Overview
Between 2016 and 2022, authoritarian regimes have flipped the “off switch” for dissent, imposing 935 internet shutdowns to control their citizens. In a six-month effort to document this control, Rest of World interviewed over 70 researchers, technologists, and experts, culminating in their enterprise piece, “In the Dark.”
What we did
Moksha Data Studio helped Rest of World bring blackout-related data to life through a series of charts, maps, and interactives. MDS worked to ensure each visualization was engaging, accessible, and in line with Rest of World style. The Studio was involved at every step of the process, including design, development, and handoff and site integration.
Our process
We worked with Rest of World in a series of six week-long sprints. We split up our work into four discrete stages:
Discovery (1 week) Moksha Data Studio researched the subject material and available datasets, and ideated a minimum of one visualization per dataset provided. MDS provided one low-fidelity draft of each visualization to Rest of World for feedback.
Execution (2 weeks) Based on the initial impressions from Rest of World, create mid-fidelity drafts of each of the five visualizations.
Iteration (2 weeks) Following additional feedback from the Rest of World team, the Studio incorporated edits, and created high-fidelity drafts of visualizations. MDS provided a feedback document which allowed Rest of World to provide textual feedback on each of the five visualizations. After this async feedback, MDS and Rest of World met to finalize edits.
Delivery (1 week) MDS finalized edits and handed off five ready-to-include visualizations. This step also included the production of various image fallbacks (for embedding within Apple News) and social images that could be used in Tweet cards and previews elsewhere.
The output
The final visualizations were published on Rest of World’s website, alongside prose and the rest of the enterprise piece.
