The Journey to Peel's Census Information Hub

Andrea Dort & Kevin Farrugia

Peel Census data is used by:

  • Residents to understand their neighbourhood
  • Non-profits and community groups for program funding
  • Governments to better plan services
  • Students and researchers to learn how populations are changing
  • Businesses to build and grow in a community

The evolution of presenting Census information

  • One dimensional PDF snapshot
  • Transition from text-heavy to visuals
  • Limited accessibility and didn't know user reach
  • Manual data process not linking to underlying data
  • Despite consistent improvement need for big change

A need for change led to a new approach

  • Modernize and enable interactivity
  • Apply user-centred design to increase access for wide range of users
  • Centralize Peel's Census data and link to Open Data using a consistent, standardized data process

Changing our approach - the journey

Project planning

  • Developed a project charter and key timelines
  • Volunteer subgroups
  • Pre-Mortem exercise
    • Identified potential problems and risks
    • Developed a solution plan
    • Assigned responsibilities

Key potential problems identified

  • Approval issues
  • Loading time
  • Device compatibility
  • Accessibility - AODA and plain language
  • Minimal reach and uptake

Working with Census data

Using Census data outside of spreadsheet software is time consuming.

  • Field names are not database friendly:

Total - Total income groups in 2015 for the population aged 15 years and over in private households - 25% sample data

  • Census data is hierarchical - important to know for properly calculating percentages:
  • A lot of columns - about 550 for just of the language data, 2000+ in total.

Solutions

  1. Automatically replace certain characters
  2. Import to File Geodatabase
  3. Apply aliases using automation

The output schema looks like this on ArcGIS Online:

Field aliases (left) and field names (right)

Easily finding Top 5's

  • A script was created to find the top 5 categories for each geography. For example finding the Top 5 languages for Peel's 282 census tracts.

Testing

Bug hunting and application testing

We created a formalized testing process and final review. A combination of methods were used:

  • Unit tests for each page, feature, and behaviour
  • Browser and device tests
  • Bug reports from internal users

Our unit test spreadsheet.

User experience testing

  • Developed prototype
  • Categorized user groups and potential testers
  • Developed a standard user testing guide for one-on-one sessions
  • Compiled and analyzed feedback from testers
  • Applied feedback where possible

What do you first notice about this page?

You've come to this page looking for the population of Brampton, what would your next step be to find the data?

What did you like and dislike the most about the Hub?

User-centred design

01 / 05

Interactivity

Added interactive features such as dashboards, maps, and charts.

  • Balance use of tools
  • Guide users through features
  • Customize the experience (CSS, HTML, JSON)
  • Download data from Open Data Portal

The story

A focus on storytelling for each release that guides users down the page.

  • Plain language explanations
  • Explaining why something is happening
  • Examples of how Census data is used
  • Detailed help and resources

Accessibility

Incorporated accessibility and ease of use.

  • Font size, colour contrast, page structure
  • Screen reader friendly where possible
  • Built-in language translation
  • Responsive design
  • User chooses how to explore

Demonstration

Future plans

  • Themed releases now complete
  • Marketing the Hub
  • Build content between Census years
    • Peel as a Village
    • Ward profiles
  • Monitor traffic and user feedback

Lessons learned

  • Spend more time on data processing up front
  • There are limitations to a low code platform
  • Designing data-centred tools for the common user is hard
  • Bug reports from internal users
  • User experience testing was time well spent

Value of the project

  • Knowledge and experience can be applied to future projects:
    • Valuable user insights for future applications
    • Improving data literacy for our users
    • Improved our project management skills and team dynamics
  • Time savings
    • Reducing repetitive data transformation efforts
    • Reducing time spent on data requests
    • Creation of tools and scripts

Thank you!

Be sure to check out the Peel Census Information Hub:

Contact us

Andrea Dort | Specialist, Data & GIS | andrea.dort@peelregion.ca

Kevin Farrugia | Advisor | kevin.farrugia@peelregion.ca

Field aliases (left) and field names (right)

Our unit test spreadsheet.