Case Studies
Government - Web Site Personas
Public opinion research of web site user profiles
The Background
This government department has developed an online atlas to replace their paper-based atlas for use by the general public and educational sector.
They have partnered with a number of other government departments to display their data in a series of maps with accompanying text for issues-based "themes" that the Canadian government has identified as high priority. The volume of maps and map-related data continues to grow as new intra-government and other organizational partners see the value of displaying their data in spatial format.
The Challenge
One of the main goals was to understand their user groups and develop user profiles, personas to better analyze and design for the information needs of the target audience. This included tracking usage patterns on the web site and user satisfaction rates with the content and organization of information.
The Project
As one of the phases of this strategic project, Maskery conducted an online survey with visitors to the website once they have completed their visit. The survey was set up with quotas to ensure that enough users of each of the key areas of the site were surveyed to provide representative opinions of their experience.
The Result
The survey has been repeated and trends in usage and satisfaction are being tracked.
The Atlas group has a more detailed understanding of the varied groups of visitors to their site and their reasons for coming to the site. By building these user profiles they can develop scenarios which enable them to focus their website development process with greater accuracy and precision at the actual user groups within the 'general public' umbrella.