Ukraine Grain

In the wake of the conflict in Ukraine, the world faced a looming crisis — the threat to global grain supplies. In partnership with Earthrise Media for The Plotline, we undertook the mission of translating the complexities of agricultural supply chains and the impacts of war into an interactive tool that can be used both by experts and the general public.

Understanding and Translating Data

The foundation of this project was the data — detailed agricultural figures provided by the Ukrainian government. The data came in Ukrainian, a language barrier that posed our first challenge. Accuracy in translation was paramount, as the integrity of the entire project hinged on the reliability of this data.

Designing the Interactive Experience

With accurate data in hand, the next hurdle was design iteration. How could we make a sophisticated data set not just understandable but engaging?

We developed a series of prototypes riffing on an interface that allowed users to manipulate the data themselves, adjusting the output of grain from each Ukrainian oblast to see the potential impact on exports.

To provide affordances for experts and novices alike, we introduced "shortcut" buttons, enabling scenarios like reducing all Eastern oblasts to a certain percentage with a single click. These shortcuts served as an educational tool, allowing users to quickly understand how varying degrees of conflict could affect global grain distribution.

Downstream effects

We wanted to show what happens beyond Ukraine's borders. By connecting the Ukrainian agricultural data with COMTRADE information on global grain consumption, users could see in real time how changes in Ukrainian output would ripple through to different countries.

Working with The Plotline

The Plotline's editorial team was writing the narrative around climate change and global agriculture. We worked closely with them to make sure the interactive tool supported their storytelling rather than competing with it — lots of back and forth to get that balance right.