Data-Focused Webpages
The following is a non-comprehensive list meant to be a starting point for evaluating, modifying, and creating new data-focused webpages. Technical aspects are not included here, and this is intended for general staff.
Basics
- Primary function of page and what you are trying to achieve
- Requirements vs. Possibilities for layout, display, logic, and navigation (consider use of wireframe)
- data types to include
- descriptive and promotional copy
- where the page fits in the site map
- what user scenarios to account for, including data deficiencies (what is the threshold for insufficient data, how should it be displayed, and what is the action that happens as a result?). sample data messaging:
- "We currently cover "
- "We do not have this information. These are a work in progress and we are building it to cover it.
- "We are building towards this and doing more research in future"
- "we are adding new content every day- check back soon"
- "This candidate has not provided Vote Smart with any information on this issue and our researchers have been unable to provide any substantive factual for him/her from other reliable sources."
- "To stay up to date, sign up for our email list/enewsletter"
- How would any of this be different on the mobile-optimized site?
Navigation and How Does This Work With Other Pages
- where should this page be linked from?
- where should this page link to? how do they get there? (add to site map)
- Are there any shortcuts in navigation we want to encourage, for example:
- "go back"
- return to search/search results
- navigate to like data on other pages (like other people or issues)
- should anything be different on a repeat search or visit?
- should anything different happen if coming from a particular page?
- should anything happen if going to a particular page?
- At what points do we link out to our main website if creating a separate app?
- Is this a terminal page, where they get the content they are ultimately looking for? If so, what happens when they "finish?" What should we direct them to next?
Data to Display
- what data in our database should be displayed and in what order? Should an external dataset be incorporated?
- what identifying information should display for politicians? what basic info should display to describe the data displayed? Is there additional text needed?
- how should data on a particular politician and issue be ranked, or given priority in the display? Dimensions to consider include:
- closeness of match (like frequency of the keyword searched for), or grouping like items together (like those data points with the same tags or co-categories)
- "major" or "key" (like sponsored items, key votes, those with a category of "high priority," etc.)
- "popular/trending," or "socially-referred" (i.e. friends "liked") items get precedence
- alphabetically
- custom order by data type
- chronological order, giving precedence to recent data
- what data snapshots or aggregate data/stats might we display, ideally in a visualization? For example if someone is looking up defense issues for a politician, we could highlight the % of speeches addressing defense issues, % of time voting with their party, ratings from a major defense-related interest group, etc. Also see: CandidateOverviewProfile
- are there icons or other visuals we might include or substitute for data to simplify the display or make our raw data less text-heavy?
- what options for filtering should be offered? Consider a word cloud concept based on frequency of terms, keywords, or categories
- are features like expand/collapse functions, pagination, or anchor links necessary?
Non-Data Content
- Page title, Subtitle, and URL
- Do we need to explain or link to information about the data? for example:
- definitions of data (for example, issue details for issue categories), perhaps as tooltips
- data sources
- scope of coverage
- methods of collection and curation
- date of last update
- frequency of updates
- how to interpret the data
- why this data is important and useful
- instructions or tips for what to do next
- incorporate testimonials to improve trust- for example: like and tweet counts, peers (show if any friends like it on FB), media quotes, greatnonprofits and others rating Vote Smart
- What are the deficiencies of our content or display? Does it merit a disclaimer?
- Do we need to refer to any policies, for example, Use Policy or Privacy Policy?
- ensure all static content is timeless, in that it shouldn't reference a particular year or timeframe- it should give the illusion of being relevant, but shouldn't make specific references
Personalization and Interactivity Possibilities to Consider
- How will users be able to interact with each piece of data, if at all?
- MyVoteSmart integration and customization (examples might include: new items to track/receive notifications for, if information not available sign up for updates, highlighting new content that the user hasn't yet seen while logged in or via email, saving searches and items browsed so we can highlight content they might like in the future or so they can revisit it,
- display or suggest previous politicians or issues selected for reference and ease in navigation
- social media integration/sharing
- engagement/communicating with the politician at hand
- compare to another politician or another data type
- display related content/suggested content or give option to drill down (for example: tags?cocategories? parent/child/related categories? most recent in that category? similar candidates)
- highlight any known contradictions (as in issue position discrepancies) or flagged content (like by factcheckers)
Miscellaneous
- Figure out, how, if at all, we should incorporate ideology, industries, priorities, population, and issues
- add calls to action
- join and support Vote Smart by donating, interning, or volunteering
- create a MyVoteSmart account to sign up for custom updates or furnish email address to sign up for updates and stay in touch
- Share via social media (facebook, twitter, email and other), highlighting your influence as on http://www.isidewith.com/results/292025379)
- explore more of our database through the current app or website (other candidates, other issues)
- explore more of Vote Smart's database through other Vote Smart properties, like VoteEasy (comparing politicians to the user's views and other politicians), and our website (full records on the 6 categories)
- learn more about Vote Smart by watching our video or reading "about us"
- If nothing else, connect with us on our social media accounts.
other possibilities
