In California we have a system where restaurants are required to put placards in their windows representing the rating that the food safety inspector gave them. They get inspected yearly (roughly) and must post the most recent inspection. When customers are entering the establishment it is very easy for them to judge the quality, and make an informed decision based on that data. This is a great idea. All states in the US do the inspections, but most of the time the data ends up in a report that might make the evening news. Not something that is used regularly by customers when making dining decisions.

I think the recent bridge collapse in Minnesota has brought to light the need for similar signage on our nation's bridges. For years reports have come out showing grave concern regarding bridges all over the country. Because of the large amount of road construction in the 40's and 50's we do have an influx of bridges needing repair. This has not gotten much political attention because it isn't something people are going to get excited about during a rally. It may even require raising taxes or delaying more popular expenditures. If on a daily basis people saw the rankings of the bridges they're crossing, and they saw them decline over time, there would be increased public will towards repairing this nation's infrastructure.

It is wonderful that all the bridge and restaurant reports are getting put online, indexed by Google, searchable on your cell phone -- but nothing beats putting the data where you need to use it. This is something to remember when designing user interfaces: It doesn't mater how good your visualization is, if it isn't where you're using the data and making the decision it isn't useful for anything more than a demo.


posted Aug 3, 2007 | permanent link