International Society of Nephrology | Feb 2025
Introduction
With rich data from 160+ countries across two survey cycles, the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) reached out to us with the vision of creating a digital explorer that would help people browse data, observe trends, and compare the state of kidney care across countries and regions.
We designed and developed the ISN-Global Kidney Health Atlas, an intuitive explorer that lets people explore data from multiple lenses—by indicator, country, region, or income group. Thoughtfully crafted maps, tables, and micro-visualisations enable easy benchmarking and comparison, a key need for the explorer's target audience—healthcare policymakers, researchers, and physicians.
The Brief
Since 2016, the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) has mapped global kidney care, highlighting readiness, capacity, and access. Having published 2017, 2019, and 2023's data through static reports, ISN sought our help with pivoting to a digital interface.
We were tasked with designing and developing the data explorer from scratch—from information architecture and user journeys, to data visualisation and user interface design. The platform was crafted with the key target audience in mind (policymakers, researchers, physicians).
Approach
We decided to split the project into two broad phases—discovery, followed by design & development. A phase we prioritise at Revisual Labs for projects of larger scope, discovery helps us (and the client) figure out exactly what needs to be built.
The discovery phase saw us facilitate workshops and share questionnaires to gain as much input as possible from our clients. We also performed user research—both user interviews with participants recruited by ISN, as well as a research questionnaire broadcasted to a larger pool. Upon synthesising our research findings, we aligned with the clients on key decisions and moved into information architecture and low-fidelity design.
Design
The GKHA's design enables easy data browsing, providing users the ability to browse by indicator, country, region, or income group. Barcode plots supplement indicator cards in the latter three views, enabling users to easily benchmark and compare one entity against the others, which we discovered to be a critical need during user research. Micro-visualisations serve as cognitive aids throughout the platform, from sparklines in the choropleth map tooltips to the tables' bar charts + error bars, as well as income group indicators, barcode plots, and pie charts. Data can be downloaded as CVS files or images, aiding users in embedding them in reports or presentations.
The Result
The GKHA was designed to serve as an intuitive, visualisation-led explorer that would help people easily browse and compare the state of kidney disease and care around the world.
The platform has been designed and developed to accommodate future survey cycles' data seamlessly, bolstering the client's will for the GKHA to serve as the go-to resource for global kidney health data.
View the live project ↗
My Role
Project manager, lead designer, UI/UX design, data visualisation design, research.
Tooling
Figma
Asana
RAWGraphs
Google Sheets
SimDaltonism
Team
Designer & Project Manager: Swathi Singh
Developers: Aman Bhargava, Schubert de Abreu
Design Intern: Shivani Singh
Project Guide: Gurman Bhatia
With mentorship from Amanda Makulec
Agency: Revisual Labs