Original research
To establish the main needs of people using the Commission web presence (their 'top tasks'), a cross-DG team (COMM, DIGIT, DGT) undertook extensive and ground-breaking research, resulting in a list of 77 user tasks. In May 2014, users of Commission websites were polled to establish the most important reasons why they interact with the organisation. The poll was done in 24 languages and close to 107,000 responses were received.
The research is based on a rigorous methodology that has been used successfully with many companies and organisations over the past 15 years. The methodology allows us to see in the precise, statistical terms the main reasons, i.e. the 'top tasks' of people when they arrive at our sites. The analysis of the results constitutes a strong, evidence-based foundation for the architecture of the Commission web presence.
6 top tasks, 12 medium tasks, 19 small tasks and 40 tiny tasks
106,792 valid responses to the survey were collected from all over the world, 85% from EU Member States. More than 40,000 people volunteered to help with future tests and research.
Concerning the tasks, six areas stood out as being the most important for the respondents. These 'top tasks' received as many votes as the bottom 40 tasks and turned out to be highly stable across all audience profiles.
- Yellow = 6 top tasks = first 25% of the vote
- Green = 12 medium tasks = the second 25%
- Blue = 19 small tasks = the third 25%
- White = 40 tiny tasks = the fourth 25%
Task | VOTES | |
1 | EU law, rules, treaties, judgments | 83931 |
2 | Research and innovation | 83306 |
3 | Funding, grants, subsidies | 79414 |
4 | Education and training in EU | 59623 |
5 | EU strategy, political priorities | 45331 |
6 | Environmental protection | 44921 |
7 | Jobs, traineeships at the European Commission | 40358 |
8 | Find a job in another EU country | 37657 |
9 | EU news, announcements, press releases | 36809 |
10 | Human rights, fundamental rights | 35274 |
11 | Working in an EU country (rights, permits, benefits) | 34986 |
12 | Order, download an EU publication | 33794 |
13 | Track policy and law making process, updates | 33558 |
14 | Statistics and forecasts | 32983 |
15 | About the European Union (role, structure, how it works, origin) | 30065 |
16 | Food and farming (production and safety) | 27703 |
17 | Climate change, global warming | 26932 |
18 | Regional, rural and urban development | 25764 |
19 | Freedom of information (transparency, access to documents) | 25157 |
20 | About the European Commission (role, structure, how it works) | 24866 |
21 | Product safety, conformity, certification | 24660 |
22 | National implementation of EU law, infringements | 24326 |
23 | Public health, disease prevention | 23933 |
24 | Culture (heritage, arts, films, Capitals of Culture) | 23907 |
25 | Doing business in the EU | 23650 |
26 | Economic growth, financial stability in EU (crisis, assistance to member states) | 23215 |
27 | Doing business with the European Commission (calls for tenders, bids) | 23021 |
28 | Conferences, summits, meetings, events | 22111 |
29 | Industry norms and standards | 21474 |
30 | Employing people (recruitment, terms and conditions, redundancies) | 21103 |
31 | Recognition of educational, professional qualifications | 20677 |
32 | Energy efficiency | 20226 |
33 | Travel within, to and from EU (documents, visa, consular help, currencies) | 19166 |
34 | Moving to another EU country (residence formalities) | 17958 |
35 | Banking and financial markets (reform, regulation) | 17895 |
36 | Relations with non-EU countries, international organisations (diplomacy, cooperation agreements) | 17895 |
37 | Languages in the EU (diversity, translation, interpreting) | 17295 |
38 | Competition (state aid, cartels, mergers, anti-trust) | 16638 |
39 | Development and humanitarian aid | 16625 |
40 | Healthcare in another EU country | 16114 |
41 | Contact European Commission, European Union | 15716 |
42 | Trade with non-EU countries (import, export, agreements, anti-dumping) | 15546 |
43 | Loans, access to finance, microfinance | 14796 |
44 | Initiate, contribute to law making (public consultations, citizen's initiative) | 13256 |
45 | Public procurement (contracts with public authorities, governments) | 12850 |
46 | Euro (coins, notes, eurozone, Economic and Monetary Union) | 12703 |
47 | Intellectual property, copyright, trademarks, patents | 12411 |
48 | Customs, tariffs, quotas, duties | 12050 |
49 | Privacy, data protection | 11917 |
50 | Consumer and passenger rights | 11838 |
51 | EU labels (eco labels, quality labels, audits) | 11793 |
52 | Immigration into the EU (asylum, reuniting family, integration) | 11771 |
53 | EU budget | 11738 |
54 | EU vocabulary and abbreviations | 11076 |
55 | Voting in the EU | 10659 |
56 | Crime, fraud, corruption, human trafficking | 10528 |
57 | Security, defence (terrorism, sanctions, critical infrastructure) | 10043 |
58 | Chemicals (approval) | 9910 |
59 | Volunteering opportunities | 9692 |
60 | Corporate social responsibility for business | 9455 |
61 | E-government | 9448 |
62 | Taxation, excise (not VAT) | 8767 |
63 | Accession of new countries to the EU, enlargement | 8678 |
64 | VAT (Value Added Tax) | 8098 |
65 | Judicial cooperation between EU countries, recognition of judgments | 7549 |
66 | Pensions, retirement in another EU country | 7433 |
67 | Transport safety (air, road, banned airlines) | 7256 |
68 | Complaints to the European Commission | 6673 |
69 | Resource security (oil, gas, raw materials) | 6556 |
70 | Family (marriage, divorce, partnerships, adoption) | 6378 |
71 | Emergencies, disasters, civil protection | 5944 |
72 | Visit EU institutions, guided tours | 5530 |
73 | European Commissioner profiles | 5157 |
74 | Goods allowed when crossing borders (alcohol, cigarettes, cash, pets) | 4097 |
75 | Driving licence validity in EU countries | 3732 |
76 | Vehicles (buying, selling, registration, taxes, insurance) | 3473 |
77 | President of the Commission (profile, agenda) | 3042 |
Detailed results
- Task identification process and results: factsheet (PDF)
- The 77 user tasks: PDF
- EC-wide top tasks detailed results: ppt presention to DGs, 11 July 2014
Methodology
To prepare the poll, a comprehensive longlist of potential Commission-wide user tasks was built from a wide range of sources, including:
- an analysis of the Commission's work programmes, working methods and procedures
- interviews with communications and web teams in the DGs
- analysis of the top levels of the Commission's existing websites
- top 100 search terms over 1 year (google trends & google adwords)
- top 100 most visited web pages on the Commission's website
- peer websites (homepages)
- user research & feedback, including calls and emails to Europe Direct call centre
Intensive work was done to reduce this list (from around 1700 tasks to 136), by removing duplicates and overlaps and merging main and subtasks. Around 20 workshops were held with the DGs which resulted in a final list of 77 tasks.
Identifying the 77 user tasks for the EC (mp4 - 44.19 Mb)
Polling
Once the shortlist of tasks was agreed, it was time to get people worldwide to vote. The DGs were closely involved in identifying the key audiences. Their help was also vital in getting enough users to respond to the poll. The poll was launched in 24 languages on 12th May 2014 for 3 weeks. The poll was advertised extensively on the Commission web presence, in newsletters and through social media.
Presentations used in workshops with DGs
| 24 April 2014 | Polling instructions and next steps for DGs | |
| 27 March 2014 | Collective sign-off of the tasks for translation/polling | |
| 20 February 2014 | Top tasks identification process - kick-off |