All Work
Project Focus
GlobeMed Website Redesign
GlobeMed is an organization made up of a network of university-based chapters working together with partner communities to improve the health of the poor and to change the face of global health as “the leaders of tomorrow.”
They needed a website that reflected their passion and drive for achieving global health equity. Through strategy briefs, workshops, and design iterations, we worked closely with their team for months on developing tone and user-experience.
Approach Page
Previous Site
Wireframe Sketches
Project Focus
Future Founders Foundation
Future Founders Foundation expands entrepreneurship and career exploration programs for low income students in Chicago. Our goal with the brand identity and website redesign, was to tell an engaging story, encourage involvement with this inspiring organization, and clarify a confusing brand architecture.
When redesigning their website, we used the “catalyze” lens to break down their vast content and allow the user to engage with clear, direct calls to action. The redesign is contemporary, clean, fun and versatile, devoid of kitschy classroom elements that often characterize educational initiatives.
Collaborators: Tilt Shift and Carminati Consulting
Project Focus
Massive Incarceration
Using statistical data, field interviews, and first-hand accounts, this AIGA award winning 50-page book informs and persuades its reader about the sociological and economic impact of mass imprisonment in the United States. Photography juxtaposed with captions and ex-convict testimonials create awareness about the need for change.
Project Focus
Performance Visualization
This performance visualization* facilitates conversation on quarterly team performance. The overview considers team size, skill, open accounts, and revenue earned. Information highlighted was determined through collaborative sessions with the sales manager.
*Data has been changed. Contact Knowtify for details.
Project Focus
Spothol.es
Potholes are dangerous to bikers and drivers, yet the city is slow to fill them. We researched available data on pothole information in Chicago and ways for which this information could be passed back to the city.
As a result, we created a web application, Spothol.es, that allowed users to spot and track potholes on mobile devices. This information can then be passed on to the city, so potholes can be filled quickly and efficiently. To promote the web app, we created a visualization of the existing pothole data.
Collaborators: Moving Design, Stefan Draht, JP Rameriz, and Heather Bazille
Project Focus
No Wooden Nickels Identity
Through a market audit and interviews with patients, we repositioned NWN’s messaging to further highlight the support, hope, and security it provides for patients and donors. We positioned the visual strategy to transcend its nondescript name and reiterate its uplifting message.
Collaborators: EPIC Rally Team
Project Focus
Shalom Friend
This exhibition correlates data on Israel’s political climate with the country’s emotional response to Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, telling a cohesive story on how his death impacted Israel’s struggle for peace.
Project Focus
Process Development & Tool
Long processes can be difficult to replicate and share, so we created a digital tool to aid sales representatives and a marketing department in preparing for upcoming educational events. The tool streamlines and automates the planning process allowing for greater efficiency and control.
Project Focus
Politify Interface
Overview
Launched in time for the Primaries campaign, Politify is the nexus in helping average citizens make informed decisions come election day. Using a direct, mathematical reading of political material, it breaks down cumbersome policies into smaller, manageable pieces of information to determine which candidate’s financial plan will benefit you.
Politify’s online platform is simple: select candidates to compare and enter some basic information (don’t worry, it’s private) to see your results. Crunching the numbers for you, Politify provides the exact effect each presidential candidate’s economic agenda would have on your personal finances. It’s a new way for people to engage in politics without the soundbites and bi-partisan mumbo-jumbo.
Challenges
Sure, displaying a financial reading of political scenarios can raise a few eyebrows. Politify recognized the need to create a seamless user experience with digestible data visualizations. That’s where we came in.
Transparency is a key component in designing a simple, but robust platform. To address this challenge, we had to identify and understand where the user was tripping up. We researched the competitive landscape, surveyed people to gain better user-insights, and experimented with multiple iterations. We learned that for the platform to be successful people needed to trust using it, to understand the data, and to visit the site regularly.
Process
Understanding the interface, its primary audience, and the success metrics for the project were crucial in developing the solution. In our candid conversations with users and meticulous comb through of the original design we discovered that clicks, color choice, jargon, and narrative caused barriers in engagement with the data. After a series of iterations and tests, we launched into an open beta. The apparent simplicity of the platform redesign enabled the user to navigate through it without any hiccups.
Effectiveness
“We knew we had very powerful information that could revolutionize politics. However, we had trouble expressing it in an accessible way. Knowtify was able to show this complex information in such a coherent way. I have no doubt that they played a vital role to our success.”
-Nikita Bier, Founder of Politify
With the revamp of their user interface, Politify saw real results. They were approached by several investors, who were impressed by the sophistication and novel approach of Politify’s design. In addition, the usability of the tool helped them win competitions and grants in the information technology and political awareness arenas. The site gained coverage on several news forums and blogs including Mashable, The Next Web, U.S News and so on. Moving forward, Politify aims one day to be a “full economic simulator,” allowing anyone, politician or citizen, to submit parameters for a policy and to see the impending results.
Project Focus
Story Synthesis for School Health
Project still in progress
Overview
With childhood obesity rates disturbingly high and climbing, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), as the nation’s third largest school district, is positioned well to create awareness and lead change against this epidemic. Therefore, CPS has enlisted the Health and Wellness Promotion (CPS-HWP) department to ensure that all 407,000 CPS students have the opportunity to thrive in school environments that support and practice healthy lifestyles as a cornerstone of academic success.
Challenges
CPS-HWP wants to engage, motivate, and gain traction with their various target audiences, namely busy CPS faculty and staff members with limited time to dedicate towards implementing additional programming. As a result, CPS-HWP needs their key constituents to quickly understand their message and to take action immediately. Moreover, they need to be able to adjust their messaging nimbly and effortlessly to adapt to the needs of their various audiences.
There is a fine line between information-rich messaging and information overload. After some digging around, we found that we were, unfortunately, dealing with the latter. Having identified the culprit, we knew we had to synthesize their messages into concise nuggets of information to reach their target audiences.
Process
After speaking with CPS-HWP representatives, researching their current materials, and attending their health summit, we determined that they needed a flexible toolkit to craft custom, simplified stories. This flexible system will allow CPS-HWP to have compelling messages while accommodating their internal and external audiences’ needs as the team grows and restructures.
As the first step in the design phase, we workshopped with CPS-HWP to pinpoint and simplify the story structures down to the most integral components for each target audience. Our next steps will be to start tackling the information visually by building information graphics and delivering consistent messaging. Stay tuned to see how this project evolves.
Success Metrics
We determined that the communication material we are developing will allow for easier engagement with constituents by eliminating communication barriers and emphasizing the key health and wellness takeaways. Ultimately, our collaboration with CPS-HWP will assist them in their mission to create and maintain healthy school environments.