VizChitra 2025

This talk will dissect our creative and technical journey in developing Hammock’s Literary Map, an interactive, exploratory visualization that spotlights writers from around the globe.

Public Knowledge Design Studio collaborated with Hammock Magazine to shape the dataset, design a visual language, clean and prepare the data, prototype and refine the exploratory experience, and code the final platform.

Through this session, you’ll learn about the challenges we faced, how we iterated on design strategies and honed user journeys that encouraged serendipity and exploration. We’ll examine the key lessons from experiments that didn’t pan out, as well as the decisions that led to more refined outcomes. We’ll also briefly discuss some insights from the data that surprised us.

Expected Takeaways

• How map-based storytelling can transform data into compelling user experiences.
• Strategies for prototyping and designing user journeys in interactive visualizations.

Intended Audience

• Anyone intrigued by map design and the creative process behind interactive projects.
• Those interested in hands-on techniques for building data-driven, visual experiences.

Speaker Bio
Gyan Lakhwani is a multidisciplinary designer, educator and teller of tall tales. He is co-founder of Public Knowledge Studio, and visiting faculty teaching Data Visualisation at the Department of Design, DTU.