The next step was to approach potential end-users with an electronic survey, in a workshop and with targeted interviews, to get to know what type of information they need, how they would like the information to be served to them and the purposes for which they will use the information. As expected, the needs are diverse but one thing is common: all want to have an easy to use service and nobody wants to read long instructions before getting into action. As one interviewee put it: “If I only use a system twice a year, I need it to be self-explanatory.”
Despite good will, it will not be possible to fulfil all wishes. With unlimited resources it would be nice, for example, to provide all functionalities and reports in all European languages. This is not possible, so we will find helpful solutions, such as translating key words, using visualisations and making some of the tables downloadable in a format that makes it possible to add text in a national language.
If you happen to have good ideas to help us to improve the service, please email mari.rusanen[at]luke.fi