All categories
Visibly Editable
Problem
It may not be clear to users that they can immediately fix a problem
Context
It might be unclear to users that they can contribute to a dataset to help improve it. They may not be aware that the dataset is collaboratively maintained and that they can improve individual records.
Solution
Ensure the user interface has clear prompts to edit individual records or fields.
The best point to solicit a contribution is when a user is looking at the data. A data user might have identified a problem and fixing it will help them continue with their current task. A contributor may be interested in a specific record or have some knowledge or expertise to share that could improve the data.
Providing a clear prompt for users to edit a record, fix an error in a field, or add a missing value as a Suggested Edit, will help them understand that they can contribute to the project.
If a user isn’t able to edit a record or field, then using Error Reporting will allow them to flag quality issues when they encounter them.
Related patterns
Suggested Edits
Records in the dataset are incomplete but could be improved through some small additions.