Detroit Open Data Portal
CUTgroup: A project hosted by the School of Information, University of Michigan
Timeline
Discipline
User Research, Design Strategy, and Design Thinking
Duration
5 weeks (Jan'25-Feb'25)
Role
UX Researcher (Team of 5)
Tools
Figma, Miro
Summary
The School of Information chooses 5 students each year to conduct Civic User Testing for Detroit or Ann Arbor. This year, User testing was conducted on the City of Detroit Open Data Portal (ODP), with specific focus on the Blight Violations Dashboard.
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The Problem: The City of Detroit’s Open Data team is advancing digital empowerment through its Open Data Portal (ODP). As part of this initiative, the team has developed a tool to help residents locate certified tech hubs and access essential digital resources like free Wi-Fi, tech support, and device loaner programs. CUTgroup will conduct user testing on the Data Analytics feature of the portal to assess ease of navigation, command understanding, and overall functionality.
Research Questions
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How easy is it for users to navigate the ODP’s Data Analytics feature?
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Do users understand commands and key actions within the portal?
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Are specific dashboards, such as the Blight violation dashboard, clear and functional?
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How do users interact with the Blight violation dashboard?
Discovery
1. Curious Residents: Individuals seeking tech resources for personal or family use. Varying levels of digital literacy.
2. Community Groups: Grassroots organizations using tech hubs for meetings and events.
3. Businesspeople: Small business owners needing workspace and digital access.
Personas: https://data.detroitmi.gov/pages/personas
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Participants were local Detroit residents, recruited from a community center. They fit the persona of the Curious Detroit Resident.
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User Testing: We traveled to Detroit and interviewed 12 participants in 20-30 minutes in-person sessions.
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Methodology: Participants were started on the City of Detroit Open Data Portal site (data.detroitmi.gov) for testing.
Tasks:
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Navigate to the Blight Violations Dashboard
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Adjust filters for information
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Comprehend the visualizations
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Find more information about the dataset
Afterwards, they were asked about their experience with the ODP.
Analysis
After the interviews, from our notes we analyzed common pain points, smooth user experiences, and other issues and created affinity diagrams.
After the affinity diagram, we identified key pain points and worked on recommendations for the client.