1. User analyses and profiling - results
European Statistical Data Support
Working Group
Luxembourg, 14 March 2018
Maja Islam DIGICOM Project Officer Eurostat Digital dissemination

2. User profiling exercise
Who are our users?
Who are the users of European statistics?
What do they do?
Which products/services do they use, how and with what goals?
What do they want and what do they not want?
What do they need?
How can we attract new users?

3. User profiling exercise
Why do we want to know them?
To improve the usability and user friendliness of our products and services
To develop targeted products and services
To engage and monitor users' needs
To ensure a spot in the information market

4. User profiling exercise
2016
In-depth user analysis
2017
Field studies
2018
Personas
User testing

5. In-depth user analysis
An overview of the different users of European statistics
Paradata analysis of information on users obtained from past interactions
Identified stakeholders: clients, partners, users
Analyzed users according to frequency and complexity of use

6. In-depth user analysis
Sources of used information

7. In-depth user analysis
Users
Partners
NSIs ECB
International organizations
Clients
ESAC
EU institutions
and agencies
DGs of the EC
Advanced
Researchers
Media
Redisseminators
Intermediate
Public administration
Students and educators
Commercial companies
Social media multipliers or ‘citizen journalists’
Light
Political parties and organizations
Private users

8. User profiling
Remote, in-context interviews and observation of user behaviour
Individual sessions of 1,5 hours each
Profiling questions (closed questions)
Interview about participants’ typical use of statistical tools (open questions)
Observation of users interacting with at least 2 familiar and at least 1 unfamiliar product on the Eurostat website

9. User profiling

10. User profiling ADVANCED USERS Usage
Daily to weekly usage of the Eurostat website
Purpose
Advanced users visit the website mainly to get raw data (or automatically). They need to draw their own conclusions based on specific data for their jobs. They rarely check publications on the Eurostat website, unless they are unfamiliar with the topic.
Main tasks
Searching for raw data (typically in the database) on the Eurostat website to support their work - adjust the layout of tables to their needs, download tables, modify tables offline, draw conclusions, write reports or re-disseminate in other ways, as a commodity or to support business decisions, etc.
Job (examples)
Lobbyist, Data journalists, Analysts in commercial companies, Government; Researchers (especially PhD/post-doc), Re-disseminators, …

11. User profiling INTERMEDIATE USERS Usage Every few weeks to monthly
Purpose
Intermediate users either prefer to look at raw data, or to work with the existing visualisations and ready to use conclusions in publications, but in many cases they use both to support their work. When they are using Eurostat for their personal interest, they prefer visualisations, but when they need to use the data to create reports or presentations for their job or studies, they will use raw data.
Main tasks
Searching for publications, visualisations and raw data (in the ‘Main tables’ but also in the database) on a topic of interest, download reports, figures and tables and/or make screenshots.
Job (examples)
Data journalists, Journalists, Researchers, Government, Analysts in commercial companies,
Undergraduate Teachers and Students, Private users (with a background in statistics), …

12. User profiling LIGHT USERS Usage
Every few months to a couple of times a year, or less
Purpose
Light users are using the visualisations and graphs of Eurostat, which they find easier to read, to get conclusions (rarely to draw their own) to support their opinion in discussions, to share on social media, to use in class, or to explore what is available because they have a personal interest. They are after results and conclusions, not raw data.
Main tasks
Searching on the website and/or social media for visualisations of data (graphs, charts, maps, and infographics) or easy to consume articles including visualisations and conclusions, on a topic of interest. Looking things up on the website is often enough, but some might take screenshots or copy the url.
Job (examples)
Teachers and students in high school, Private users, Journalists, Commercial companies, …

13. Personas What are personas?
Visual and textual representations of archetypes of users of a service or application
Fictitious but realistic people and their goals, behaviours, etc.
Based on similarities in goals and behaviour as observed in real users.
Ways in which personas can be used
To communicate research findings
Align team members and stakeholders
Guide design decisions
Validate designs
How to interpret the following 5 personas
Representative of Eurostat’s larger user base
Demographic details such as names, gender, age and job descriptions could be replaced.

19. User testing
Seeking user feedback to (re)design products for the dissemination of statistics
Tested several products with around 50 users since August 2017
More tests planned in 2018

20. User testing Key findings Clear navigation and/or good search engine
Clear labelling
Readable (font sizes and colours) and concise text
Crosslinks
Recognisable icons
Good overview of available tools
Video tutorials
Live chats for user support

21. Contact