Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Visualization as a public service: WSJ's HealthCare.gov Explorer

Just a quick note to praise HealthCare.gov Explorer, an impressive interactive visualization by The Wall Street Journal (h/t Jon Keegan, director of interactive graphics,) published five days ago. This is public service visual journalism at its best.

The visualization lets you search for different kinds of plans in most states and counties, and then pin and compare the ones that you're more interested in. After that, you can share your choices in social media. The graphic includes other many neat features, such as the price range bar right above the map, which updates depending on the state and kind of plan selected.

After enjoying (and —ahem— enduring) many creative and artistic visualizations lately* it's refreshing to see that many designers out there still care for what really matters, which is informing citizens and making their lives lives easier.

*I'm getting ready for several presentations and classes today, besides writing a bit, and you already know that I'm a bit biased against creativity. Sorry about that.