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Achievements and plans for enhanced visualisation of Eurostat statistics OECD Seminar « Turning statistics into knowledge » 26-27 May 2008 Chris Laevaert
Achievements and plans for enhanced visualisation of Eurostat statistics
OECD Seminar« Turning statistics into knowledge »
26-27 May 2008
Chris Laevaert
Session Overview
Key figures about Eurostat dissemination
Design principles of visualisation tools
Presentation of existing tools
Planned improvements
Conclusion
Key figures on Eurostat electronic dissemination
Free dissemination of data since October 2004
Data and products available free of charge via http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
Two databases presented in a single navigation tree:
– Dissemination database with 4500 multidimensional tablesupdated every working day at 11:00 and 23:00
– External trade data base, detailed data on trade between Member States and some 250 trading partners. (over 11.000 products)
updated once a month
Key figures on Eurostat electronic dissemination(per month)
One million visitors
300 000 consultations of the 1200 predefined tables
Nearly 250 000 data extractions from the dissemination databases (200 000 Dissemination database and 50 000 for External trade database)
280 000 downloads of electronic publications (pdf files)
Over 2100 user requests treated
6000 consultations per day for RSS feeds, 8000 per working days (on average)
Key figures on Eurostat electronic dissemination
User community
– 40% students and private users– 25% commercial companies and research institutes– 20% public institutions and government bodies– 6% national statistical institutes– 3% press
Design principles of visualisation tools
Tools target audience according to « experience level »– General public (tourists)– Harvesters– Data miners
Display live data ( i.e. databases )
Intuitive interaction – reduced learning curve
Find balance between functionality and usability
Interlinking of tools
Design principles of visualisation tools
Customisation / personalisation functionality
Re-usability (via bookmark)
Provide multiple output formats
Keep the ‘data table’ close to the visual tools
No selection process to obtain data → default view of tables
No data without metadata
Design principles of visualisation tools
Users also look for data to support / create
their OWN story !
First recommendations of Task Force on visualisation tools
Task Force on best practices with CZ, DK, FI, DE, NO, NL, PT, CH and ECBSearchable Serve various purposes (play for fun, education, business need)Well-defined target groups of usersAllow comparisons and link to a personal situation Cover a repetitive and longer term requirementConnect to live data (i.e. data bases)
Richness of functions to explore (content) and to customize (display)Data and meta-data should accompany the graphics (also for WAI)Providing additional info for understanding e.g. on breaksVisually oriented Help/Demo
Output functions (print, save, bookmark: cross-media output)Allow feedback of users
Visualisation tools – Country Profile
Country Profile
– Target audience is general public– Cross-cutting overview of key indicators per theme– Graphical display– In test phase
Visualisation tools – Country Profile
Visualisation tools – Country Profile
Visualisation tools - TGM
Tables, Graphs and Maps (TGM)
– Online since December 2007– Target audience are harvesters– Positively welcomed by user community– Displays 1.200 predefined tables– Based on SVG / also non SVG version
Visualisation tools - TGM
Visualisation tools – Data Explorer
Data explorer
– Online as ‘Try this’ since May 2008– Target audience are data miners– Single interface to multidimensional tables– Focus on table display and data extraction functions– No plugin required
Visualisation tools – Data Explorer
Visualisation tools – Business Cycle Clock
Business Cycle Clock– presents in a dynamic way the economic evolution over
time and across countries based on the Principal European Economic Indicators (PEEI)
– Uses flash technology– In test phase– Based on idea from CBS Netherlands
Visualisation tools – Business Cycle Watch
1. Indicator increases at levels above long term average (trend)
2. After reaching a peak the indicator decreases, being still above trend level
3. Continues decreases pushes the indicator below its trend
4. Having reached a trough the indicator now increases again, however, still below its long term average level
Visualisation tools – Business Cycle Watch
Visualisation tools – Business Cycle Watch
Planned improvements - TGM
Tables, Graphs and Maps– Additional graph types– Additional map functions– Increased support for regional and city maps– More time periods– Possibility for user to annotate customised maps and
graphs with own comments, embedded within bookmark– Performance issues, toggle between SVG and non-SVG– Direct link to Data Explorer with related multidimensional
dataset
Planned improvements – Data Explorer
Data Explorer– Integrated data navigation tree– Direct links to related datasets– Special features for advanced users. Batch based
extractions, ‘my datasets’– SDMX as output format– Integration of TGM features
Planned improvements
New web design and structure– User centric design– Content increasingly based on subthemes– Simplified home page– Consistent navigation– New data navigaton tree – « My tree »– Built-in search in data navigation tree
Conclusion
Enhancing the user’s experience
– Better usability and navigation– Easier to find statistics– Provide easy-to-use and intuitive tools– Focus on personalisation and re-usability
