POWERMAP

2013  |  Creative Direction  |  Microsoft  |  Windows

SUMMARY

PowerMap (GeoFlow was the working title) is a 3D visualization and storytelling tool for map based data. I was brought in to creatively direct the 3D world look and consult on the UX design.

Chief Accomplishments:

• Successfully delivered a truly innovative storytelling tool for Excel.
• Interpreted a design language into an unexpected form.
• Won 3 innovation patents as a result of the ideas created.

THE BRIEF

• Create a 3D environment that can host Excel files of geo-temporal data to provide new ways of gathering insights and telling stories within it.
• Create the look of the 3D environment to reflect the ‘Metro’ the latest design language for Microsoft at that time.
• Develop an accessible interaction language in UX and the 3D environment.

CONCEPT DIVERGE

In exploring geo and temporal ideas, I starting with pencil sketches, moving to Photoshop, then Maya. I wanted to understand the basics 3D data representation; scale, shape, path, geo location, and how & where data could be represented.

CONCEPT CONVERGE

We then switched gears, explorations were now based around real requirements. We testing concepts in motion, the below example is where a scenario was prototyped in Maya. 

DESIGN & ITERATION

Below are a few example areas we dove deep into defining at this phase in the project.

MAP & THEMES

One of the more rewarding achievements of the project was stylizing the map tiles. It was important to balance their overall visual prominence against the data itself. 

ANNOTATIONS

It was important to include the ability to tag and annotate data shapes, especially for story telling purposes. 

3D TO 2D MAP

We delivered a solution that converted the spherical globe to a flat Mercator surface in one smooth transition to see the whole world at once.

PRODUCT RELEASE

Below are a couple tours created with the full working released version of PowerMap (eventually renamed Power BI).