Project Lintol’s focus groups: invaluable insights and beyond…
Connecting with potential users of Lintol has always been our priority. Before development began we carried out one-to-one interviews with our stakeholders, from Data Publishers and Data Owners to people who consume Open Data such as Technical Data Users, Academic Researchers and more. They shared the challenges they face when using Open Data. They outlined the frustrations and even the fears they experience.
We listened to these concerns, and they formed the foundations of our development process.
Fast forward a little, and we now had an early prototype to share with other developers and potential end-users. Had we hit the mark? Could fellow developers suggest invaluable insights or tweaks that could enhance Lintol? Could data publishers see Lintol being adopted within their own organisations? We needed to know, and decided that the answers could lie within Focus Groups.
Our first focus group was held at the Open Data Institute in London. Developers from the ODI attended, along with other renowned professionals from the UK Open Data field. Our goal was to gather more technical feedback and suggestions from the group, and the discussion proved to be extraordinarily insightful.
Shortly afterwards, we held two more focus groups in Northern Ireland. This time, we targeted Open Data Publishers from across the region’s government and public-sector groups. From the Departments of Finance, Infrastructure, Environment and Education, to the local public transport network: the world of Data Publishers was well represented. Again, these sessions were fruitful and surpassed our expectations. What’s more, some of our attendees were keen to pilot Lintol which was even more encouraging.
We’re extremely grateful to everyone who attended our focus groups, and their feedback has helped steer our development in Geolocations, Personally Identifiable Information and anonymity, how Lintol will link up with Goodtables and CSVLint and much more.
But our exciting explorations are not yet over. We’re holding an Open Data Coding Challenge, which will be a hackathon style event (details to follow soon). This will help us develop individual validation processors to solve serious government data publishing issues. We’ll then trial a pilot version of Lintol in government and public-sector organisations, gathering vital observations as it is used in the real world for the first time.
Whatever your technical know how (or not), we’re keen to connect, listen and implement your ideas.
Join us on GitHub github.com/lintol, Twitter @projectlintol or Email hello@lintol.io
