Press Data Portal

Overview

This project focused on designing interactive visualizations and digital content to support the communication of climate science from expert researchers to the general public. The goal was to bridge the gap between highly technical climate knowledge and accessible, accurate storytelling suitable for journalistic contexts.

Project context: Copernicus / Institution: Barcelona Supercomputing Center 

Type: Visualization platform

My role: UX Lead / Interaction designer

Duration: 14 months

Challenge 

The project was developed in a research and communication context, involving collaboration between climate scientists, journalists, and communication experts. Rather than targeting domain experts, the final audience consisted of journalistic professionals and, ultimately, the general public, making clarity, trust, and interpretability critical.

The main challenge was to translate complex scientific knowledge into understandable narratives without oversimplifying or distorting the underlying data. Climate experts and journalists operate with different mental models, vocabularies, and priorities, creating a risk of misinterpretation, loss of nuance, or cognitive overload for end users.

From a UX perspective, the challenge was supporting journalists in understanding and correctly using scientific data and ensuring that the resulting visualizations could be clearly interpreted by a general audience.

UX Methodology

A research-driven and collaborative UX process was applied:

Expert Interviews

1. Conducted in-depth interviews with climate scientists to capture domain knowledge, key variables, uncertainties, and common misconceptions.

2. Identified which concepts were essential for public understanding and which required careful framing.

Co-creation with Journalists and Communication Experts

1. Ran co-creation sessions with journalists and climate communication specialists to align scientific accuracy with narrative clarity.

2. Explored storytelling approaches, visual metaphors, and interaction patterns suitable for non-expert audiences.

Validation with Eye-Tracking User Testing

1. Performed usability testing with eye-tracking to analyze attention patterns, reading paths, and moments of confusion.

2. Identified visual elements that competed for attention or hindered comprehension.

Iterative Redesign

1. Refined visual hierarchy, annotations, and interaction cues based on observed user behavior. 

2. Improved narrative flow to guide users through complex climate information progressively.

Expert interviews, co-creation with journalists, and testing with the public audience enabled the translation of complex climate science into accessible, trustworthy visual narratives for non-expert users.

Final outcome

The final solution enabled journalists to accurately interpret and communicate climate data, while providing the general public with visualizations that were clear, engaging, and trustworthy. The UX process ensured that scientific rigor was preserved while improving accessibility and comprehension, reducing cognitive load and supporting informed public understanding of climate change.

Link: Press Data Portal