How to work with user input

[TeunvanSprundel]

An other issue we've encountered is how to handle user input. We already have some mechanics for this. An authority can configure if his data is editable/viewable by users or if the user can only make propositions. The issue is not about getting user input, but how to handle this input.

How does an authority know which user input is good input and which user input is not. How does an authority make sure that the user input that he's getting does not mess up his data.

In our conversations with different authorities we've concluded that if you get the same user input multiple times, it must be good. But what number of inputs does an authority need to make this conclusion?

[ndkv]

I'd say it depends a lot on the amount and frequency of input you get from users. In theory the idea of letting citizens contribute to your data is very appealing. In practice, however, I expect the majority of datasets to get very little traffic. People have, most of the time, other stuff to do and in case they decide to map something I expect them to go to OpenStreetMap whereas non-tech/mappy citizens will probably use an existing channel such as phonenumber, the municipal VerbeterDeBuurt clone, etc.

It might therefore be more sensible to investigate how/if it is possible to couple existing feedback systems to your system and make it easier for the authority to process them. With low amounts of traffic you'd be able to check the correctness of the input manually or, if that's not possible, regard it as an indication of change rather than as input of new "world truth".

[pvgenuchten]

The formal answer is here http://www.digitaleoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/stelselinformatiepunt/stelselthemas/kwaliteit-van-basisregistraties, personally i prefer pull requests!

[TeunvanSprundel]

@ndkv We're working on making it possible for the platform to be connected with other existing channels in many different ways. Input from existing GIS software but also non geo channels like a phonenumber or social media are examples of this. This way we are trying to increase the amount of input we get from different users.

I think the system should have different posibilities to process this input. Manually with low amounts or traffic or automatically when there is a lot of input. We can write an algoritm that determines what strategy the platform needs to use by default. But the authority of the data should always be able to switch this. E.g. even if there is a lot of input, let me handle this input manually.

@pvgenuchten I think a good point from that page is using an indicator of the quality of the data. We will certainly use that in the platform. If there is a requested change made by multiple users, the indicator can show a higher percentage then a request from a single user.

[ndkv]

Sounds good. Do you have a working widget we can play with/look at?