Brief
Despite its size and global economic influence, the Houston region was one of the only major metropolitan areas to lack an indicators website where residents could access impartial data on issues affecting the region. To fix this, the Greater Houston Community Foundation partnered with Baal & Spots to create Understanding Houston, an innovative indicators website that utilizes user-friendly visuals and content design to tell complex stories as clearly and effectively as possible.
The challenge
Making sense of life in one of America’s largest cities is a big task.
Spread across 8 main topics and 43 subtopics covering more than 200 data points from 70 unique data sources, Understanding Houston was poised to be a massive site.
Where many indicators websites are almost entirely text-based, our client wanted Understanding Houston to stand out as a unique experience reinforced by a strong brand — both visually and verbally. While Understanding Houston came to us with a visual identity in place, how that system would work in a functional, user-friendly website still needed to be determined.
The art (and science) of storytelling
Each subtopic page came to us as a 10–20-page, thoroughly researched document featuring data on a variety of complex issues. To keep site visitors engaged and on-target, we devised and implemented three systems for simplifying page navigation: preview stats that link to key sections, pull stats that make takeaways clear and a persistent table of content with jump links to each section.
Bringing data to life
As the heart and soul of Understanding Houston, it was crucial that each and every data point be visualized for maximum clarity and impact. But across more than 200 unique figures, several different kinds of interactive charts and graphs had to be developed and coded. For ease of use and preservation, each chart is exportable with a single click. In order to preserve a smooth browsing experience without long load times, data visualizations were hosted separately.
Keeping the conversation alive on social media
Understanding Houston has too many stories to tell to limit them to just one site. Our team saw the opportunity to help this incredible data reach a much wider audience and cement Understanding Houston as a recognized resource for anyone interested in learning more about America’s fourth largest city.
