Improving Usability of a Complex Household Travel Survey: An Evaluation of User Requirements

Data quality refers not only to statistical characteristics of a respective data set but also includes further dimensions that are closely related to user requirements in regard to content, convenience of access, comprehensibility, and usability. Especially with respect to data sets designated for multiple secondary analyses by heterogeneous users, particular attention must be given to data processing, data documentation, and supplementary information. Within the context of a large-scale national household travel survey, a two-stage evaluation approach was developed to get a better understanding of a data set's usability for various parties. The evaluation process consisted of two parts: first, a retrospective online user survey was completed to get a general overview of the user community, the respective context of data usage, and the users’ overall satisfaction. Subsequently, a one-day user workshop was held. While the survey was designed mainly as an exploratory instrument for effectively revealing the majority of relevant issues, the workshop was intended to discuss complex or controversial matters with highly qualified and committed stakeholders. Both the survey and the workshop revealed the crucial role of a user-centered approach when a survey is conducted. In fact, quite a few survey adjustments can be accomplished with reasonable effort while ensuring comparability and keeping within a given budget. Mostly, these adjustments are related to data processing, documentation, and information. On the basis of the findings, general recommendations were made, with special emphasis on the essential consideration of different user requirements.