Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, HEQCO, prepared a research report on post-graduation outcomes of PhD graduates and approached us to create an interactive infographic of key points in the report.

Key findings were based on the 2009 class of PhD graduates from Ontario universities. There were 2,310 graduates and they had six years to settle into the job market.  The findings helped to dispel perceptions that a PhD wasn’t worth it. The results were better than you may think.

Challenges: The authors presented us with one way they saw the information — a good starting point — although we needed to distill this information into simple key chunks to aid in the storytelling.

Various concepts, each with a slightly different focus, were presented. The HEQCO team chose the simplest graphic path focusing on the journey of discovery. As the user scrolls vertically along the path, the pie charts, icons and data appear. The top navigation icons allow quick access to key findings and, at the end the path, a call to action encourages readers to link to the full report.

Link to infographic: April 2016 blog “it’s not academic”

• Interactive and simple animation to add interest
• AODA-accessible infographic, in English and French
• Built in Word Press then uploaded to April 2016 blog “it’s not academic”
• Approximately one-month project length