Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

User survey results - helping to improve ReliefWeb

In October 2014, we undertook a comprehensive user survey designed to help us get a better understanding of why and how you use ReliefWeb as well as what you do with the information you find. We also wanted to find out what kind of humanitarian information you need for your daily work, and what services you may want from ReliefWeb going forward. By learning more about you and your humanitarian information needs, we can improve the existing features and better plan for new services.

The survey was also focused around discovering how you rate ReliefWeb’s current products and services and how you want to receive humanitarian information.

About the survey

The survey was long and detailed. With 35 sections and more 110 sub-questions, it took commitment to finish it and we appreciate the fact that so many of you did! More than 2,600 people took the survey, providing us with a substantive amount of feedback, comments, information, and ideas. We undertook 10 one-on-one interviews with some enthusiastic users from across the globe and discussed in detail their use of ReliefWeb.

After a review of the results, we would like to share with you some of the insights you provided.

Overall

More than 80% of respondents were satisfied with the quantity and quality of humanitarian information on ReliefWeb.

97% think the content on ReliefWeb is relevant to the humanitarian community.

80% visit ReliefWeb weekly or more frequently.

94% believe that ReliefWeb headlines provide them with a daily overview of the global humanitarian situation, and think that headlines are timely, relevant, informative and easy to understand.

Who uses ReliefWeb?

We wanted to find out what type of work you do and the type of organization you work for.

organization types

roles

It is noteworthy that more than 60% of users have between 6-16+ years of professional experience in the humanitarian aid sector.

How do they rate ReliefWeb?

  • 91% of users agree that ReliefWeb keeps them informed of current global humanitarian events

  • 87% agree ReliefWeb keeps them informed about the activities of other humanitarian organizations

  • 80% agree ReliefWeb helps them to make informed humanitarian decisions

  • 90% agree ReliefWeb is easy to use, the content is relevant, timely, of a comprehensive selection, and reliable

  • 87% agree that they are able to find what they are looking for

What do you use ReliefWeb for?

  • 80.9% of respondents use ReliefWeb to find information on current humanitarian situation/crises/events

  • 50.8% use ReliefWeb to conduct research on previous humanitarian crises

  • 84.25% use ReliefWeb to browse and find humanitarian jobs

  • 56.7% use ReliefWeb to browse and find training courses

What do you do with the information you find on ReliefWeb?

We asked users about how they apply or use the information you find on ReliefWeb. Here are some of the responses you provided:

“The information acquired from ReliefWeb helps to plan future interventions and improve networking.”

“To develop humanitarian funding proposals.”

“We use the information to decide on humanitarian donations.”

“I have used info from ReliefWeb when drafting reports or writing reviews on particular crises.”

“The information helps to prepare me, whether for job interviews or to increase my knowledge of an area or crisis.”

What do you want from ReliefWeb in the future?

We’re always looking to develop new products and features that help humanitarians easily find the right information. We asked users how likely they would be to use the following services, if ReliefWeb offered them:

  • Situation summaries/at-a-glance for major crises (93% said they would likely use this product) Humanitarian data (90%)

  • Interactive infographics or maps (87%)

  • Videos from aid organizations and experts (72%)

  • Blogs from individual humanitarian experts (65%)

  • Blogs from humanitarian organizations (64%)

  • Curated humanitarian social media streams/feeds (60%)

The ReliefWeb team is very thankful for the positive feedback and constructive comments you provided. We’re glad that more than 80% of respondents were satisfied with the humanitarian information on ReliefWeb as this is our core task toward which all of us work very hard every day around-the-clock.

Thanks for your feedback, we are now loaded with ideas to keep making our services better to meet your needs. We will keep you informed of any changes, features or products that are developed as a result of the survey. If you didn't get the chance to participate in the survey and would like to provide your feedback on ReliefWeb’s products and services, leave a comment below.

For more information on the ReliefWeb user survey check out the user survey results outline.