IATI Data User Research
Problem: The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Data Use Working Group wanted to improve the access and use of IATI data on aid flow and related activities. They needed to identify barriers facing users around the world and opportunities to better meet their needs
Solution: I combined the results of a survey and focus group interviews with web traffic analysis and inventory of existing training materials to highlight issues facing users and recommend solutions.
Role: User Researcher, responsible for the designing and conducting the user survey and focus group interviews with support and inputs from other colleagues.
Time: September 2020 to May 2021.
Client: The IATI Data Use Working Group
User Survey
A short survey was sent to IATI data users and potential users for feedback on their experiences using data published to IATI and what barriers they have encountered accessing and using the data.
Outreach
In addition to sharing the survey with recipients of the IATI Newsletter, the survey was shared across Open Data Watch’s networks to expand the outreach beyond the “usual suspects.”
Survey Design
The survey was constructed using Google Forms and included 18 questions with an estimate of five to six minutes to complete. I kept the questions simple with either a short answer or multiple-choice response.
Initial questions collected background information to build a picture of who the respondents were. Additional questions focused on how they accessed the data, what they used it for, and what challenges they faced in doing so. The questions also covered what resources would be helpful, and a final open-ended question gave respondents an opportunity to share their suggestions for improvements.
Focus Group Interviews
To obtain additional in-depth feedback from IATI data users, I followed-up with survey respondents who indicated that they would be available for follow-up questions and by reaching out to some contacts provided by the IATI Secretariat. This allowed me to distill the nuanced input from users with greater clarity.
Approach
The ODW research team held four focus group interview sessions from December 8th to December 11th with a total of 14 participants. Each focus group lasted between 45 minutes and an hour.
Following group introductions, I presented prompt questions to the group to encourage them to discuss their experiences using IATI data as well as various resources and training. We also reserved time to cover their suggestions for improvements. I divided the interview into segments that I allocated time allowances for.
Although I was flexible in allowing passionate discussion to reach a comfortable conclusion before moving to the next segment, I also took care to ensure that enough time remained to cover later critical questions. This allowed us to respect the time of participants and end all interviews punctually while still collecting crucial information on all topics.
Speaking Notes
In preparation for conducting these group interviews, I developed a set of speaking notes so that my tone would remain consistent and succinct as well as to ensure that I remembered to cover all important details. The notes were organized in bullet points that I could easily navigate at a brief glance without taking my full attention away from the participants on the screen. I was able to deliver the consistent content of the script using a natural speaking voice.
Learning experience
The first of the focus group interviews I conducted was a learning experience for me. My initial approach was to interject as little as possible to allow for as much conversation between the participants. However, colleagues from Open Data Watch, including the Director of Research sat in and provided feedback that I needed to engage more with participants and acknowledge their contributions more clearly.
I implemented this feedback by summarizing participant statements and relating them to what others had said to encourage discussion and further explanation. Following the next focus group, they said that this approach was far more effective, and they were impressed at how quickly I had adapted to the feedback.
Results
Based on the inputs that I received from users through the survey and interviews, I worked with my team to develop a set of findings and recommendations. I collaborated on a report to provide an in-depth explanation of our results and summarized them in a presentation to our clients. As the detailed report was not made public, I will only summarize general take-aways below.
Findings
Within the report and presentation, we organized user feedback under four main areas:
Data Quality
Inaccuracies and inconsistencies in IATI data make it difficult for users to trust the data.
Data Gaps
A lack of reporting for key countries and organizations impeded data analysis and monitoring.
Technical Challenges
Available tools struggle to meet the needs of users at various levels of technical needs and capacity.
Need for Guidance
Training materials are either hard to find or do not meet the language or technical needs of diverse users.
Recommendations
We distilled our findings into the following recommendations:
Create a knowledge hub for IATI training materials and data-use tools.
Create more training materials on how to understand and interpret IATI data.
Simplify and provide better training on the IATI platforms and tools for users.
Make more training materials available in other languages.
Address IATI data quality issues and focus on the most basic use cases first.
Focus on design and improvements to make the core IATI platforms easier to use.
Impact
Although we were not responsible for the implementation of our feedback, we confirmed that the working group had taken our recommendations to the Secretariat. I also continued to attend sessions of the IATI Data Use Working Group to monitor the uptake and additional activities.
As of the beginning of 2025, the IATI website provides training materials in English, Spanish, and French within a training hub aimed at users from civil society, who are intended as the primary consumers of the data that other stakeholders have produced.