Our latest news, opinions, insights and an initial glimpse into some recently launched projects.

Our latest news & insights 

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World bank

Human capital animation

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Swiss Re

Closing the protection gap

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Insurance Information Institute

Dynamic economics dashboard

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Digital toolkit

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Queen Mary University London

Research highways

Morning, 9am, Project Manager 

Coffee: Next to me (Dirty Chai Latte most likely)
Laptop: Opened
Slack status: Active 
Fingers: At the ready

Project Management sits at the intersection of client relationships, project execution, and internal team coordination, and I love it.

Let’s start on a Monday. 

I usually start with a round-up of the previous week and a review of the week ahead. I then move on to check in on the project timelines and client accounts I manage. Tracking progress, writing launch plans, and sharing a Statement of Work.

Time to touch base with the developers and the project team, ensuring everyone has what they need for the day ahead.

What milestones are coming up? Is the client’s feedback in my inbox? 

Something you should know about me: I love planning. I have digital ‘sticky notes’ on my laptop that I update daily. One for each project and one for each client account I manage. It is very rewarding to highlight a completed job and change it to ‘strikethrough’.

Trello boards updated, Figma design links sent and emails fired off.

A quick check in my G-Meet video window, that my hair isn’t doing that weird thing it usually does, I jump on a client call. Typing notes as we all talk, ensuring I have all the key details to take back to the team.

Throughout the morning, I’ll send a plethora of questions to the developers and updating the different Slack channels, of course adding a gif or meme here and there.

As a Project Manager at Soak, I am responsible for the successful execution and delivery of projects within the defined scope, time and budget. Building and maintaining strong client relationships and honestly, having the best time whilst doing it.

The morning&#39;s work is complete, time for a lunch break.

<h3>Afternoon, 1pm, Marketing Coordinator</h3>

Coffee: Another one
Marketing Mode: Activated 
Creative Juices: Flowing

Social media marketing, for me, involves blending creativity with developing and executing social media strategies, brand awareness and engaging our followers, and beyond! Once again, I love it!

I look after the content for both Instagram &amp; LinkedIn and I like to plan at least a couple of months worth of content in advance. To do this, I start with a ‘brain dump’ of ideas. Furiously typing, steam coming from my ears. Themes, colourways, post ideas, content writing, thinking up designs ideas for the next round of posts. 

Strategy development, content creation and community management fill the first part of my afternoon. Interacting with our followers and community, and launching social media campaigns to achieve specific objectives.

We know I love planning, best believe I have not one, but two Trello boards for my marketing planning! 

What do people want to see? What content is trending currently? 

Flitting between Figma and Trello boards, I plan out the month, right down to the date and time a post will be published. 

After another coffee (I know, I need to cut down), I’ll take some time to review and track our key metrics, analysing our previous week&#39;s performance.

The afternoon&#39;s work is complete, time to close the laptop and finish for the day.

We spoke to Bex, one of our Project Managers and our Marketing Coordinator at Soak, to uncover the secrets of their day!

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A Day in the Life of Bex: Project Manager & Marketing Coordinator 

We were thrilled to partner with the UK&#39;s Climate Change Committee (CCC) to bring their transformative Seventh Carbon Budget Report to life visually and dynamically, articulating the importance of their research and insights to a global audience.

The CCC&#39;s mission to communicate the complex data behind climate science demanded a bold, creative approach that was fresh, brand-driven, and unapologetically ambitious.
Working closely with the client&#39;s team, we designed and delivered a wide range of dynamic digital media assets, including an animated keynote video and vibrant animated social assets, to create awareness and amplify key messages and data points.

The CCC&#39;s research strikes a balance between authority and hope, highlighting the Seventh Carbon Budget&#39;s critical insights while offering an optimistic path toward a sustainable future.

The keynote animation helps bring this vision to life with stunning visuals to underpin an important narrative delivered by key stakeholders from across the organisation. Collaborating with a client as passionate as the Climate Change Committee was an absolute privilege. 

Together, we transformed complex climate science into an accessible, inspiring call to action for audiences worldwide. As their agency of choice, we look forward to working with them on many new, exciting and important initiatives.

Recognising the impacts of climate change is imperative to equipping us with the knowledge of how we can change for the better.

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The 7th Carbon Budget, a story told through video 

Infographics are far more than mere aesthetic constructs; executed well, they represent a sophisticated synthesis of art, science, and storytelling designed to illuminate and persuade in a visually saturated world.

<h3>The Essence of an Infographic</h3>

An infographic is a meticulously crafted visual representation that integrates text, imagery, charts, and graphical elements to convey information precisely and elegantly. They can transcend traditional data presentation by weaving a narrative that intuitively guides the viewer through a natural flow of information. Infographics are not merely tools for simplification; they are instruments of insight, rendering the abstract tangible and the complex comprehensible.

<h4>Cognitive Resonance</h4>

The human brain is inherently predisposed to process visual information with remarkable efficiency. Research indicates that approximately 65% of people are visual learners, and the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. Infographics capitalise on this predisposition by distilling multifaceted data into structured, visually coherent formats. By employing colour, shape, and spatial organisation, they facilitate rapid comprehension, enabling audiences to grasp intricate concepts without cognitive strain.

<h4>Engagement Through Aesthetic Appeal</h4>

In a digital landscape teeming with competing stimuli, capturing and retaining attention is a formidable challenge. Infographics address this by blending aesthetic allure with intellectual substance. Their vibrant designs and dynamic layouts are proven to draw viewers in, fostering sustained engagement. Unlike dense reports or static spreadsheets, infographics invite exploration, transforming passive consumption into an active dialogue with data.

<h4>Memory and Retention</h4>

The efficacy of infographics extends beyond immediate comprehension to long-term retention. Studies, such as those by the Visual Teaching Alliance, demonstrate that visual aids can enhance information retention by up to 400% compared to text alone. Infographics create enduring mental associations by anchoring data in striking visuals, ensuring that key insights linger in the viewer&#39;s memory.

<h3>Applications Across Domains</h3>

The versatility of infographics renders them indispensable across a spectrum of industries and contexts, each leveraging their unique capacity to inform and persuade.

Corporate Strategy and Communication: In boardrooms and business presentations, infographics distil financial reports, market analyses, and strategic plans into accessible visuals, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions swiftly.

Marketing and Branding: Infographics are potent tools in marketing campaigns, transforming product features, consumer trends, or brand stories into shareable, visually striking assets that resonate with target audiences.

Education and Pedagogy: In classrooms and training programs, infographics simplify complex subjects, ranging from scientific processes to historical timelines, fostering a deeper understanding and increasing engagement levels.

Journalism and Media: Newsrooms utilise infographics to present data-driven stories, such as electoral results, economic trends, or public health statistics, in ways that captivate and inform diverse audiences.

Social Media and Digital Platforms: In the fast-paced realm of social media, infographics thrive as concise, shareable content that cuts through noise, amplifying reach and engagement.

Healthcare and Public Awareness: Medical professionals and public health organisations use infographics to communicate critical information, such as disease prevention strategies or treatment protocols, with clarity and empathy.

Non-Profit Advocacy: Non-profits leverage infographics to convey the urgency of their causes, translating statistics on poverty, climate change, or inequality into compelling calls to action.

<h3>The Craft of Creating Impactful Infographics</h3>

Crafting a compelling infographic demands a delicate balance of creativity, technical precision, and audience awareness. Key principles include:

Clarity and Focus: An infographic should prioritise a single, well-defined message, avoiding clutter or extraneous details that dilute the impact.

Visual Hierarchy: Strategic use of size, colour, and layout guides the viewer&#39;s eye, ensuring a logical flow of information.

Data Integrity: Accuracy is paramount; visualisations must faithfully represent the underlying data without distortion or manipulation.

Aesthetic Cohesion: A harmonious design that aligns with a brand identity or thematic context enhances credibility and appeal.

Audience-Centric Design: Understanding the target audience&#39;s needs, preferences, and literacy level ensures the infographic resonates and informs effectively.

<h3>The Future of Infographics</h3>

As technology evolves, so too does the potential of infographics. Interactive infographics enable users to explore data dynamically, tailoring their experience to specific interests. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) promise immersive data experiences, while artificial intelligence (AI) offers tools to automate and personalise infographic creation at scale. However, regardless of medium, the core strength of infographics lies in their ability to humanise data, forging connections between information and understanding.

To learn more about how Soak can support all of your infographics requirements, email us at info@soak.co.uk. We&#39;d love to hear your ideas!

In an era of information overload, the challenge of distilling complex data into accessible, engaging, and memorable insights has never been more relevant. Amidst this deluge of information, infographics can serve as a beacon of clarity, transforming data into compelling visual narratives that people can easily understand.

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Visualising Knowledge: The Art and Science of Infographics

Solutions that endure and excel determine and address user needs before they crystallise into explicit demands. Digital Darwinism is a concept popularised by Brian Solis and Tom Goodwin. It refers to the idea that businesses must rapidly adapt to technological and societal changes in the digital age to thrive.

At Soak, we use this concept to drive a disciplined, forward-looking approach that defines how we conceive, evaluate, and refine our digital endeavours. It is not merely a strategy but an explicit commitment to ensure we stay ahead of the curve.

<h2>The Rising Tide of User Expectations</h2>

Modern audiences inhabit a world where technology is not simply a tool but an extension of their daily lives. From algorithms curating bespoke content to interfaces that subtly recalibrate based on individual preferences, the threshold for a sophisticated, seamless experience has risen rapidly. Users expect immediacy, coherence, and understated elegance when using any application, platform, or transactional system. However, these expectations often remain latent - users won&#39;t articulate their desire for a streamlined workflow or an uncluttered aesthetic until they encounter its absence, at which point disengagement is swift and often irrevocable.

The practice of amassing functionality with the promise of subsequent refinement is akin to a species banking on brute strength while ignoring an encroaching ice age. By the time criticisms surface, the project&#39;s momentum may be irretrievably lost, with resources depleted, goodwill eroded, and the team relegated to a cycle of remediation.

The concept of Digital Darwinism offers a corrective: it champions proactive evolution over belated reaction, embedding this ethos in the nascent stages of a project when flexibility is at its peak and unfounded assumptions are least costly.

<h2>A Refined Instrument of Insight</h2>

One of the tools in our armoury is optimised benchmarking, a precise and methodical process that balances speed and insight while intensely focusing on the core user experience. It is relatively lightweight and helps us refine the interface and interactions by assessing the response time, clarity of navigation, and effectiveness of key tasks. When structured correctly, this process provides valuable insights quickly, often within just a few days.

Consider an emerging digital platform in its formative stages. Through careful testing, we can determine how long it takes to execute a key function, identify where users might hesitate, and assess how the interface performs under moderate demand.
This approach does not aim for exhaustive mastery but follows a measured path, maintaining intellectual and operational flexibility, allowing us to improve the user experience before making deeper structural commitments. The process provides a valuable lens into the core preferences that will shape the project&#39;s future.

<h2>Driving Digital Sophistication</h2>

Optimised benchmarking combined with a fluid design process extends way beyond present utility and helps us understand and map what lies ahead. The signs of progress are unmistakable: artificial intelligence now tailors interactions with remarkable accuracy, voice and gesture controls are replacing traditional inputs, and inclusivity is emerging as a core UX principle. The digital experiences of tomorrow will offer predictive prompts drawn from a prior engagement, interfaces that adapt seamlessly across devices, and auditory commands that render content as optional. These are not fanciful conjectures but imminent realities.

In a recent exercise, we modelled a system that adjusted its presentation based on user patterns, prioritising frequently visited elements while downplaying extraneous ones. As a result, we observed a measurable increase in dwell time. This was achieved not through dramatic innovation but by proactively recalibrating the user experience. These advancements highlight an important truth - the future of digital success lies in being anticipatory and sophisticated, meeting users where they will be rather than just where they are.

<h2>A Custodian of Foresight</h2>

Our clients seek both execution and enlightenment. As a digital and data design agency, we are responsible for building and illuminating, discovering the unseen and exploring the uncharted. It&#39;s not good business for user dissatisfaction to signal a flaw; instead, we identify and address issues proactively, ensuring sustained relevance. This distinction sets each new project apart from one already dominating its domain.

Very few users will analyse the underlying architecture or the development timeline; they focus on the quality of their experience. A digital journey that anticipates their instincts reduces their effort and evolves alongside their needs, moving beyond mere utility to become essential and expected. In an era where user loyalty is the most valuable currency, adaptability is not just an option but a necessity.

Disruption can come from many sources, such as competitors, technological changes, or shifts in user behaviour. The real question isn&#39;t if these forces will emerge but whether your digital project will be ready for them. At Soak, we see firsthand how valuable early, user-focused insights can be in transforming new ideas into lasting successes.

In the realm of digital innovation, longevity is not a gift bestowed upon the most robustly engineered or extravagantly funded; it is primarily earned through adaptability.

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Digital Darwinism: The Importance of Anticipatory Design Solutions

Born in 2009, Soak&#39;s childhood home was St Francis House - a former Primitive Methodist chapel built in the 1800s. 

We knew it as converted office space, and there, Soak&#39;s early years took shape.

Once the teenage years hit, Soak moved homes twice - travelling from Bank Plain, the former &#39;Banking Circle&#39; of the city, to Millenium Plain, overlooking the famous Millenium Library at the Forum.

Now into its adulthood, Soak has found a comfortable home within the historic area of Colegate - a bustling collection of streets, lanes, and alleyways which have been settled since Saxon times.

Soak sits now in a Georgian building with high ceilings, delicate wainscotting, and windows that require someone over 6 feet tall to open them. The laptops are whirring, and the creative flow is flowing.

Nestled within the Creative Quarter of the city, our neighbours feature bars, cafes, pubs, crypts, and cloisters - a sprinkling of old and new for the next stage in Soak&#39;s journey.

We&#39;re happy to announce our new home to you all!

Soak Digital has explored many corners of the fine city that is Norwich.

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We've Moved!

Here are our thoughts on how things might evolve.

<h3>Artificial Intelligence</h3>

AI will profoundly impact many industries. We believe that if leveraged ethically and responsibly, it has the potential to streamline some of the more labour-intensive aspects of data visualisation. If AI could be utilised to efficiently generate bespoke visualisations tailored to specific business needs, or individual user preferences - this allows more time for analysis of the data, and more time for deeper consideration of the insights.

<h3>Immersive visualisations</h3>

With Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), we see a potential to bring data visualisation into immersive 3D spaces, allowing users to navigate and explore data in multi-dimensional environments. This has great possibilities for accessibility of data, as well as profound implications in fields such as medicine, climate science, and urban planning.

<h3>Hyper-personalisation</h3>

As the world fills with more and more personalised data, we would like to see dashboards and data tools adapting to individual user behaviours in real time. This shift would turn static, one-size-fits-all dashboards into fluid, user-specific BI tools that are both powerful and easy to use.

<h3>Natural Language interfaces</h3>

Integrating natural language processing (NLP) into data visualisations would allow users to interact with data on a more human level. Instead of manually adjusting filters or constructing queries, users will be able to ask questions like &quot;what&#39;s driving this quarter&#39;s revenue growth?&quot; and receive intuitive visual representations of the answer. This will help to democratise data access, making it easier for a broader range of users to interact with complex datasets.

<h3>Ethical and transparent visualisation</h3>

As data becomes increasingly central to decision-making, the ethics of data and data visualisation should also be paramount. We imagine a future where specific transparency features allow users to track the origins, assumptions, and biases behind the data. Visualisations will need to evolve to ensure ethical representation, allowing users to understand the process of data collection, and ensuring that visual decisions (like scales or colour schemes) do not mislead or manipulate.

<h3>Collaborative and social visualisations</h3>

We want to see visualisations become more collaborative, allowing teams to interact with the same data set in real time. Visualisations should also become more social, with features allowing users to share insights, comments on specific data points, and integrate findings directly into their workflows.

<h3>Sustainability and minimalism in visualisation</h3>

At Soak, we already place a high value on sustainability and minimalism in data visualisation - and we predict that this will become the norm, with the industry embracing a change towards clarity, simplicity, and eco-efficiency. As the cognitive load of information increases, there will be a demand for visualisations that strip away unnecessary complexity, focusing on delivering the core message as succinctly as possible.

Data already has a profound impact on our businesses, organisations, and our everyday lives. As we move into the next decade, we hope that data will become more accessible and immersive, and you won&#39;t need to have a phD in mathematics to understand it.

Over the next decade, data visualisation is poised to undergo transformative changes, driven by advances in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, interactivity, and personalised insights.

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Decoding the next decade - Visualising the near future of data

The exercise was to conceive ways of elevating specific ‘behaviour change over time’ visualisations to be more informative and engaging.

After evaluating a range of sample data sets, we conceptualised our approach using several charting styles and variations that we refined with regular input from the Ezra Team.

The result is a suite of static and interactive charts that are impactful, accessible and versatile for use across multiple touchpoints.

EZRA, a revolutionary global virtual coaching and learning provider, engaged Soak to provide a short-term data visualisation consultancy to evolve some elements of their brilliant customer insights portal.

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Visualising behaviour change

Featuring an illustrative future landscape, the tool uses a series of interactive pathways to show the interconnected nature of industry and day-to-day life.

Within the landscape, users will be able to access a wealth of targeted content and media to learn more about the importance of decarbonisation and its positive impact on our planet, economy and everyday lives.

IDRIC was launched in 2021 to accelerate solutions in industrial decarbonisation. It collaborates with 200 partners, including academic institutions, industry, community representatives and policymakers, to address urgent innovation needs - realising goals with impact and integrating knowledge across disciplines and sectors. 
IDRIC is hosted by Heriot-Watt University and initially funded by the government-backed UKRI Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge.

See more at:

<a href="https://idric.org/">idric.org</a>

<a href="https://www.hw.ac.uk/">hw.ac.uk</a>

<a href="https://www.ukri.org/what-we-do/browse-our-areas-of-investment-and-support/industrial-decarbonisation/">ukri.org</a>

We are delighted to be working with IDRIC (the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre) on the design and development of an immersive visualisation that will allow users to explore what a green industrial future would look like.

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Visualising a Green Industrial Future with IDRIC

The World Bank

The summit was in response to close engagements with governments across Sub-Saharan Africa on the need to highlight the vital role of human capital in economic growth. It was also the first Human Capital Summit at a Heads of States level in Africa. 

Sub-Saharan Africa entered the last decade with significant deficits in human capital (the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lives). The region’s average Human Capital Index (HCI) was the lowest across all the world’s regions, with a significant proportion of African countries at the bottom of the HCI.

The animation, ahead of the keynote speaker, was played at the start of the final day and uses a narrative centred around three core themes: Economic Growth, Resilient Systems and Social Cohesion. 

Data visualisation and storytelling are used throughout the sequence to emphasise and clarify important facts and figures that would resonate with the audience of Heads of State, Leaders, and Policymakers. In a first of its kind data-based and policy integrated storytelling, the innovative approach was very well received by online and in-person viewers.

The World Bank asked us to produce a data-driven animation for The Africa Human Capital Heads of State Summit held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on the 25th - 26th of July 2023.

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The financial burden of such events is enormous, but despite this threat, many people and businesses remain uninsured, leaving them vulnerable when a natural catastrophe strikes.

Swiss RE asked us to develop an interactive data tool illustrating the protection gap and losses from various natural disasters across five continents and twelve countries.

The interface centres around a stylised (mapbox) 3D globe. Clicking on regions and countries reveals the protection gap and total economic losses over the last ten years with the option to deep-dive into more in-depth analysis.

The fully integrated tool is a perfect example of how information can be more accessible, understandable and interesting using interactive data visualisation and information design.

Catastrophes such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and winter storms have become more intense and frequent, threatening people and economies worldwide.

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World Wide Fund for Nature

The new toolkit underpins an extensive report that provides the first synthesis and assessment of the gendered dynamics within the global illegal wildlife trade (IWT). It looks at gender-informed research, field evidence and concepts relating to poaching, trafficking and consumption of wildlife products, and international governance and policy.

A suite of structured, multilingual lessons packed with multi-media content, interactive scenarios and knowledge tests enables practitioners to bring gender analysis into their programmes and policies systematically and to combat illegal wildlife trade.

The campaign website gives users an overview of the program and provides a natural gateway into the new digital toolkit.

We have been working with The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to design and develop a new eLearning toolkit to educate policymakers, practitioners and academics about gender dynamics within the illegal wildlife trade.

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The design, technical and maintenance considerations for the project were several fold.

From a design perspective there was very little direction provided beyond needing to establish a data visualisation style that complimented the Triple-I branding and brand assets. We needed to identify appropriate styles to display the sets of time series data into a meaningful layout, enabling comparison within relevant data groups.

From a technical perspective we had to develop the dashboard as a standalone portable JS based application so it could be provided as a code bundle and embedded into Triple-I’s existing infrastructure with minimal effort.

Soak has recently been working with the eminently trusted Insurance Information Institute (iii.org) to design and develop a dynamic Economics dashboard.

Triple-I’s Insurance Economics Dashboard provides data-driven insight into the performance of the insurance industry, looking at historical trends and the key economic drivers for current and upcoming years. Soak worked with senior Triple-I stakeholders and economists to visualise and bring to life the data in a compelling and engaging way.

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Queen Mary University of London

The programme looks to raise awareness by:

<ul><li>Focusing on the big questions that affect us all: the sustainability of the planet, our digital future, people’s health and wellbeing, communication, creativity and culture</li><li>Delivering real-world impact: Through investment in the research and industrial ecosystem on and around our campuses, our global outlook and a passion for partnership</li><li>Harnessing the power of collaboration, partnership and our uniquely diverse and inclusive community with students and staff from more than 170 countries around the world</li></ul>

To support the research, we’ve designed and developed a data tool that allows users to explore the global impact of Queen Mary’s research.

The tool uses a map-based UI, allowing users to navigate several highway-specific case studies and the impact locations using a single, fluid interface.

Additional case studies can be added/managed using the underlying CMS, and the tool has been seamlessly integrated into the Queen Mary website.

Queen Mary’s U is a leading, research-intensive university. Their Research Highways programme brings this ethos to life perfectly. Combining expertise across disciplines, designed to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges, grasp new opportunities and transform lives across the globe.