Building a Nationwide Climate Policy Dashboard

Establishing clear goals

We quickly researched the state policy space, the existing dashboard, and its users and maintenance processes. Through interviews, surveys, and workshops with stakeholders, we set clear goals to:

• Establish a user-friendly structure for state policy information, allowing Climate XChange to showcase how to advance policies when opportunities exist.
• Identify the ideal technologies for powering the dashboard.
• Position Climate XChange to get buy-in from data partners and secure funding for future development.

Improving the interface

We redesigned the content structure and built clickable prototypes for key pages and templates, enabling users to find information faster. These designs gave Climate XChange an invaluable tool for presenting the new dashboard to potential partners and funders.

Complex data management and visualization

The dashboard needed to manage and visualize data from a large partner network. We streamlined updates by setting up an easy CSV upload workflow, saving time and costs and paving the way for integrating future partners.

Data is stored in Drupal, while JavaScript powers visualizations and interactivity. Users can now compare up to three states side-by-side, offering a clear view of policy implementations.

Responsive design and accessibility

The dashboard is functional and accessible across devices and for users with disabilities, ensuring a consistent design and user experience. We used semantic HTML for screen readers, strong color contrast, keyboard navigation, ARIA attributes for interactive elements, responsive tables for data-heavy areas, and easy-to-read fonts.

A valuable resource for policymakers, researchers, and climate advocates

Users can now easily track and compare state policies, supporting better-informed decisions. The interactive features and data visualizations have received positive feedback for their user-friendliness and clarity.

The new dashboard also saves Climate XChange staff significant time—what once took days or even a week can now be done in minutes with a quick spreadsheet upload.

Lullabot has exceeded our expectations in bringing this user-friendly and data-rich platform to life, and it is already making a significant impact on the climate policy landscape.

Jonah Kurman-Faber, Policy & Research Director at Climate XChange