Legistate Dashboard
UI/UX & Visual Design • Desktop & Mobile
I designed an interactive dashboard for VCU RISE that helps policymakers and the public understand equity implications of current and historical General Assembly bills in Virginia.
Overview
Role
Lead product designer
Team
7-person team
Timeframe
About 9 months (ongoing)
Client
VCU RISE
Company
Stamen Design
Outcome
Expected 1.5x faster analysis for researchers and adoption by non-technical users across the state
Made complex legislative and equity data accessible for diverse users
Turned dense policy information into clear visualizations showing equity impacts
Balanced data rigor with approachability for policymakers, students, and researchers
Built in customizable visualizations, comparison tools, and contextual pages to support research advocacy, and learning
Designed mobile-friendly interfaces guiding users from overview to detailed bill analysis
Collaborated with researchers and developers to iterate prototypes from concept to launch
Problem
Supporting exploration and analysis of equity implications for proposed bills
To start the project, we asked the client to define what success looked like from their perspective. This approach helped align expectations early, clarify the problem we were solving, and provide a benchmark to measure our progress throughout the project.
Failure
Success looks like avoiding 100% of the following
Feels static
Unexciting
Gray/white tonal in coloring
Tables after tables, linear approach
Looks like a big excel spreadsheet
Can’t access outputs from a session using tool again easily
Minimum Success
Success means achieving 100% of the following
Filter the data using variables such as policy areas and populations,
generate figures/graphsCompare the findings between failed and successful bills
Maintenance of tool in the future is easy
Easy to understand representation of data
Ability to learn more about policy making when necessary
Website is accessible (language, color, fonts, etc.) and incorporates VCU branding but does not hold back in style
Downloadable outputs
Target Success
Success means achieving 40–60% of the following
The dashboard automates all the process researchers take manually to update the data
Showcase top variables in general in analysis
Watermarked image export
Export large dataset in meaningful file
Easy to leave the tool with materials to use elsewhere (consider proprietary)
Direct social share
Looks super cool
User research
Designing for users with broad technical backgrounds
Our user research included interviews, defining example use cases and goal-frustration mapping with policymakers, general public, and researchers/students to understand how they assess equity in Virginia’s legislative process.
As a policymaker, I want to understand the comprehensive policy landscape from last session, so I can define and prioritize goals for next session.
As a member of the general public, I want to see what policies have been (un)successful on issues I care about, so I can find meaningful information to guide my actions in voting or lobbying.
As a student/researcher, I want to find data related to policy subject matter I’m exploring, so I can discover new insight in my hypotheses around policy equity.
User
Policymakers
Goals / motivations:
Quickly grasp equity outcomes using simple, familiar tools
Use specific data to guide goals and future priorities
Frustrations / pain points:
Stakeholders have limited attention and mixed equity understanding
Need valuable data while navigating sensitive framing
User
General Public
Goals / motivations:
Find successful efforts and filter data by what matters to them
Access clear info and resources for advocacy or learning
Frustrations / pain points:
Need an easy tool to spot patterns and relevance
Policymaking basics are hard to remember or interpret
User
Researchers, students
Goals / motivations:
Use data to test hypotheses and build teaching or talking points
Understand equity impacts for bills and classroom use
Frustrations / pain points:
Unsure if equity is fully covered across policy areas
Concerned about data robustness and meaningful correlations
Data exploration
Balancing actionable insight and interesting form in data visuals
The dashboard design for VCU RISE began with exploring a range of data visualization techniques to determine how best to represent equity-related legislative data. Each format was assessed for clarity, usability, and visual appeal. This exploration revealed trade-offs that guided design decisions to balance intuitive understanding with meaningful, visually compelling storytelling.
Bar charts: Exciting and fun to look at, but tricky to compare multiple variables and small differences in data
Bubble charts: Delightful and provides a big picture view, but tricky to judge small differences in the data
Heat map scorecards: Easily understandable, but can be seen as a glorified table and less exciting for users
Network diagrams: Visually appealing and good for year comparisons, but not user-friendly and can't stand on its own
Waffle charts: Exciting and visually appealing, but can be dizzying to follow and may not stand on its own
Sankey diagrams: Easy to see connections and compare years but not the most user friendly or granular optoin
Exploring bills
Designing a library for searching for bills by equity type
During wireframing, we went through several iterations of the explore bills page to balance depth of information with ease of use. Early concepts tested how users navigated large volumes of legislation, compared equity variables, and accessed detailed bill summaries. These iterations shaped a layout that supports both quick scanning and deeper exploration with several key features.
Viewing all bills from a selected year in a browsable card-based or table layout
Key details at a glance such as bill name, description, success, and equity type
Filtering results by policy area, equity type, identities, target populations, and more
Sorting bills to surface the most relevant results
Finding specific bills by keyword search
Scanning bill success at a glance with passed or failed tags
Expandable bill summaries that highlight all equity variables, with links to full external details
Generating downloadable charts based on selected variables for deeper analysis and comparison
Snapshots from the wireframing process 📷
Bill analysis
Data storytelling for users to dive into legislative equity themes
The analysis page evolved around the goal of presenting complex legislative data through a clear, narrative-driven experience. Early iterations tested how users interpreted charts, moved through multi-section stories, and compared trends across years. This process shaped a user interface that blends context, explanation, and interactive exploration to help users uncover the equity implications within Virginia’s legislative landscape.
Narrative walkthroughs guide users through key findings and themes in a clear, story-driven format
Users can explore data in greater depth through customizable interactive charts
Overarching year selection controls allow easy comparison across legislative sessions
Results can be narrowed by equity type, success indicators, or demographic variables using in-chart filtering options
Downloadable charts can be shared for reports, presentations, and external analysis
Users receive helpful support through pop-up guidance that explains how to read and interpret each chart
Snapshots from the wireframing process 📷
Additional frames
Feedback form, interactive PDF viewer, information modals, and more to support users
Several supporting pages and guidance features were added to help users navigate the dashboard with clarity. A feedback modal invites users to share questions or suggestions, and the interactive VCU report gives direct access to the full research narrative alongside the dashboard’s visual summaries.
Helpful pop-up modals, such as how to read a chart or how to generate one, provide quick, in-flow explanations without disrupting the experience. An About page rounds out the ecosystem by outlining the project’s purpose, methodology, and equity framework, helping users understand the context behind the data.
Mobile design
Mobile design for policymakers exploring the data on-the-go
VCU wanted users to access equity insights on the go, making mobile devices a key entry point for students, policymakers, and advocates. We designed a streamlined mobile experience that preserved full functionality for exploring bills, visualizations, and contextual pages.
