UNOPS Data Portal | Case Study

The Challenge

How do you design a platform that makes years of complex project data, spanning hundreds of countries and thousands of initiatives, feel approachable and explorable?

UNOPS needed a public-facing data portal where stakeholders, researchers, and the general public could explore information about UNOPS work around the world. This wasn't just about displaying numbers—it was about telling a story through data, making organizational impact visible, and enabling discovery across multiple dimensions: geography, time, project types, and outcomes.

The design challenge was balancing depth with accessibility: providing powerful exploration tools without overwhelming users, and presenting complex datasets in ways that felt intuitive rather than intimidating.

Understanding the Context

I started by mapping the different ways people would interact with this data:

The users:

Researchers and academics looking for specific project information
Journalists investigating UNOPS activities in particular regions
Donors and partners wanting to understand impact and outcomes
General public curious about UNOPS work in their country or region
UNOPS staff needing quick access to organizational overview data

The data complexity:

Projects spanning multiple years, countries, and sectors
Multiple data dimensions: location, time, project type, funding, status
Different levels of detail: high-level overviews to granular project information
Real-time updates as new projects are added and existing ones evolve
Need for both visual exploration and data export capabilities

This understanding shaped the core design principle: the portal should feel like a journey of discovery, not a database query interface.

Product Concept & Prototyping

Starting from the initial brief, I designed the product concept that would guide the entire project. This wasn't just about creating wireframes—it was about defining the vision for how users would experience and interact with UNOPS data.

Concept Development:

Translated the brief into a cohesive product vision that balanced user needs with technical constraints
Defined the core user journeys and interaction patterns that would shape the entire portal
Established the information architecture that would support multiple exploration paths
Created initial concept mockups that communicated the vision to stakeholders

Prototyping Process:

Built interactive prototypes based on the brief to test core concepts early
Created multiple prototype iterations exploring different approaches to data visualization
Used prototypes to validate navigation patterns and user flows before full development
Iterated on prototypes based on feedback, refining the concept until it felt right

The prototypes served as both design exploration tools and communication devices—helping stakeholders visualize what the final product would feel like, not just what it would look like.

Design Principles: Progressive Disclosure and Visual Clarity

1. Start with the Big Picture

Rather than dropping users into a complex filtering interface, I designed the landing experience to show the scope and scale of UNOPS work immediately. High-level visualizations—maps, summary statistics, key metrics—give users a sense of what's available before they dive deeper.

Why it matters: Users need context before they can form specific questions. By showing the landscape first, we help people understand what they're exploring and guide them toward relevant areas of interest.

2. Multiple Entry Points

Different users have different starting points. I designed multiple navigation paths:

Geographic exploration through interactive maps
Time-based exploration through timeline visualizations
Category-based browsing by project type or sector
Search functionality for specific queries
Pre-configured views for common use cases

The principle: Let users choose how they want to explore, rather than forcing a single interaction model.

3. Visual Hierarchy for Data Density

Data portals can quickly become overwhelming. I structured the interface to manage information density:

Clear visual hierarchy distinguishing summary views from detailed data
Progressive disclosure—showing overviews first, details on demand
Consistent visual language for different data types (maps, charts, tables)
Thoughtful use of whitespace to prevent cognitive overload
Responsive design ensuring data remains readable on all devices

4. Making Data Human

Behind every data point is a real project affecting real communities. I worked to ensure the design never loses sight of this:

Connecting data visualizations to project stories where possible
Using language that emphasizes impact rather than just metrics
Designing transitions that feel smooth and intentional, not mechanical
Ensuring accessibility so the data is available to everyone

Data Visualization Strategy

The portal needed to handle multiple types of data visualization, each serving different purposes:

Maps:

Interactive world map showing project locations
Zoom and pan capabilities for regional exploration
Clustering for areas with many projects
Color coding for different project types or statuses

Charts and Graphs:

Time-series visualizations showing project evolution
Bar and pie charts for categorical comparisons
Trend lines for understanding patterns over time
Consistent color palette across all visualizations

Tables:

Sortable, filterable data tables for detailed exploration
Pagination and search for large datasets
Export functionality for users who need raw data
Responsive design ensuring tables work on mobile devices

Each visualization type required careful consideration of accessibility, performance, and user experience. I worked closely with developers to ensure the visualizations were both beautiful and functional.

Design System & Library

To ensure consistency and efficiency throughout the project, I maintained a comprehensive design library that served as the single source of truth for all design decisions.

The Design Library:

Documented all reusable components, patterns, and design tokens
Maintained consistent color palettes, typography scales, and spacing systems
Created component specifications that developers could reference during implementation
Updated the library as new patterns emerged, ensuring the design system evolved with the project
Served as a shared resource that kept the entire team aligned on design decisions

This design library wasn't just documentation—it was a living system that enabled faster development, ensured visual consistency, and made it easier to maintain and scale the portal over time.

Collaboration & Iteration

Building a data portal requires tight collaboration across disciplines:

Stakeholder Management & Workshops:

Held workshops with stakeholders to find creative solutions to complex design challenges
Facilitated collaborative sessions where different perspectives could be explored together
Used workshops to align on priorities, resolve conflicts, and build shared understanding
Translated workshop outcomes into actionable design decisions

Branding & Feedback Sessions:

Conducted regular branding and feedback sessions to ensure the portal aligned with UNOPS visual identity
Presented design concepts and gathered structured feedback from stakeholders
Iterated on branding elements—ensuring the portal felt distinctly UNOPS while remaining modern and accessible
Balanced brand guidelines with user experience needs, finding creative solutions when they conflicted
Used feedback sessions to build buy-in and ensure stakeholders felt heard throughout the process

Close Collaboration with Developers:

Worked closely with developers throughout the entire development process
Collaborated on choosing appropriate visualization libraries and tools
Designed component specifications that balanced visual appeal with performance
Iterated on interactions in real-time—ensuring filters, searches, and navigation felt responsive
Worked through edge cases together: what happens with no results? How do we handle loading states?
Provided ongoing design support during implementation, making adjustments as technical constraints emerged
Maintained open communication channels for quick questions and clarifications

With data specialists:

Understood the data structure and relationships to design appropriate visualizations
Identified the most important metrics and KPIs to feature prominently
Designed for data quality issues—how to handle missing or incomplete information
Ensured the design supported data updates and real-time synchronization

What I Learned

Data visualization is storytelling. Every chart, map, and table should help users understand something meaningful. The design choices—what to show, what to hide, how to group information—shape the narrative users construct from the data.
Progressive disclosure is essential for complex data. Users can't process everything at once. By revealing information in layers—from overview to detail—we make exploration feel manageable rather than overwhelming.
Multiple entry points accommodate different mental models. Some users think geographically, others temporally, others categorically. A good data portal supports all these ways of thinking rather than forcing one approach.
Performance and aesthetics aren't trade-offs. With careful design and technical collaboration, we can create visualizations that are both beautiful and fast, even with large datasets.

Reflections

This project reinforced my belief that good data design is fundamentally about making information accessible. Not just technically accessible (though that matters), but cognitively accessible—presented in ways that help people understand, explore, and make sense of complex information.

The UNOPS Data Portal isn't just a collection of charts and maps. It's a tool for transparency, a resource for research, and a way for people to understand the scope and impact of UNOPS work around the world. Every design decision—from the color of a map marker to the layout of a data table—contributes to whether users can successfully find what they're looking for.

In an era where data is abundant but understanding is scarce, designing interfaces that make complex information approachable feels more important than ever.

View the live site at data.unops.org