1. A better way to present DWP data

    The DWP holds a lot of interesting data. Right now, it’s all available on your website, but with just a few small changes, it could be reaching a much wider audience.

    Here’s one example. Imagine that, once people were on your site, they could answer their own questions from your data through an interface as nice and easy as this one:

    mySociety DWP data finder

     

    This sort of tool empowers your users, and means your data doesn’t languish in an unseen corner of your website. It’s easy to use, too.

    Getting the DWP’s data to a wider audience

    DWP Google searchThere’s one other simple change that will bring your data to more people.

    Every day there are people searching Google for things like ‘How many people are on Incapacity Benefit?’– and although the DWP features in the top results, it’s not a terribly relevant link.

    This means most people – interested, engaged people – are not finding your data or your website. It’s a wasted opportunity for awareness-raising and increasing your organisation’s impact.

    Now imagine you had this page running as part of your site – and similar pages for all the most common questions asked by visitors:

    mySociety dwp suggested

     

    Clear, friendly presentation of data like this does two things.

    It immediately answers a common question for lots of visitors. And, because Google ranks results according to relevance,  it helps people find the DWP in the first place.

    Both these solutions are  easy to implement – and you’d start seeing the results very quickly

    We’d love to talk

    That’s all we wanted to say! We hope you like our vision. If so, we can help you make it a reality.

    mySociety specialises in simple presentation of complex data – get in touch and we’ll happily tell you more.

  2. A better way to present Companies House data

    Companies House holds a lot of interesting data. Right now, it’s all available on your website, but with just a few small changes, it could be reaching a much wider audience.

    Here’s one example. Imagine that, once people were on your site, they could answer their own questions from your data through an interface as nice and easy as this one:

    mySociety data finder for Companies House

     

    This sort of tool empowers your users, and means your data doesn’t languish in an unseen corner of your website. It’s easy to use, too.

    Getting Companies House data to a wider audience

    googling-companies-house

    There’s one other simple change that will bring your data to more people. Every day there are people searching Google for things like ‘How many UK companies closed in 2011?’ – and Companies House doesn’t feature in the top results.

    This means most people – interested, engaged people – are not finding your data or your website. It’s a wasted opportunity for awareness-raising and increasing your organisation’s impact.

    Now imagine you had this page running as part of your site – and similar pages for all the most common questions asked by visitors:

    mySociety Companies House suggested

     

    Clear, friendly presentation of data like this does two things.

    It immediately answers a common question for lots of visitors. And, because Google ranks results according to relevance,  it helps people find Companies House in the first place.

    Both these solutions are  easy to implement – and you’d start seeing the results very quickly.

     We’d love to talk

    That’s all we wanted to say! We hope you like our vision. If so, we can help you make it a reality.

    mySociety specialises in simple presentation of complex data – get in touch and we’ll happily tell you more.

  3. A better way to present BFI data

    The BFI holds a lot of interesting data. Right now, it’s all available on your website, but with just a few small changes, it could be reaching a much wider audience.

    Here’s one example. Imagine that, once people were on your site, they could answer their own questions from your data through an interface as nice and easy as this one:

    mySociety data finder for BFI

     

    This sort of tool empowers your users, and means your data doesn’t languish in an unseen corner of your website. It’s easy to use, too.

    Getting the BFI’s data to a wider audience

    google for BFIThere’s one other simple change that will bring your data to more people.

    Every day there are people searching Google for things like ‘What share of UK box office takings came from indie films?’ – and while the BFI is the first result, users still have to scan through and interpret a news story before they can find the answer.

    This means that many people – interested, engaged people – are not finding your data or your website as easily as they might. It’s a wasted opportunity for awareness-raising and increasing your organisation’s impact.

    Now imagine you had this page running as part of your site – and similar pages for all the most common questions asked by visitors:

    mySociety bfi suggested

     

    Clear, unambiguous presentation of data like this does two things.

    It immediately answers a common question for lots of visitors. And, because Google ranks results according to relevance,  it helps people find the BFI in the first place.

    Both these solutions are  easy to implement – and you’d start seeing the results very quickly

    We’d love to talk

    That’s all we wanted to say! We hope you like our vision. If so, we can help you make it a reality.

    mySociety specialises in simple presentation of complex data – get in touch and we’ll happily tell you more.

  4. A better way to present The Pensions Regulator’s data

    The Pensions Regulator holds a lot of interesting data. Right now, it’s all available on your website, but with just a few small changes, it could be reaching a much wider audience.

    Here’s one example. Imagine that, once people were on your site, they could answer their own questions from your data through an interface as nice and easy as this one:

    mySociety data finder for the Pensions Regulator

     

    This sort of tool empowers your users, and means your data doesn’t languish in an unseen corner of your website. It’s easy to use, too.

    Getting the Pension Regulator’s data to a wider audience

    Pensions Regulator Google SearchThere’s one other simple change that will bring your data to more people. Every day there are people searching Google for things like  ‘How many final salary pension schemes closed last year?’ – and the Pension Regulator doesn’t feature in the top results.

    This means most people – interested, engaged people – are not finding your data or your website. It’s a wasted opportunity for awareness-raising and increasing your organisation’s impact.

    Now imagine you had this page running as part of your site – and similar pages for all the most common questions asked by visitors:

    mySociety Pensions Regulator suggested

    Clear, unambiguous presentation of data like this does two things.

    It immediately answers a common question for lots of visitors. And, because Google ranks results according to relevance,  it helps people find the Pensions Regulator in the first place.

    Both these solutions are  easy to implement – and you’d start seeing the results very quickly.

    We’d love to talk

    That’s all we wanted to say! We hope you like our vision. If so, we can help you make it a reality.

    mySociety specialises in simple presentation of complex data – get in touch and we’ll happily tell you more.

  5. A better way to present OFWAT’s data

    OFWAT holds a lot of interesting data. Right now, it’s all available on your website, but with just a few small changes, it could be reaching a much wider audience.

    Here’s one example. Imagine that, once people were on your site, they could answer their own questions from your data through an interface as nice and easy as this one:

    mySociety OFWAT data finder

     

    This sort of tool empowers your users, and means your data doesn’t languish in an unseen corner of your website. It’s easy to use, too.

    Getting OFWAT’s data to a wider audience

    Screenshot of Google for water leakagesThere’s one other simple change that will bring your data to more people. Every day there are people searching Google for things like ‘How much water was leaked by UK water companies in 2012?’ – and OFWAT doesn’t feature in the top results.

    This means most people – interested, engaged people – are not finding your data or your website. It’s a wasted opportunity for awareness-raising and increasing your organisation’s impact.

     

     

    Now imagine you had this page running as part of your site – and similar pages for all the most common questions asked by visitors:

     OFWAT mySociety suggested

     

    Clear, unambiguous presentation of data like this does two things.

    It immediately answers a common question for lots of visitors. And, because Google ranks results according to relevance,  it helps people find OFWAT in the first place.

    Both these solutions are  easy to implement – and you’d start seeing the results very quickly.

    We’d love to talk

    That’s all we wanted to say! We hope you like our vision. If so, we can help you make it a reality.

    mySociety specialises in simple presentation of complex data – get in touch and we’ll happily tell you more.

  6. Mapumental Property – To Launch Thursday 8th November 2012

    After a great deal of hard work we are pleased to announce that Mapumental Property will be launching on the 8th of November 2012.

    Mapumental Property uses public transport open data from across the country to show you areas you can live that are an acceptable commute from your office, school or other destination. We have data on buses, trains, trams, tubes – so we look into all the combinations that might help you get to work quickly.

    We’ve built the site to solve a problem that these other big sites don’t quite get right – commuting. Nobody likes to commute a minute further than strictly necessary. But in a world of complex public transport networks, especially in our big cities, it can be highly unclear where you might be able to live and still get to work in 30 minutes. Mapumental Property will help, and it works anywhere in Britain. It works in Aberdeen just as well as Shoreditch.

    From next week people in Britain can easily see areas that are less than a specified amount of time away from a place of work, study or other importance, by public transport. So if you’ve ever thought “I wish I could see a map of everywhere less than half an hour’s commute from this office”, this is your answer.

    Look for more updates next week!

  7. Mobile Websites for Local Councils – Strategy and Technology

    “It’s rare to find people who can piece together the strategy and the technology – you usually get one or the other.” – Helen Milner, Chief Executive at UK Online

    Across the UK  council officers are facing the same problem – the audience has rapidly turned to mobile devices, but council sites are resolutely stuck in the desktop era. What to do?

    mySociety are experts in the processes required to convert traditional local council websites to mobile websites and apps. We understand the challenges that come with presenting complex council information on a mobile interface, and the problems of getting old systems to catch up. We can help you with both aspects.

    Contact us now to talk about a mobile version of your council website.

    Mobile strategy for councils

    Phone shade by NiXerKGHave you recently checked what proportion of your residents are visiting your council website via a mobile phone? The figure is almost certainly high, and growing by the day.

    Residents increasingly expect to access council services from a mobile: you only have think about finding a car park, reporting vandalism, or checking bus timetables to see that mobile access needs to be an integral part of a council’s online strategy. Your reputation will depend on it.

    Most council websites were built long before we envisaged such widespread mobile usage. As a result, adapting council websites to mobile can seem a daunting task – but it’s an essential part of your switch to digital by default.

    It requires experience and patience to understand how user behaviours differ on mobile websites and on desktops. It also means prioritising the kind of content that your users will need on-the-go, and creating simple user journeys that enable them to get things done.

    “We’ve had an incredibly positive relationship.” – Chris Palmer, Assistant Director of Communications at Barnet Council

     

    Mobile Web Development Too

    At mySociety, we can do much more than just strategy. We offer a full service web development service, and we can deliver everything between wire frames and full working websites.  Many councils with existing CMSes, for example, may need updated HTML and CSS, and mySociety can provide this in a mobile optimised way.

    Mobile council website or council app?

    The most common question we get from councils who are considering their mobile strategy is whether they should build a mobile-optimised council website, or build a council app.

    There are pros and cons for each, which we’ll be happy to explore with you.

    mySociety have extensive experience in building both mobile sites and apps, and we can also offer packages that include both.

    Talk to us about mobile strategy for council websites

    Contact us now – we’re always happy to talk.

    mySociety are a trusted supplier to several local governments, including Barnet, Blackburn, Bromley, Hounslow, Lichfield, Nottinghamshire, Southampton, Surrey, Westminster – and we’ve also worked for No 10 Downing Street and even given advice to the White House.

     

    Image credit: KG Nixer

  8. Why we made the travel time maps service

    This project became Mapumental. Please visit that site for details of our travel-time maps services.
    The work was funded and supported by the Department for Transport.

    ——————
    We released our new service yesterday, which allows anyone to order personalised travel commuter maps for any location in Great Britain. Those of you who’ve followed this project for a while might be interested to know how we came to take this route.

    Having finished working on the backend and hosting infrastructure of the Mapumental technology last year, we started thinking about the products that should be built with it. To help us work this out, we talked to lots of people in sectors where journey times matter a lot: residential and commercial property, job search, tourism and public services. What we found is that while everyone loved the dynamic location search technology, there were many situations when people wanted to have a simple static map of commuting times.

    We heard that these maps would be useful to individuals looking for jobs or property – but also organisations, from property sites to providers of public services, businesses and entertainment venues who’d like a map to put on their website and brochures, or to use in internal analysis.

    At first we were surprised, but the more we thought about it, the more sense it made. Our search tool, which we are currently working on updating, serves a different purpose: it shows a combination of search criteria, including travel times, and lets the user play with different parameters interactively. But it did not provide a simple snapshot of travel times for a location, divided in bands which are very helpful in assessing commuting times. So we set out to make the map image service, which is what we launched yesterday.

    This was not particularly straightforward to make, and there were many things to consider: how exactly should the shop work, and what should it offer people? We have settled on four core options for the standard maps: total time mapped, direction of travel (whether the location is where one arrives at, or departs from), arrival or departure time, and custom map title. These maps are really easy to order from the website, and we can make them very quickly.

    Online ordering works really well for small quantities, but is not ideal for high-volume clients. So we also created a new API – a URL fetcher which allows to create maps in high quantities, as and when needed. These maps can be fully customised, from the choice of colours to number of bands and zoom levels.

    The the very first user of our API is Foxtons, the estate agent, who added commuter maps to their property listings last week. It is suitable for any property, jobs or hotels site who hold location information (postcodes, or latitude and longitude) for their listings. The API can equally be used by those needing maps for internal purposes, such as city planners, public services and businesses with multiple branches.

    We are really excited that the service has gone live, and we hope that it helps people and organisations in all sorts of ways. A big thank you to Channel 4 and Screen West Midlands, who have provided the commercial investment to enable the development of Mapumental technology and the new service.

    If you have any feedback or comments, we’d love to hear them.

    Sample map: travel times to Wembley Stadium

  9. First Mapumental-powered property travel time maps go live

    We’re delighted to announce that leading London estate agent Foxtons has become the first property player to use Mapumental maps on its website. Visitors to Foxtons.co.uk will now see that every property listed includes a travel time map, highlighted in Foxtons’ brand colours.

    Foxtons, whose website just won an award for Best Interface Design at the 2011 International Business Awards, were quick to see the value of travel time maps for house-hunters. Thousands of listings now display a simple, beautiful, map showing how long a commute to work or visit to friends will take on public transport – vital pieces of information to consider when looking for a new home.

    The property sector is not the only area of business that stands to benefit from Mapumental’s ground-breaking mapping technology. Mapumental is already talking to major players in the travel industry and recruitment sectors.  Virtually any business that needs to show users how much time it takes to travel to or from a given spot will find these maps very valuable.

    One of Mapumental’s core strengths is its  flexibility when it comes to volume – it can provide anything from a single map at a great price to tens of thousands at a significant volume discount.

    The service utilises travel-time mapping technology developed by mySociety, drawing journey data from the NPTDR dataset. The same data also drives mySociety’s newest project FixMyTransport.com, which launched just last week, and covers all modes of public transport within GB.

    For the maps service, our algorithm calculates journey times from any given point (postcode or latitude and longitude) to every other point in Great Britain. These journey times are displayed as a heatmap, on a background from OpenStreetMap.

    Foxtons has made use of the new Mapumental API which enables clients to define the maps’ appearance precisely according to their company preferences. Parameters for choice include:

    • maximum travel time
    • number of time bands to show
    • colour scheme
    • the direction of travel (to or from the chosen location)
    • target arrival or departure time
    • other information (such as title and legend) that goes on the map.

    The image is then automatically created and can be published on a website and/or included in printed materials. Website owners can publish the maps themselves, or we can create bespoke integration solutions for them..

    To find out more about how Mapumental might work for you, please drop us a line.

    Here are some samples of our maps:

    Travel times from a residential development in Sevenoaks, departing at 7am

    Travel times from St Pancras Reneissance Hotel, departing at 8am

    Travel times to reach Cardiff University by 10am