An immersive discovery platform visualizing the heroic journeys of migratory birds
The National Audubon Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofits, focused on conserving our natural and ecological heritage. With a wealth of birdwatching data at their disposal, Audubon asked Launch to create The Bird Migration Explorer —an immersive platform that empowers users with the joy of discovery.
Primary goals
Use data to tell stories
Combine migratory bird path data and Geographic Information System (GIS) data to create a best-in-class data visualization tool that tracks bird’s migratory journeys.
Meet birdwatchers where they are
Design an engaging experience that would appeal to both “bird nerds” and the “bird curious”, enabling learning and discovery in their own backyards.
Highlight dangers birds face
Surface the challenges birds face on their thousand-mile journeys and propel users to get involved and help local conservation efforts.
Bringing heroic journeys to life
Powered by several gigabytes of data, Launch and Audubon set out to excite users with the new Bird Migration Explorer — an immersive, beautifully designed platform with interactive maps and approachable self-discovery options.
Launch developed the product strategy and interactive maps through extensive research and discovery. Many rounds of iteration and a deep understanding of the science and GIS data helped us deliver a fun, engaging, and scientifically accurate platform.
Making sense of a mountain of data
Audubon aggregates data from its own science team, local bird watchers, and ornithology partners. Our product team dove into data discovery with our data partner, Blue Raster, to uncover patterns and outliers in the data and determine how to tell the story visually.
Designing a beautiful experience
Compelling visualizations and animations allow the user to explore and self-guide their journey. The design system brought together migration, bird species, local places of interest data, conservation data, and views of species families to show aggregated trends.
Capturing complexity and citing data
Showcasing each species’ journey requires that data be displayed as both a point in time and a week-over-week animated journey. To present accurate information and capture nonlinear travel paths, data symbology was used to show gaps in banding, observation, and missing data. Those infrequent gaps are bolstered by robust data that shows high confidence and precision defended by vetted and verified science data from Audubon and their partners.
The bird community is close-knit and believes that sharing all data will yield better conservation efforts. In line with that ethos, we set out to ensure that all data was accurate and properly cited to reflect the maps’ credibility and sources. An attribution bar in the footer showcases top-flight data providers and partners who help power the maps and tell the story. Additionally, a citation panel shows every data point cited by source for each map visualization. This data panel adjusts in real-time to show only the cited data in the current map view.
Delivering a scientifically verified immersive experience
Each view, animation, and possible configuration in the Bird Migration Explorer needed to accurately tell the stories of birds’ heroic travels. From line density of tracks to opacity of shadows and overlays of challenges migratory birds face, we delivered a scientifically verified immersive experience.
The entire system is editable via a CMS that Audubon staff can manage without technical resources. Additionally, local language support for both English and Spanish was available at launch, and we’ve planned and programmed future language support to allow for more accessible translation improvements.
An award-winning mobile experience
We also developed a modern and beautiful Audubon mobile experience that was different from the Bird Migration Explorer. Part toolbox for the avid birdwatcher, part window into a wealth of birding data and intelligence, the mobile app is a field guide with over 3,000 photos and eight hours of songbird calls, making it easier than ever to identify a new bird.
Empowering bird watchers
The field guide contains thousands of photos and audio sounds available at a user’s fingertips. Birders can identify species by providing a handful of descriptive traits with Bird ID. The social component allows users to view nearby sightings from other birdwatchers and get involved in organizational calls-to-action.
Inspiring discovery and soaring to success
The National Audubon Society launched the Bird Migration Explorer to the public in September 2022. Within the first 24 hours of launch, the Explorer had 900 visitors per minute and coverage by 388 media placements with a combined readership of 1.1 billion. The Migration Explorer was recognized by the Anthem Awards in the category of Digital and Innovative Experiences. The Audubon Society mobile app also won an Innovation by Design Award from Fast Company.
