Berggruen Index

At the time of this project, they were seeking new ways to make their Quality of Government Index accessible to a wider public. The institute had previously published the index only in print reports. Moving into digital was a pivotal moment, one that would test how their ideas could live interactively, offering audiences a way to explore the nuances of democracy, governance, and quality of life across countries

They hoped the index could move beyond being read like a dense academic report and instead invite the public into inquiry: What makes a government “good”? How do different societies compare? This shift carried ambiguity. The nested data structure, three broad categories broken down into layers of metrics, was complex to translate into digital form. The tension lay in how to balance accessibility for lay audiences with the rigor of a political science index

My contribution went beyond styling. I acted as a translator between the Berggruen Institute’s academic report, Stamen’s analytic expertise, and the realities of interactive design. I sketched visualization methods, built high-fidelity prototypes, refined brand elements for digital interactivity, and even contributed directly to CSS and style variables to ensure fidelity in implementation.By checking assumptions early through sketches and low-fi mockups, I helped the team avoid dead ends. Our rapid, iterative feedback loops between design and code created space for both creative exploration and technical feasibility.