Pattern: Layered Impact Navigation

What This Pattern Does

  • Moves users from orientation to explanation

  • Breaks complex work into navigable layers

  • Connects outcomes to underlying systems

  • Allows comparison across locations or units

What This Looks Like

From Map to Method (Community Solutions)
Shows how communities define and work toward “functional zero” over time

Why Organizations Use It

Organizations use this pattern when their work is complex, distributed, or system-based. It helps translate abstract or large-scale efforts into something users can explore and understand in context.

Definition:

A structured interface approach that moves users from high-level impact (scale) to localized detail and then into process-level understanding.

Application: Questions to Consider

  1. Where does your organization currently stop. At scale, or at explanation?

  2. Can users move from a high-level view of impact into specific, localized examples of the work?

  3. How clearly do you show the process behind your outcomes, not just the results themselves?

  4. Are your data points structured in a way that allows comparison across contexts?

  5. What level of depth is appropriate for your audience, and where might additional layers create friction?