The Great Sedgefield Mash-up
I’m glad to see that one of the aspects of Web 2.0 (the cheap and easy combining of data from more than one source and aggregating it in one location for user benefits) has come to Sedgefield. Although it hasn’t quite achieved the functionality of UpMyStreet, it is a worthy effort and will doubtless improve. (I really think it’s a great idea–looking at what I wrote, I hope it doesn’t sound patronizing or superior.)
One area that might help Sedgefield improve its offering (and would be welcome as well on UpMyStreet) is context. If I were to show you the number of car break-ins in your neighbourhood per year, would you be able to digest the raw number? Let’s say it’s 12. When you see the number 12, do you say, ‘Hmm. One a month in this neighbourhood. That’s not too bad,’ or do you think to yourself ‘Omigod it’s time to move!’
But if I show you the number 12 and also tell you the national average is 28, with the lowest being 6 in the Isle of Wight and the highest being 46 in Westminster, and that the neighbourhoods around you average between 10 and 19, wouldn’t that give you enough information to actually react to the number? (All numbers made up on the spur of the moment.)
Politicians and the mainstream media have a tendency to show you just enough of the picture to reinforce the point they’re making. One of the characteristics of Web 2.0 is that we don’t have to fall into that trap. It takes more work to track down and link to the data that gives context, but it’s well worth it.
Why provide half a service?
September 26th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
I don’t know. I’d be pretty shocked to learn that there were 12 car break-ins a year in my neighborhood (which I may define differently than these services do) - in fact, I would think there was one guy they needed to catch. But I live in Kew, where *one* car break-in on my (small cul-de-sac) street would have the affected neighbor banging on everyone’s doors to alert them to the menace and alerting the guys in the local shop (who would also pass it on). If I lived in somewhere less…salubrious and clubby I might think 12 a modest number. I’m not sure the entirety of the kind of context you’re talking about can be conveyed by such a service, and don’t most people have *some* idea what kind of place they live in?
wg