber colour between the green and red?
#5: Libby
Comment on the health page: Keep the tabbed style as that is easy for users to navigate. The interactive graphs are great. The background image is attractive - as log it remains like a watermark/soft image so it doesn't take over the page. Love it!
#6: Andrew
The drop-down navigation on the home page is peferrable to linking pages that have limited backwards navigation (the ABS website is poor in this).
The Health page mock up design is preferrable to the society page, particularly the tabbed navigation and the interactive graphic placement.
I also like the floating lefthand index on this portal page. It would be good to integrate this into the society and health page if the content will require vertical scrolling.
#7: Annette
Looks good. Nice clear presentation. Perhaps older viewers might like a slightly larger font size in some places (e.g. the 'expand' and 'contract' buttons on the home page. Will the website be able to expand to fill the whole screen (for oldies who like big screens)?
#8: Ben
I really like it! Such a change from the usual ABS fare. That said, you might want to do something about the way that clicking tabs on the Health Page causes the content to pull up then down, as it's bring the entire table height up, which looks kind of strange. Something like just switching between the content, or using some mark-up trickery to keep the table-height the same during the transition
#9: andrea
Maybe on the homepage, you could bring some more data in the form of example charts forward. This means that people don't have to delve to far to start looking at stats.