Topic pages
Making government data easy for all Americans to access and understand
Topic pages
Making government data easy for all Americans to access and understand
Topic pages
Government data presents a significant level of complexity. The United States alone comprises more than 90,000 distinct government agencies, and there exists no uniform standard for the collection, arrangement, and structure of this data. Our primary objective revolves around the creation of an interface that effectively communicates this intricate information, rendering it comprehensible, user-friendly, and pertinent.
To address the challenges faced by our users, we've introduced topic pages. These pages are designed to alleviate the concerns expressed by our users, which encompassed difficulties in accessing the desired data, variations in their levels of familiarity with interpreting and working with data, a desire to personally relate to the information presented, and a need to explore interconnected datasets.
Mobile
We listened closely to what users needed in a mobile experience and when we tested 3 variations of how to present the complete story of data for a given topic we knew we had to be careful not to overwhelm the user. Incorporating collapsible sections kept the page organized and easy to navigate.
Desktop
For individuals who prefer a desktop experience, the topic pages offer a comprehensive showcase of valuable data. Users found great satisfaction in effortlessly navigating to their precise geographical area, enabling them to examine facets such as economic indicators or health statistics within their own communities.
Data pages
The most granular level of data, used to inform other content on USAFacts
Data pages
The most granular level of data, used to inform other content on USAFacts
Data pages
The aim of data pages is to improve the overall site by building out six components — data pipelines and quality assessment, navigation, high-level topic hubs, mid-level explainer pages, articles and individual metric pages.
The biggest challenge with data pages was making them scalable. We had to ensure that over the years of ingesting government data our system would be able to accommodate the way data came in, the complexity of the data and what associations with other data could be made.
Mobile
I collaborated closely with my Product Manager, User Experience Research specialists, and data visualization experts. Our collective effort was directed towards effectively showcasing the data and establishing a user-friendly method for both in-depth exploration and seamless navigation across various sections of a specific dataset.
Desktop
Users were thrilled with our pill navigation treatment. The pills clearly indicate where the user is in the data and what deeper levels they could explore. Trust and remaining unbiased is a big deal for our organization so including source information and methodologies was a valuable feature to get right.