DATASHARE
Social innovations/Concept creation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project was conducted as part of my PhD research and a bigger project Mapping for Social Innovation (MAPSI). Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, all co-design activities were performed remotely. The project aimed to support small Third sector organisations (TSOs), such as charities and social enterprises, in more efficient use of the data to better address community needs and at the same time foster an Open Data culture for small-size TSOs. To do so, I engaged with Participatory design six locally based TSOs focusing on different aspects of community development in Dundee, Scotland.
Related publications: Datashare: exploring the potential of reusing data for third sector organisations to support their collaboration
Challenge: To explore how the data gathered by local TSOs can be reused in order to support their work
Outcome: The concept of a "DATASHARE" platform that allows TSOs to exchange up-to-date data they have been collecting on a local level.
Software: Miro, Figma, Teams, Adobe Illustrator
PROBLEM
While many TSOs collect various types of data about their own services and local communities needs, this data is rarely reused by the organisation or shared with others, due to a lack of funding, knowledge & skills and lack of awareness of the potential of using Open data. With the potential to foster innovations, and stimulate positive social changes, Open Data has been successfully adopted in Private and Public sectors, including in governmental and research institutions. However, it is not the case for TSOs, especially micro to medium ones, that are limited in their resources.
CONTEXT
This case study was initiated based on the dialogue between the MAPSI project and three small Dundee-based TSOs concerning the possibility to support local TSO with data analysis and visualisations. These organisations have been collecting data on their services and activities and were hoping to use it in a more efficient way to improve their services and better support local communities.
In addition, organisations realised that other local TSOs may also collect some valuable data that can contribute to the Third sector overall. For example, organisations working on distributing food parcels in the city could benefit from sharing the data among them. In order to improve the process by which the food is distributed in the areas where people are in need i.e., optimising the service across the city, in a pooled manner, by sharing the respective data.
PARTICIPANTS
6 Representatives of
Third sector Organisations
Dundee
Scotland
1-55
employees
METHODOLOGY
DESIGN PROCESS: INITIAL EXPLORATION
Profile creation
To understand the characteristics of the TSOs I am designing for, I started by defining and preparing the profiles of the organisations that are the main stakeholders. In this way, I have identified small charitable organisations and social enterprises as the main beneficiaries of SI solutions and participants. The profiles were created similar to the Persona (used in the UX design) based on a set of qualitative interviews, conducted with different types of TSOs by another member of the MAPSI project.
Individual meetings
Based on this profile I further defined potential participants and arranged an individual meeting through Teams with representatives of each TSOs. The purpose of these meetings was to understand the potential interests of TSOs in working data and to invite them to the next activities of the research.
Example of TSO profile
DESIGN PROCESS: DISCOVERY
Focus group
The semi-structured focus group was conducted online through MS Teams, where 5 TSOs took part. I have encouraged participants to share their current practices of using data and to highlight their challenges and needs.
Main questions:
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What do you understand by the term Data?
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How do you imagine data can support your work in the future?
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What kind of data does your organisation collect and how do you store it? In what form?
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How do you use the data that you have collected? How often?
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Is there a particular person who works with data in the organisation?
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Do you use any external datasets, reports or websites with data that help you in the work? Why this dataset?
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Have you cooperated with any organisation or have you thought to cooperate with some organisations that might share the datasets with you or help to manage the data more efficiently?
Insights:
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TSOs collect and use data in various forms, such as client profiles, statistics on provided services;
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There is a need for organisations to share data, such as postcodes and high-level statistics related to local communities;
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GDPR restricts the sharing of data;
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In most of the TSOs, there is no dedicated employee to work with the data
Ideation Workshop
The workshop was organised through MC Teams for communication and MIRO for the ideation.
Workshop Structure
For the ideation activity, I created the "Inspiration table" that includes 4 columns with components: Space + Collaborations + Type of activity + Type of Data. Each column (component) included from 10 to 12 options with examples of the particular component. While ideating participants were required to use 1 or more options from each column. In this way, each participant created an idea that included 4 components: Space, Collaboration, Type of activity, and Type of Data.
Ideation table
Exumple of Ideation results
DESIGN PROCESS: PROTOTYPING
As an outcome, TSOs ideated the concept of a “Digital shared place for data with different types of data representation” and identified main Needs. To address those needs I created the Value Proposition canvas and then defined the main features of the system. Further, I created the prototype using Figma.
Value Proposition map
Main features of the Datashare platform
DATASHARE CONCEPT
The platform is intended to be a shared place for data gathered by TSOs, however, it may also involve other stakeholders who might benefit/contribute to the data-sharing locally, such as citizens looking for support, agencies outside of the Third Sector, funders, and organisations who have the access to the local data
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
MAIN FEATURES
DATA REPRESENTATION
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DATA VISUALISATION FEATURE
PROTOTYPE TESTING
The prototype was evaluated through unmoderated remote testing, using an online questionnaire for feedback. The goal was to evaluate the concept and define possible improvements.
Users tasks
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To explore how to upload a dataset to the prototype.
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To search and explore how to download the dataset “School meals distribution”.
Feedback questions:
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What do you think about this platform's functionality?
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What challenges do you think there can be while submitting a dataset?
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How clear is the instruction for the data visualisations?
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What challenges do you think there can be while searching for the dataset?
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What functions would you add to this platform?
Insights:
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Required improvements: Greater selection of data visualisation tools and an educational flowchart to explain the work of the platform for users without a technical background.
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Keeping in mind GDPR restrictions some organisations may need to prepare the data before uploading it, and they might require support in doing this
SOCIAL IMPACT
By providing TSOs with the opportunity to exchange data, Datashare can support TSOs to improve existing services and create opportunities for new ones. As the result, local communities will benefit from the more efficient addressing of their needs.
NEXT STEPS
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To make an iteration to explore and address Usability issues
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To research, how to take into account GDPR while sharing existing data and at the same time optimise the process for non-expert users