CASE STUDY

Reimagining a Data-Informed Tool for Climate Change

Designing an interactive decision tool for regional stakeholders to explore climate change impacts and trade-offs for resilient planning.

About the Product Initiative

The Tool for Evaluating Regional Readiness for Action (TERRA) is a data-informed guide developed by Jobs for the Future to support regional leaders in building resilient, inclusive green economies. TERRA analyzes county-level climate, labor, and social data to categorize regions into four readiness groups—Critical, Exposed, Early, and Primed—and provides tailored recommendations to support green job growth and regional collaboration.

About the Product Initiative

The Goal

Improve the clarity, usability, and decision-making value of a complex, data-rich climate tool for regional leaders working across policy, workforce, education, and economic development.

My Role

Product designer and UX strategist responsible for reframing the information architecture, data presentation, and visual language of the TERRA tool under tight budget and timeline constraints.

Key Insights

High-quality analysis can fail to drive action when data is presented without a clear narrative or hierarchy.

Stakeholder feedback revealed that the original presentation of TERRA’s findings made it difficult for users to interpret scores, understand regional readiness, or translate insights into action. The core UX challenge was not data accuracy—but data legibility and meaning.

Impact

Reframed the tool around clarity, hierarchy, and decision-making flow
Proposed a new presentation model that made readiness scores and recommendations easier to interpret
Earned strong validation from the original research team and stakeholders
Positioned the project for potential additional funding prior to organizational layoffs

My Challenge

Reimagine an existing, publicly published climate data tool—originally built as a HubSpot site—into a clearer, more actionable product experience, while working within a limited budget and without redoing the underlying analysis.

Users

Primary users: Regional leaders across business, government, education, workforce development, and community organizations.

Constraints

Small budget with limited engineering scope
Existing data model and analysis could not be changed
Need to respect and preserve original research intent
Opportunity to unlock further funding if early improvements resonated

My Process

Reviewed project documentation and interviewed the original research team to understand intent and stakeholder feedback
Partnered with a software architect to define a high-impact, budget-conscious product proposal
Audited the existing HubSpot site to identify content priorities and opportunities for restructuring
Designed a new information architecture that separated core insights from supporting documentation
Developed a clearer workflow for presenting readiness scores and recommendations
Proposed using an abstract, state-level map rather than a dense county-level map to improve comprehension
Created a lightweight brand system—including logo and color palette—aligned to climate themes and readiness categories
Built a visual prototype to validate the new approach with stakeholders, receiving strong endorsement before development began