workshop on prototyping the catalogue of reusable data ... · workshop on prototyping the catalogue...

SC352DI07171

Workshop on Prototyping the catalogue of reusable

data visualisation tools in the EU Institutions

22 September 2016

Workshop on Prototyping the catalogue of reusable data visualisation tools in the EU Institutions

Document Metadata

Property Value

Date 13-10-2016

Status For acceptance

Version 0.03

Authors

Jana Makedonska – PwC EU Services

Eva Cobos Cortina – PwC EU Services

Andrea Marcato – PwC EU Services

Reviewed by Nikolaos Loutas – PwC EU Services

Approved by

This document was prepared for the ISA² Programme by:

PwC EU Services

Disclaimer:

The views expressed in this report are purely those of the authors and may not, in

any circumstances, be interpreted as stating an official position of the European

Commission.

The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the information

included in this study, nor does it accept any responsibility for any use thereof.

Reference herein to any specific products, specifications, process, or service by

trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily

constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favouring by the

European Commission.

All care has been taken by the author to ensure that s/he has obtained, where

necessary, permission to use any parts of manuscripts including illustrations,

maps, and graphs, on which intellectual property rights already exist from the

titular holder(s) of such rights or from her/his or their legal representative.


Table of Contents

1 WORKSHOP OVERVIEW .................................................................................................. 4

1.1 THE CATALOGUE OF REUSABLE DATA VISUALISATION TOOLS ......................................................................... 4 1.2 WORKSHOP OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.3 AGENDA ............................................................................................................................................ 6

2 WORKSHOP MINUTES ..................................................................................................... 8

2.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE CATALOGUE ........................................................................................................ 8 2.2 Q&A SESSION .................................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 OUTCOMES OF THE DISCUSSION TABLES ................................................................................................... 9 2.4 NEXT STEPS ...................................................................................................................................... 19


1 WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

1.1 The Catalogue of reusable data visualisation tools

The Catalogue of reusable data visualisation tools is a service that will interactively

guide the users in choosing the best tool and the best data visualisation for them,

and that will support the establishment of a self-driven community of EU staff who

can productively collaborate and share knowledge on topics related to data

visualisation and data visualisation tools.

The catalogue will be a web application composed of three elements:

the catalogue itself, which represents a collection of data visualisation tools

and visualisations made available via an online service;

the knowledge base of the catalogue, which will provide links to relevant

documentation, studies and reports, learning resources, user reviews of data

visualisation tools etc.;

a community around the catalogue comprising EU staff who will exchange

knowledge and ideas in an online environment internal to the EU Institutions.

The target users of the catalogue have been identified as data and IT experts and

domain specialists who need to effectively communicate information produced by the

EU institutions to the EU citizens, businesses and public administrations.

The catalogue will be prototyped following a collaborative and iterative approach and

engaging a number of key stakeholders from the EU Institutions. The approach is

summarised in the figure below.

The catalogue will be complemented by a series of introductory and hands-on

trainings on data visualisation available to EU staff and by a data visualisation service,

both managed by the EU Open Data Portal of the Publications Office. It is expected

that the above-described service package help build data visualisation capabilities

and Centre d’Excellence in the EU Institutions.

1.2 Workshop overview

The workshop followed up and built upon the outcomes of several activities that were

carried out already in the context of the recent initiatives focusing on open data and

data visualisation at the Publications Office of the EU, and namely:

2nd

RELEASE

FINALRELEASE

1st

RELEASE

Collection and prioritisation of first feedback

Additional input collected and implemented

Information collected from this workshop


the survey on data visualisation tools conducted by the Publications Office in

20151; and

the workshop on “Data Visualisation Tools in the EU Institutions”

(Luxembourg, 14 April 2016) aimed to collect institutional experience on data

visualisation and user requirements for data visualisation tools in the EU

institutions.

The objectives of the workshop were:

to define the key functionalities of the catalogue of reusable data visualisation

tools; and

to move toward a collaborative approach for the catalogue prototyping and future development.

During the workshop, the participants were also encouraged to identify and represent the main components of the user interface of the catalogue using wireframes.

Based on the participants’ ideas, the project team then will build a front-end application prototype, which will be sent to the workshop participants for evaluation.

Table 1 displays some practical information of the workshop.

Table 1. Practical information

Topic Description

Date 22-09-2016

Venue Publications Office of the European Union – Luxembourg

Duration 10:00 – 17:10

Webpage Link to the workshop Joinup page2

Target audience EU Institutions staff

Dissemination of the

Event

The event was disseminated via the Joinup event page. All

documents, links and information related to the workshop are

available and updated using the Joinup event page.

Registration This workshop was a closed event. Participation was by

invitation only and registration was necessary.

Agenda The workshop agenda is presented in Section 1.3.

1 The survey showed that there are opportunities for streamlining the processes in visualising data and cooperating on this topic.

2 URL : https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/asset/data_visualisation_and_open_data/news/workshop-towards-catalogue-data-visualisation-tools-eu-i

https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/asset/data_visualisation_and_open_data/news/workshop-towards-catalogue-data-visualisation-tools-eu-i

https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/asset/data_visualisation_and_open_data/news/workshop-towards-catalogue-data-visualisation-tools-eu-i


1.3 Agenda

Table 2. Workshop agenda

Start Finish Topic

9:30 10:00 Registration and Coffee

10:00 11:00 Scope of workshop in the Data Visualisation Tools project

Topics:

Introducing the Catalogue

Objectives and scope of the work

Findings from the previous workshop

Data visualisation tasks you might find interesting and

timeline

Governance of the Catalogue

[ Download link to presentation]3

11:00 11:20 Coffee break

11:20 12:20 Building user journeys

Activities:

Validate provided personas

Discuss how users will interact with the catalogue

Present user journeys as flow charts

Provide feedback on selected topics

12:20 13:20 Lunch

13:20 14:20 Presenting user journeys

Activities:

Presentation of user journeys on flipcharts

Feedback collection from participants

14:20 15:05 Building wireframes

Activities:

Work in teams to build wireframes to support user journeys

15:05 15:25 Coffee break

3 URL of presentation: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/CITnet/confluence/download/attachments/573278886/Workshop%20towards%20a%20catalogue%20of%20reusable%20data%20visualisation%20tools_v0.05.pptx?version=1&modificationDate=1474480920161&api=v2

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/CITnet/confluence/download/attachments/573278886/Workshop%20towards%20a%20catalogue%20of%20reusable%20data%20visualisation%20tools_v0.05.pptx?version=1&modificationDate=1474480920161&api=v2





Start Finish Topic

15:25 16:40 Building wireframes (part 2)

Activities:

Switch teams

Resume work on wireframes

16:40 17:10 Closing


2 WORKSHOP MINUTES

2.1 Introduction to the Catalogue

Agnieszka Zajac welcomed the participants to the workshop, presented the

background work that already took place and explained the objectives of the meeting

(as in Section 1.2). Then, Jana Makedonska gave an introductory presentation on the

tasks of the day and provided a wider perspective of activities related to open data

publishing and visualisation that could be interesting for the participants4.

2.2 Q&A Session

Following the introduction, the participants asked several questions that are

summarised below.

Question How large do we expect the community to be?

Answer The target audience is people working in all EU Institutions and EU agencies,

but there is no hard limit set in advance.

Question How much effort will be put in surveying tools and creating this

Community of Practice?

Answer The idea is not to crawl the Internet blindly but to identify the tools and

techniques currently used in the EU institutions and agencies and handpick

those that make more sense, and then discuss about their inclusion in the

catalogue in a collaborative way. In fact, the information sharing part is one of

the main goals of the catalogue.

Question Will the catalogue contain hands-on training material on specific tools?

Answer Yes, for each tool the catalogue will contain references and links to materials

such as quick-start guides, tutorials and e-learning activities. For those

interested, several training activities will be organised by the Publications Office.

The level of the trainings will be both introductory and more advanced, focus

on the practical aspects of data visualisation.

4 The link to the supporting presentation is given in Section 1.3


Question What is the mandate of the Publications Office? How long will the

testing phase last?

Answer The current work plan of ISA2 runs until 2017, but the overall program will last

until 2020, so we can adapt the project to suit it to the interest showed by the

participants.

2.3 Outcomes of the discussion tables

After the Q&A session, the participants were split in two groups. The discussion

moved quickly from user stories to the overall goals of the catalogue and its functional

features. The participants felt more comfortable to discuss on such topics in a

brainstorming-like fashion rather than to focusing on sequences of actions and build

user journeys. Then, the groups drafted some sketches of possible user-interface

elements.

In summary, the outcomes of the discussion tables can be grouped as follows:

High-level and low-level user requirements for the catalogue, with particular

reference to: application functionalities; information displayed in the portal;

facets for visualisation tools;

Wireframes of possible user-interface elements;

Other remarks useful for organising the next steps.

The following paragraphs present the ideas generated by participants in more detail.

No particular order or priority is given.

User requirements for the catalogue

Table 3 lists the high-level requirements that could be inferred from the discussion.

Table 3. List of proposed high-level requirements

ID High-level user requirement description

HLR1

The catalogue will assist users to accomplish their tasks involving data

visualisation, that is, it will help users find the right way and the right tool to

visualise their data.

HLR2 The catalogue will guide the users based on their specific need, and provide

services in a way that would make it useful to both beginners and experts.

HLR3 The catalogue will also serve an educational aspect and stimulate knowledge

transfer.

HLR4 The catalogue will help create knowledge out of data.

HLR5 The catalogue will help understand whether a tool is useful or not for the user’s

purpose.


ID High-level user requirement description

HLR6

In the long run, building a community of practice on data visualisation, which would

materialise through the catalogue, is expected to help develop data-driven decision

making in the EU.

HLR7 Tools should be linked to their “sponsor”/ “evangelists”, i.e. the person, contact

point within the Institutions who is expert on them and can help.

HLR8 The catalogue will also be helpful to connect people. The aim is to create an

interinstitutional community of practice.

HLR9

Have a data visualisation service to refer to and seen as “Centre d’Excellence”.

Such service could be useful to produce/provide support on infographics. Experts

can be seen as trainers.

HLR10 The priority is to promote open-source solutions.

HLR11

The catalogue will be also helpful to promote reusability between EU Institutions

and agencies (e.g. by sharing templates (i.e., to easily produce a corporate look

and feel), configurations and solutions, source code).

HLR12

The catalogue should have low barriers of entry for new users, in order to stimulate

participation. Access should be granted to officials from EU Institutions and

agencies, but not to the public.

HLR13 Implementation should start small from necessary features and metadata and then

grow incrementally with contributions from the community.

HLR14 The governance of the catalogue will not replace the governance of the tools

presented in it.

HLR15

The catalogue should evolve in a rational way and not simply grow. Thus, if a tool

featured in the catalogue as having a certain range of capabilities turns out having

a better alternative, it should be replaced.

Table 4 lists the low-level user requirements that could be inferred from the

discussion.

Table 4. List of proposed user requirements

ID Low-level user requirement description

UR1 The catalogue’s general look and feel should be visual and intuitive, without much

text.

UR2 An “intelligent” search bar should be visible in all pages and provide suggestions.

UR3 The catalogue should include a sandbox that allows users play with data, with a

function to upload data and get suggestions.


ID Low-level user requirement description

UR4 The catalogue should have example data sets available to the users so that users

can compare the performance of tools.

UR5

The catalogue should display working real-life examples for data visualisations

created. The user should be able to download the source code, the configuration,

or the template used in the examples.

UR6

For each tool, the catalogue should display a list of related external resources (e.g.,

tutorials, books, courses, W3C school, best practices with real examples, links to

examples of relevant data visualisation made by the EU Institutions and agencies,

traps and pitfalls, etc.).

UR7 For each tool, the catalogue should display information about who is using it,

having a button like “Ask a question” that may be linked to a forum.

UR8 For each tool, the catalogue should make clear which pieces of metadata have not

been filled in yet. Missing metadata could be filled by the community incrementally.

UR9

The user should be able to know what the capabilities of tools are, especially for

those with broad functionalities. For instance, some tools have data analyses and

quality checking capabilities in addition and data visualisation capabilities, and this

information should be clearly stated.

UR10

The catalogue should provide a categorisation matrix (ala Gartner quadrant)

presenting an overview of tools by pairs of metrics, with filtering capabilities and

colouring according to complexity.

UR11

The catalogue should provide a wizard that helps select tools by posing several

questions to the user (e.g. purpose, type of data, channel, format, interactivity …).

The wizard should not be mandatory.

UR12 The User Interface should provide a faceted search and navigation so that the user

can incrementally explore the catalogue.

UR13 The User Interface should adapt the level of detail of the information display

according to the type of user (e.g., basic, developer ...).

UR14 There should be a clear distinction between the visualisation techniques and the

tools.

UR15 The portal should be divided in three sections: the catalogue, education resources

(including e-learning), and the forum.

Table 5 lists facets for browsing visualisation tools that were proposed by

participants.


Table 5. List of proposed facets for visualisation tools

ID Facet description

FC1

Suitability for which tasks, where “tasks” are based on the end-product required.

For instance, a task may be the production of a visualisation that displays change

over time, or correlation between indicators, or infographic.

FC2 Learning difficulty (e.g., user-friendly, developer-only).

FC3 Tool capabilities (i.e., how many things it can do; how many visualisation types it

can produce)

FC4 Customisability: does the tool support a custom look and feel of the visualisation?

FC5 Template support: is the custom look and feel easily importable/exportable for

reuse?

FC6 Multilingual support: does the tool support multiple languages?

FC7 EU compliance: is the tool compliant with IPG / corporate requirements? –

Especially for maps.

FC8 Sponsored: does the tool have a sponsor? [To discuss whether this is a facet]

FC9 Type of data supported (e.g. tabular, geospatial, …)

FC10 Format of input data supported (e.g. XLSX, XML, CSV, JSON…)

FC11 Format of export data (e.g. PNG, JPG, PDF, SVG, HTML embeddable …) –

“shareability”

FC12 Interactivity of the visualisation (partially linked to format of export data – static,

animated, interactive)

FC13 Complexity of data (e.g. number of dimensions)

FC14 Licence type (e.g. free closed-source, free open source, commercial, …)

Wireframes

Following the discussion on user requirements, the focus shifted on producing

sketches of user interface.

Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3, produced during the workshop, depict the tool

detail page and the tools matrix (as in UR10)

Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7 were produced by digitising the

sketches drawn of flipcharts collaboratively. The following UI screens are

depicted: the tool selection wizard (as in UR11); the search results page with

facets (as in UR12); the tool comparison page; the tool detail page. Finally,


Figure 8 displays the navigation sequence between these pages. A clickable

version of these prototype screens is available online at this address:

https://popapp.in/w/projects/57f268528d12d4a750863e52/preview/

https://popapp.in/w/projects/57f268528d12d4a750863e52/preview/


Figure 1. Tool detail page designed by WV

Figure 2. Tools list page designed by WV


Figure 3. Tools matrix page designed by WV

Figure 4. Tool selection wizard


Figure 5. Search results

Figure 6. Tool comparison page


Figure 7. Tool detail page


Figure 8. Navigation flow between pages


Other remarks

Throughout the workshop and during the closing session, the participants provided

additional ideas for the next steps of the project, which are summarised below:

In the short term, a prototype shall be built and circulated between the

workshop participants;

Then, as a second iteration, a new working prototype shall be built based on

the feedback received from participants;

Confluence shall be used as platform for exchanging working drafts of

documents, while Joinup shall be used for publishing final resources.

Alternatively, a survey could be circulated regarding the preferred platform

for collaboration.

Additional trainings could be organised on the following topics or tools:

o How to create infographics: explanatory vs. exploratory approach;

o Tableau Public5;

o QlikView6.

o D37.

2.4 Next steps

The workshop provided an insightful overview of the expected vision, objectives and

functionalities of the catalogue. The ideas generated in this occasion will be reviewed

and serve as a foundation for building a first prototype of the catalogue.

In the figure below, a proposed time plan for the next steps is proposed.

5 http://public.tableau.com

6 https://www.qlik.com

7 http://d3js.org

http://public.tableau.com/

https://www.qlik.com/

http://d3js.org/


Figure 9. Proposed time plan

Timing about the activities described above is provided in the following table.

Step Description Deadline

1 Release of 1st prototype 21/10/2016

2 Feedback collection 04/11/2016

3 Release of 2nd prototype 18/11/2016

4 Additional feedback collection via survey. Focus on prioritisation of

functionalities 02/12/2016

5 Final release of prototype 19/12/2016

2016 2017

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul

1. Piloting of the catalogue of reusable data visualisation tools

2. Open data publishing and visualisation

3. Inventory of data visualisation tools

4. Providing trainings

October 2016 – July 2017

October 2016 – June 2017

October 2016 – February 2017

November 2016 – July 2017

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