In 2015, world leaders agreed to 17 goals for a better world by 2030. The Global Goals have the power to end poverty, fight inequality and stop climate change.

We were challenged to extend the communication system with a digital and interactive platform, a one-stop-shop for information about sustainable development with millions of visitors from all over the world.

The information needed to be understandable for everyone while staying optimistic and inspire people to explore the agenda and take action on the goals.

We approached the opportunity with modern design tools and methodologies. High-tech code in symbiosis with excellent visual design and motion, always with total respect for the end user and the cause.

In the inspiring journey toward a better world, this is perhaps the most important website in the world.

globalgoals.org

The production was August 1st, 2017 – January 17th, 2018.

After analyzing the user statistics of the previous website, we interviewed a broad set of people within the target group. That translated into a set of ideas and core features: One being accessible to all users, regardless of device, connection, and location. Secondly to provide a gateway for people and organizations to get involved and take action. And finally, creating 17 individual worlds to explore.

The visual design had to be easy to reuse, extend and manage for years to come. We understood that motion would be essential in transforming complexity into an inspiring educational tool. Working with prototypes, we iterated on the design and information structure, targeting mobile and desktop users equally.

For this unique project, with its global audience in literally every corner of the world, we had to dive deep down the technology stack, picking fast lightweight frameworks and handcraft everything else. To succeed we had to break ground with offline support and innovative ways of loading content while balancing the slim monthly budget with extensive load time optimizations.

In September, we published a stripped down version presenting the 169 targets of the Global Goals. That gave us the opportunity to gather early user feedback and to get people excited for what was to come.

Launching in January, we received an incredible response from both the digital and the sustainability community. Millions of people from all over the world loved the animations, the speed, the quick and clear overview of the Agenda. We more than doubled the average time spent on site for over three minutes, and Google awarded us with the Mobile Excellence award for scoring all green on their Speed and Accessibility tests.

The code is all open-source and available online for contribution and learning.