RE: Public Editor's Draft of the OpenActive Activity List

Hi Leigh,

We are still adding some detailed comments to the spreadsheet but Nick and I would offer the following broader comments on the Draft List and structure:


•                     We need to provide further definitions in the ‘Read me’ tab for what is meant by top terms, broader terms, synonyms etc.

•                     Can we merge the ‘Collections tab’ with the ‘Main list’ tab so that we can more easily see how things are related?

•                     Can we add format as another category e.g. five a side etc. This can then be populated as things progress, recognising that this may not be a complete category for some time but will evolve over time?

•                     Grouping – We are not sure whether this category is really relevant as everything is essentially an activity. It also gets quite subjective in terms of categorising some activities between sport and physical activity – effectively everything involves physical activity and you need a black and white definition of what causes something to be defined as a sport – e.g. Chess Boxing is currently listed as a Sport but this is not recognised by the Sports Councils.

•                     We also need remember to cross reference back to programmes to show how activities are linked

Looking at the Draft List we believe that the Level 2 (Broader Term) and Level 1 (Top Term) lists should be swapped around with the Level 2 - Broader Terms forming the base list of activities. This would also mean moving some of the level 1 activities into level 2. The logic for this is that:


-                      It creates a usable list of basic activities that anyone can use with or without the hierarchies above;

-                      We need to remember that the creation of the activity list is first and foremost about the consumer, so we need to make sure we make it easy to surface the relevant activities and the danger of placing some of the level 1 terms over the top is that some of these terms don’t mean anything to the consumer e.g. Cardiovascular Class in terms of a search term. Also it is  in the interests of activity providers to easily surface their offer in a clearly defined manner to the consumer which leaves little ambiguity, making choices clear leading to ultimately a decision by the consumer.

-                      It would also make the list easier to maintain as new activities could be easily slotted in without an overtly cumbersome hierarchy. I think the problem we have is that we all have different views on what should be placed under level 1 and it will never be perfect e.g. mountain biking is a separate activity but it comes under Cycling in terms of the NGB British Cycling. Conversely powerboating has been placed under Sailing which is correct in terms of the RYA as the NGB but it is an activity in its own right. Therefore I don’t think we will ever get to an exact agreement on the current level 1 hierarchy and hence why collections become important as they can become another way to surface and group information not only to the consumer but also to help our organisations categorise and manage the data in their own systems. The current level 2 list is easier to come to an agreement as a base level as it just contains a list of any activity.

Kind Regards,
Allison

Allison Savich
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From: Jonathan Holmes [mailto:j.holmes@manchester.gov.uk]
Sent: 20 June 2017 09:24
To: Leigh Dodds <leigh.dodds@theodi.org>
Cc: public-openactive@w3.org; R Linsley <B.Linsley@lrsport.org>; Jade Moulden <jade@emduk.org>
Subject: Re: Public Editor's Draft of the OpenActive Activity List

Hi,
I agree with annotating the list with the NGBs, the attached list may help as it contains the websites of some of them.
It also contains the descriptions of some of our exercise classes which also might help with some of the missing descriptions in the Activity List.
Thanks
Jon

Jon Holmes
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On 19 June 2017 at 15:42, Leigh Dodds <leigh.dodds@theodi.org<mailto:leigh.dodds@theodi.org>> wrote:
Hi all,

I've just published a first editor's draft of the OpenActive Activity List [1]. The list is an updated and revised version of what we've been developing in our shared document [2].

The strategy for producing this initial version has been to merge together the SportSuite, Sport England and EMD lists to produce a single, comprehensive list.

I've spent some time reviewing how the 3 source lists relate to one another. The SportSuite and Sport England lists had good overlap and alignment in terms of structure. The EMD list is focused in a specific area and so has been imported more or else completely.

This means that the current list is essentially a combination of all three lists with minimal changes beyond some relatively minor tweaks to naming and parent-child relationships. No new terms have been added, although a list of potential additions has already been created (see "Suggested New Terms" in [2]). Every item in the list also now has a unique identifier (UUID and a URI)

The rationale for publishing the list in its current form is to:

* provide an openly licensed resource that developers can begin using in applications
* encourage data publishers to begin aligning their lists with our work, now that stable identifiers are available
* provide a basis for further iteration, discussion and improvement

There is clearly more to be done to develop and improve the list further. I've started collecting a list of issues in github [3]. I thought it might be easier for people to comment on those individually, rather than on the list itself.

Aside from editorial improvements such as adding synonyms and descriptions, I think the main areas of work are to look at the structure of the list (which is now relatively flat) and decide whether there are some better ways of organising the activities.

Please take a look at the list and issues and let me know your thoughts.

I'd like to spend some time on our community hangout this Weds to discuss next steps.

Cheers,

L.

[1]. https://www.openactive.io/activity-list/

[2]. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yWpVXGr91NiqWuCr7EBdVI2uhzxgN3Qw-oIKNMuhTeQ/edit#gid=1315372676

[3]. https://github.com/openactive/activity-list/issues


--
Leigh Dodds, Senior Consultant, theODI.org
@ldodds
The ODI, 65 Clifton Street, London EC2A 4JE




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