■ CUNY, Center for Urban Research

Designing the national Hard to Count map for Census 2030

A public data platform used by government agencies, nonprofits and researchers to make sure every community gets counted — rebuilt from the dashboard up.

Role
Product Design Lead

Tools
Figma

Team
3 UX Designers

Duration
15 weeks

Sneak peek

CONTEXTAn accurate Census depends on finding the people hardest to count
The Hard to Count map shows which communities are least likely to respond to the Census, so the organizations working to reach them know where to go.

Ahead of the 2030 decennial, the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center asked us to design the front-end interface for the next version — the one nationwide stakeholders will use to plan outreach.

Three audiences, one map. Government agencies allocating resources. Nonprofits planning on-the-ground outreach. Researchers pulling data. None of them want the same thing from it.

THE PROBLEMComplex geospatial data, and no two users reading it the same way
As product design lead, I owned research, strategic direction, and translating findings into the redesigned interface.

The question we set out to answer:

How might we create an easy-to-use tool that communicates complex HTC information through meaningful insights and data visualizations, to support the 2030 Census effort?

THE PROCESSFifteen weeks, split into Understand, Explore and Materialize
After the kickoff with the CUNY team, we audited the existing 2020 HTC Map site and set the project objectives from what we found.

RESEARCHWe reviewed 12 maps and interviewed 10 organizations

Competitor audit. 12 interactive maps — 3 Census Bureau maps, 3 Census projects, and 5 others for pattern ideas, including the 2020 HTC Map itself.
Stakeholder interviews. 30-minute sessions with 10 US-based stakeholders across 10 organizations, all with experience using the 2020 map.
Affinity mapping. Six findings characterizing how users actually interact with the interface, and where it gets in their way.

Competitor audit across 12 maps

Affinity mapping across 10 stakeholder interviews

Six findings on how users read the map

STRATEGYWe ran a MoSCoW workshop to decide what the 2030 map owes each audience
Competitor research, interviews and affinity mapping fed a prioritization workshop covering the key considerations for 2030 — including how the data layers should be categorized.

The direction that came out of it:

Design for users arriving from different backgrounds. Comprehensive onboarding and user guides, a wide range of layered information with precise filters, and way-finding prioritized over density — because this is a nationwide tool with no shared baseline of expertise.

The solution

FOUNDATIONSAn accessibility-first style guide and component library
I built a scalable style guide and component library centered on accessibility, so the map's complex data stayed clear and inclusive across every visualization — and so handoff to the development team was precise rather than interpretive.

The style guide, built around contrast and legibility first

A clear design system file, for a precise handoff to development

SOLUTION 01A new site navigation, so users can tell what's available
The navigation bar and page titles gave almost no guidance, so users couldn't tell what kinds of resources existed or how to use the map effectively.

We restructured the dropdown items to organize supporting content and give context for why the map matters to organizations invested in an accurate count.

New site IA

A structured dropdown that organizes supporting content and explains why the map exists

SOLUTION 02Content pages, because transparent updates are what build trust
Interviews showed that visible, regular updates are central to whether stakeholders trust the data. The existing site offered almost no structural distinction between pages, with updates presented as plain text and links.

We introduced content templates built on clear titles and whitespace, plus a tab system for moving between related pages.

Content page templates with clear titles, whitespace and tabs between related pages

SOLUTION 03A complete dashboard redesign, across 15 panel states
To make the data discoverable, we rebuilt the left dashboard panel to lead with key Census metrics and visualizations rather than dense explanatory text. Supporting information moved into accordions and minimal dropdowns, so users can focus on the map and reach detail when they want it.

This was the largest piece of the project — over 15 states of the left panel and 8 of the right map panel, requiring extensive component development and a full rethinking of information hierarchy.

15 left-panel states and 8 right-panel states

View the detailed dashboard redesign across all panel states

SOLUTION 04An interactive walkthrough, reachable from the dashboard itself
The map serves users with wildly different levels of familiarity, so support tools had to be findable from where the work happens rather than filed elsewhere.

We introduced a dedicated User Guide navigation item centralizing tutorials, visual overlays, a glossary and keyboard shortcuts — matching what users already expected to exist, and improving equity of use for anyone arriving without background.

Interactive Walkthrough

SOLUTION 05A revamped Data Trends page, so the insights get found
Data Trends had low discoverability and low usability — the insights existed, but nobody reached them. We redesigned the page to make them easier to find and to interpret.

Data Trends map view, before and after

Data Trends graph view, before and after

View the detailed redesign

OUTCOME AND TAKEAWAYSCUNY is on track to launch the next version of the HTC Map
The CUNY team told us the work exceeded their expectations, and they're now on track to launch the next version of the map.

This was my first time leading product design. Translating national Census data into map-driven interfaces for government and nonprofit stakeholders meant designing for people whose decisions have real consequences — and learning that depth and clarity aren't a trade-off if the information architecture carries its weight.

The 2030 HTC Map team

Next project

Shriya Chipde