Raising Awareness About Gulf Coast Conservation

Contributions

01 Leading the campaign's online presence

I led the design and development of the campaign's online presence to empower the storytelling of those impacted, build awareness around the impact of the spill on the Gulf region, and plan a pathway for patrons to learn about both the data and the stories of those impacted by the 2010 BP Deep Horizon Oil Spill. I was also responsible for design documentation and training.

Why this matters

02 Gulf Coast ecosystems drive the region's economy

Can a campaign create and drive meaningful conversations about the significant impact an oil spill had on Gulf Coast economics and residents? This campaign was about helping impacted states get the critical services and products needed to drive job creation once again, including:

• 1.3 billion pounds of seafood annually with a dockside value of $661 million.
• The largest remaining wild oyster harvest in the world supported by Gulf Coast waters.
• 23+ million recreational fishing trips annually attracted to the region.
• 600,000+ jobs and $9 billion in wages annually in tourism and recreation.

Technical solution

03 Choosing the development platform

When deciding on the development approach we researched solutions that provided the features needed to achieve the campaign goals: creating a campaign, establishing community initiatives, accepting donations, and providing tools that allow people to rally around causes they care about. By partnering with a technology consultant, the NationBuilder Community Platform was recommended as the most efficient platform to grow a community and move it to action.

Due to the complexity of NationBuilder as a robust multi-capability CMS/CRM, we had multiple rounds of technical planning meetings to align and clarify design decisions. Planning artifacts such as flowcharts and wireframes helped us collaborate and think through content, messaging, and placement of interactive elements.

Goals

04 Stories in front of policymakers

The campaign site provides a web-based platform for fishermen, restaurant owners, community leaders, and other coastal residents to tell their stories and urge policymakers to support environmental restoration projects that benefit Gulf communities. Get petitions in the hands of state congressmen who would ultimately inspire Washington D.C. to respond with a plan of action.

Design rounds

05 Round 1 🥊 and Round 2 💥

The first round of ideas focused on blocking out content and running dev tests inside NationBuilder to establish the fixed and flexible aspects of the platform: finding a balance between using one color throughout the website or including complementary colors, and thinking about accessibility, contrast, and content hierarchy throughout the page layout.

Round two explored a path to a better reading and engagement experience: an interactive map of the Gulf States acting as entry points into specific state initiatives, ways to balance the dominance of so much blue by using color as an identifier for certain tasks, and background images used to establish mood, context about the campaign, and contrast between foreground and background.

Success

06 Reach & impact

Launched in March 2014, the campaign significantly influenced the largest environmental settlement in U.S. history by April 2016. By amplifying the voices of those affected by the BP oil spill, the campaign played a pivotal role in securing a historic $20.8 billion settlement, the largest ever in the U.S.

Key outcomes

07 The results at a glance

• Significantly influenced the largest environmental settlement in US history
• $20.8 billion settlement secured by April 2016
• Amplified the voices of residents affected by the BP oil spill