Hypotheses

Hypotheses

We held a outcomes and metrics workshop on March 4, 2016 with representatives from all stakeholder groups to further refine our hypotheses. Now we have:

We believe that

• improving documentation and reusability
• building in the open and using open source technologies
• making the site user friendly
• ensuring it meets the EITI standard

Will result in other countries using the USEITI site as a model.

We will know we are right when

• we get questions from other countries about the specifics of reusing our process or code
• when we see the influence of our site in other countries’ reports.

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We believe that

• connecting data within the site better, especially production and revenue
• for tribes, state revenue data disbursements

Will result in enriched conversations about policy and clearing up misconceptions.

We will know we are right when

• people use the site or its data in press, dialogue, policy, especially in the 12 case-study counties and where there may be new extraction.
• conversations (articles, debates, etc.) have more data in them and are enriched by the information.

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We believe that

• talking to companies’ local public affairs teams
• broadening outreach and user research in 12 counties
• improving awareness in organizations with public relations folks

Will result in enriched conversations about policy and clearing up misconceptions.

We will know we are right when

• people use the site or its data in press, dialogue, policy, especially in the 12 case-study counties and where there may be new extraction.
• conversations (articles, debates, etc.) have more data in them and are enriched by the information.
• MSG meetings get more public comment, and we get more feedback on the site.

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We believe that

• improving connections with other sites
• clarifying and simplifying the relationship with the MSG site
• using words people know

Will result in more traffic and improved findability.

We will know we are right when

• more people come to the site from across the U.S. and around the world
• we get more feedback about what the site needs.

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The hypotheses below are the ones we started the site work with and have been replaced by the ones above.

Basic, existential hypotheses

We believe that: we don’t know enough about our user base (user types)
Which will result in: creating a product that does not meet user needs
We will know we are right when: we interview more people in each user type about their interactions with extractive industries information and data

We believe that: USEITI data is useful to a broad audience
We will know we are right when: more than just the few subject-specific non-profits use/reference our data

We believe that: providing useiti.doi.gov
Will result in: increased transparency and dialogue about the U.S. natural resource revenues system
We will know we are right when we see increased traffic to USEITI and increased use/references to its info and data

Functional hypotheses

We believe that: providing a clearer explanation of the relationship of useiti.doi.gov to USEITI
Will clarify why the site exists, and why it is important
We will know we are right when we field fewer questions about the reason for the site’s existence

We believe that: providing a clear site architecture
Will allow all types of users to understand the scope of what useiti.doi.gov contains, and allow them to find the information they're looking for
We will know we are right when: we watch different types of people use our site and they are able to easily find what they're looking for

We believe that: providing more location-based information
Will: meet a user need for the concerned citizen who wants to know what’s happening in his/her neighborhood
We will know we are right when we see increased interest from non-sector-specific civil society groups (local groups instead) pending more comms outreach

We believe that: providing more explanation of the government structure in natural resource revenues
Will result in: more clarity around who-does-what, and provide a resource for people to find the right office for their needs
We will know we are right when: ONRR sees a decrease in misdirected requests for information

We believe that: providing the 2015 USEITI Report online and in an easily-sharable way
Will result in: increased use of its data
We will know we are right when: we see USEITI datasets being used by many third parties, including non-specialists (ie, have have lowered the barrier to entry)

We believe that: separating ‘advanced data’ content from ‘overview’ content
Will result in: both advanced and casual users to find what they need
We will know we are right when: users of both types report they they have found what they need.