Beyond Number

Beyond Number is an interactive digital platform that invites users to rethink how we engage with data on social injustice. Designed for the 2024 Data for Black Lives conference at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, the experience transforms static data into a personal journey of discovery and remembrance.

At its core, Beyond Number challenges the user to look past charts and statistics and instead reflect on the lives, stories, and systemic conditions behind the data. Visitors begin by exploring a set of curated visualizations—each representing racial disparities in income, education, incarceration, and more. As users interact with the interface, they’re prompted with reflective questions and subtle transitions that guide them to connect personally with the information.

At the end of the experience, each user generates a unique digital postcard that memorializes their journey—featuring a chosen dataset, a personal reflection, and a timestamped visual artifact. This can be saved, shared, or downloaded to a digital wallet, allowing the message to live beyond the screen.

The platform merges social impact, data storytelling, and human-centered design. Technically, it was built to perform both in-gallery and mobile contexts, ensuring accessibility and broad engagement. Visually, it features minimalist, responsive layouts, soft transitions, and a system of generative visual elements rooted in bar charts and heat maps—subtly referencing the language of data without overwhelming it.

Beyond Number is more than an interface—it’s an experimental manifesto that asks: Can data be felt, not just seen? By turning interaction into memory and visualization into voice, it reimagines how design can play a role in civic dialogue, empathy, and digital activism.