2023
Elevate Report Card
Communication Design for the City of Calgary
Skills
Data vizualization, infographic design, brand alignment
Tools
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
Goal
Create a Report Card that clearly communicates the purpose and impact of the City of Calgary’s Service Improvement Program—Elevate Calgary. The report card will re-introduce the 3 pillars of the program which each of the business unit’s projects falls under, showcase key projects and their measurable outcomes, and demonstrate the projects alignment with the Council’s 2023-2026 focus areas.
Project Overview
The purpose of the Elevate Program was to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery across the organization by providing internal support such as consulting services, courses and learning opportunities while working towards sharing service improvment impacts with the public. This Elevate Report Card is meant to be presented to internal stakeholders and highlight the strategic value of the program in a concise yet comprehensive manner. I was tasked with creating the template of this deliverable which could then be filled out further prior to an annual division review. The process of this project included: an audience analysis, design precedents, data harvesting, and the iterative process of designing the document.
Click here to view the document template: Elevate Report Card
Process
Audience Analysis
I began by familiarizing myself with the different internal stakeholders the report card would be shared with and understanding how it would need to be shaped by their needs. I also used the City of Calgary’s tone and accessibility guidelines to ensure that the content was approachable and clear while also aligning with the Citys brand.
Design Precedents
To inform the visual direction and the types of content that would be in the report card, I looked at a variety of documents similar to an organizational report card ranging from municipal examples to spotify year-end reports. This helped me define the layout, hierarchy, and content that I believed should be included. I also facilitated a team activity in Mural to collaboratively explore what the team members liked and disliked about each precedent.
Data Harvesting
I gathered data from completed projects including outcomes, statistics, and testimonials to help ground the impact of the program’s projects. This process also revealed what information should be collected moving forward to strengthen future reporting.
Design & Iteration
With the content and visual brand coming together throughout this project, I created drafts of the report card and presented the iterations to the members of the team gaining their feedback and insights into its development. Each iteration refined how the information was presented and how it would best suit the needs of the team and the audience. I aligned the design with the City of Calgary’s brand guidelines and the program guidelines to fit into the City’s broader communications.
The following is a representation of the Elevate Report Card. For confidentiality, most organizational data has been replaced with placeholder text.