2 Project Planning

Objectives

In this module, you will:

  • Refine your project goals and objectives
  • Identify your project team & stakeholders
  • Assess strengths, needs, and make a plan

Tools

For this module, you need:

  • Your toolkit journal
  • You may also want to generate a series of digital documents for final Project Requirements developed in this module. That may be a series of documents, spreadsheets, or templates identified across online resources.

2.1 What’s the Point?

The goal of this project will be to develop some place-based data visualization or application support that will integrate social determinants of health and an equity framework.

But, what will you do, specifically — and why? Let’s run through some core questions.

Where is your application? Is it within a city, neighborhood, or across an entire country?

  • Greater spatial coverage does not necessarily mean that your project will get more complex. It may be easier to grab data for all communities within a city from a data portal, for example, than extract data for a single neighborhood. Having more areas available for comparison can also be useful.

  • Greater spatial resolution does tend to make projects more complicated, on the other hand. You want to explore state policies for 50 states? No problem. Want to grab census tract data for the entire country (all 77,000)? This will limit your visualization options, as some software approaches will be able to handle it with ease, whereas others not all.

Who is your application about — a specific population, defined by their residence and/or some social, economic, or other characteristic? And, Who is your application for? Who will actually be using your application? How and why are they different?

Pitfall

Data may not be available for all places and populations. For example, COVID-19 data by race and ethnicity is still not disaggregated below the state-level for all counties in the U.S (!). You may need to start with your ideal, and then work towards what’s actually doable.

  • As this toolkit will highlight more than once–it is helpful to work with persons who will actually use the application, to increase its meaning and utility. At the same time, it is also helpful to work with persons who the data is about, as lived experiences will provide invaluable understanding, depth, and insight into the project of interest.

When is your application being used? Are you focused on the most recent datasets you can find, or are you interested in data over many time periods? And, how will the application itself be changed or updated over time?

  • Consider the sustainability and long-term maintenance needs of your project. Where will it be in five years? Would it be okay for the application to exist as a time capsule for a project completed, or do you prefer it to have data updated regularly?

What actions should/could result from your application? Are they reasonable, feasible, and time-bound?

  • Do you intend for your interactive asset map of cooling centers to be used by community members during a heat event to find refuge? Are you trying to inspire action from policymakers after exploring your data dashboard of modeled map findings and statistics on health disparities?

  • It is common to start with too ambitious a goal, that will slowly get refined over the project’s course of implementation. Try to be realistic and honest when assessing what your final project could do.

Why should people care?

  • This is often the most important question, and the one least formulated in early stages of the process. Something may be interesting and meaningful to you, but may not be important to others. Or it may be very obvious to you and your peers, but the thought hasn’t occurred to others in a different discipline or domain. Be specific and intentional in setting this objective, and do the research.

Put these together to generate an overview goal statement for your project. Include the primary question you’re trying to answer. This may change throughout the process, but should be changed to be refined further, rather than expanded in scope.

Think of the start of your project as setting out on a road trip. First, you need to map out where you want to go. What do you hope to discover along the way? Your visualization techniques are like choosing the right vehicle for the journey—each has its strengths for different terrains. Your goals will evolve as you travel, finding new paths to explore. But it all starts with a clear destination in mind.

2.2 Refining Goals for SDOH

Taking your project a step further, dig deeper into how your application can address SDOH directly. Which common approach or technique is the most pertinent to your goals? Consider the following ideas:

Identifying Health Disparities You can employ spatial visualizations to identify areas with disproportionate health burdens and disparities. For example, by mapping health outcomes and demographic data from the census, it could become evident which communities or populations experience higher rates of diseases or poor health, shedding light on potential health inequities.

Targeting Interventions Another option is performing spatial analyses to target interventions and resources to areas with the greatest need. By creating asset maps, you could aid public health advocates to direct their efforts, and allocate resources to address health disparities and promote equity.

Assessing Access to Healthcare You can produce maps to evaluate the accessibility of healthcare services across different regions. These cartographies identify areas with limited access to medical facilities or services, which is crucial in understanding barriers to healthcare for marginalized populations and addressing health disparities.

Modeling SDOH at Different Scales You can produce geostatistical analyses to model how social determinants of health (SODH) affect communities at different scales. By studying and mapping these factors, you may better understand how social conditions influence health outcomes and equity.

Environmental Justice You could create a dashboard to assess environmental health risks and exposures. By combining graphs, maps, and tables you may identify areas with environmental hazards that disproportionately affect specific communities, contributing to health disparities.

Health Planning and Policy Interventions Your maps can inform stakeholders in their efforts to create effective policies. By deploying various spatial visualizations, you can support interventions targeting specific health challenges in various communities, ultimately promoting health equity.

Community Engagement Story maps or collaborative mapping projects may facilitate community engagement by providing social experience insights. These representations allow community members to participate in decision-making, voice their concerns, and collaborate with public health officials to design interventions that address their unique needs and concerns.

Monitoring and Evaluation Spatio-temporal dashboards are effective tools to monitor the effectiveness of interventions over time. By comparing health outcomes before and after implementing interventions, public health officials can assess whether disparities are decreasing and health equity is improving.


Take a moment to consider which goal(s) you have for your project. We recommend starting simple, with no more than one or two goals to start with. Your initial project should focus on accomplishing your primary goal to the greatest of your abilities. Over time, more experience, resources, and support will enable you and your team to expand further.

Common Goals for SDOH & Place Applications
Goal Description
Identifying Health Disparities Map health outcomes & demographics to identify disparities.
Targeting Interventions Use spatial analysis to direct resources effectively.
Assess Access to Healthcare Map service accessibility to pinpoint healthcare gaps.
Modeling SDOH at Different Scales Analyze SDOH imapct across scales for insight into health influences.
Environmental Justice Create dashboards to monitor enviornmental health risks.
Health Planning & Policy Interventions Inform policy with visualizations to address health challenges.
Community Engagement Use story maps to involve communities in decision-making.
Monitoring and Evaluation Track interventions over time with spatio-temporal dashboards.

Integrate Equity Directly

Think back to the equity framework introduced in the first module. While each component is critical to any application built to understand and communicate SDOH, the Content of Equity component can be a useful consideration when building into your goals. Consider how your application may address equity by focusing on one or more of these aspects. Some examples include:

  • Integrating community stakeholders directly to the decision-making processes, planning, and implementation of your web application. (Procedural Equity)
  • Developing an asset map of local health and social services to maximize networking and connection in your city. (Distributive Equity)
  • Curating a story map that invites users to “walk” through a neighborhood over time as it becomes segregated from highway construction. (Contextual Equity)

Activity

Take a look at these three real-world projects. In your own words, sketch out their goals. Do they align with any of the SDOH application goals we’ve mapped above? What content of equity (procedural, distributive, or contextual) do they address?

Next, update your own goal statement based on ideas in this section. What are your SDOH and Equity goals?

Tip

This is just the beginning of a process. To keep progressing, it’s essential to always look for inspiration and stakeholders. Take some time to explore various web maps, dashboards, atlases, magazines, and academic articles. Then, list the ones you find appealing in your journal. Even if they are spatial visualizations that have nothing to do with health, try to imagine how you can use their design to study SDOH.

2.3 Defining Stakeholders

Once you’ve got your project’s goals on the horizon, it’s time to look at who’s journeying with you. Collaboration and stakeholder identification are vital components of any project that aims to achieve equity. Whether it’s a non-governmental organization, a research group within a university, or a government agency, stakeholders bring diverse perspectives and expertise to the table. Similarly, communities, activists, and advocates can also play a significant role in your project’s success.

Early identification of stakeholders is key to building trust and solidarity, which is a time-consuming but necessary process.

In Module 3, we will delve deeper into employing User-Centered Design to engage stakeholders effectively. The aim will be to ensure that every step of the project, from conception to implementation, is done in collaboration with those who have a vested interest in the outcomes, guaranteeing that the resulting initiatives are equitable, impactful, and sustainable. For now, let’s assess your team.

Assess Your Team

Take an inventory of who makes up your team, and define each person’s role. If you are embedded within a larger organization or corporation, there may be expansive stakeholders involved, with multiple stages of review, implementation, and iteration. If you’re in a smaller group or you’re on your own, you may be taking on several roles at the same time.

Your core team may include community members directly, or may have a different leadership structure. Here are some critical roles to consider:

Responsibilities Description
Set Strategy, Priorities, & Standards Core Team, Leadership
Allocate Resources (Time and $) Leadership
Manage Processes Core Team, Project Manager
Design, Research Use Cases Core Team, Designer
Develop, Deploy, & Monitor Project Core Team, Engineer
Use the application in way that was expected Expected Users
Use the application in way that was uexpected Unexpected Users

There are two additional stakeholders every application developer should consider – the Champion, and the Curmudgeon, which are actual roles that have been used in Health Informatics.

Considering them will be essential for your success:

  • The Champion - They love your idea, sing its praises, and are ready to share your work with everyone they know. They may not get the “tech stuff” completely, and won’t have time to learn it if they wanted to, but are your biggest cheerleader. They may help you get funding.

  • The Curmudgeon - They prefer to do things the way they have always been doing it. It’s generally something they do themselves, and probably manually. They are not interested in your work, and may challenge it with a sigh, eye-roll, or outright lament. May prefer technology the way it “used” to be.

We caution that you not shift your work too much in either direction to please/antagonize either of these stakeholders, but rather understand their role in the process at this stage.

Activity

Review these two projects and identify their stakeholders. Explain what is their role in each project.

Motivations

If you find yourself to be a “curmudgeon” at the idea of working with others to support your journey, we also encourage you to take a moment to consider all the benefits of engaging more stakeholders.

Here’s how a wider stakeholder alliance can shape your journey:

  • Understanding Diverse Perspectives: Stakeholders come from various backgrounds and sectors, each bringing unique insights that can challenge and enrich your project’s approach to health. A government official might understand policy implications, while a local activist might provide a grassroots perspective on community health challenges.

  • Data Gathering and Validation: Collaborators are crucial in both collecting and validating SDOH data. They ensure that the information reflects real-world conditions and is relevant to the communities affected. Researchers can provide rigorous methodologies, while community members can offer qualitative insights that ground the data in lived experiences.

  • Expanding the Network: Engaging with stakeholders allows for the expansion of your network. Each stakeholder may introduce you to other relevant parties, broadening the reach and potential impact of your project. This can lead to discovering untapped resources or finding new avenues for support and advocacy.

  • Exploring New Contexts: Stakeholders can act as guides through unfamiliar territories, both metaphorically in the project domain and literally in the community spaces. They help navigate the cultural, social, and political landscapes that shape health outcomes.

  • Innovative Co-Design: Utilizing User-Centered Design principles, stakeholders become co-creators in developing spatial visualizations that represent SDOH. Their input ensures that the end products are not only technically sound but also culturally sensitive and user-friendly.

  • Forging Partnerships: Collaboration can lead to long-term partnerships that extend beyond the life of a single project. These relationships can build a foundation for future initiatives, creating a sustainable impact on public health.

  • Revising Project Goals: Stakeholders often provide new insights that can lead to a reframing of project goals. What begins as a narrow focus on a particular health issue might evolve into a more holistic approach that considers a wider range of social factors.

  • Ensuring Equity: By involving a diverse group of stakeholders, the project is more likely to address equity in a meaningful way. Equity is not just about equal access, it’s also about designing interventions that acknowledge and address power imbalances and historical contexts that contribute to health disparities.

Finding a Community of Practice

Even if you think you’re getting into this solo or with a smaller team, you may be surprised at the number of people available to connect with you as invaluable colleagues, future friends, and mentors in your network. You’ve found this project – that already means you’re a part of a wider community of practice. Join our LinkedIn and GitHub pages to introduce yourself and expand your network. Additionally, consider sharing your ideas with people in your community, whether that be your neighborhood, school, or work.

Tip

Not sure where to start looking for mentors? We love this Mentor Map exercise by the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity – not just for academic folks, but anyone who has a beating heart and is working on a project. Try out the exercise yourself to identify persons in your network who you may be reach out to connect for feedback, accountability, intellectual discussions, and emotional support as you work through the project.

2.4 Project Assessment

You now know what you want to do, and who you want to do it with. You’ve gathered your team and had a few good discussions. If you’re on your own, you’ve made a list of mentors and additional resources to connect with so you can ensure feedback throughout the process.

Let’s finish scoping this project.

Assess Your Strengths

Each project will require domain expertise and technical capacity. Domain expertise means they are subject matter experts (SME). For example, someone who has been a 6th grade English teacher for 5 years, can be considered a SME of teaching 6th grade English. Technical capacity will refer to those people who know how to code from the back end (what only the core team sees) to the front end (what your users see).

Which is your strength, and which will you need to skill up to further support for project implementation?

For example:

  • If your project is about building an asset map to support populations experiencing food insecurity, you may be a food bank volunteer who has worked directly with populations impacted, live in the community, and also would be using the application with collaboration from the regional food pantry network. In this case, you have extensive domain expertise and knowledge that will be more enriched than most web app developers, assuming you are not a developer for your day job. For this project, you will be the SME and need to find someone who has the technical capacity needed for the project or your goal will be to scale up your technical capacity within the constraints of your setting.

  • On the other hand, perhaps you are a graduate student who has been coding statistical models for your work, and are interested in adding more social impact to your work. You’re used to learning new programming languages for new projects, and have a high technical capacity, but are not embedded within the community you want to build an asset map for. For this project, you would be the technical expert and need to find a SME or your goal will be to scale up your understanding of equity based frameworks, learning more about community experiences, as well as researching the topic further to build your domain expertise.

After assessing your strengths, go back to your list of stakeholders and update as needed.

Tip

As you expand your stakeholder team, your project may update according to shared goals and visions of team members. As a result, your team will work through the assessment process more than once. This iterative process is expected.

Activity

Write down your purpose and objectives by clearly stating why you want to solve this problem and what you hope to achieve. Who is your target audience?

Next, make a list of your potential stakeholders. How would you contact your stakeholders and why would they be interested in collaborating with you? Would you be part of an ongoing project or propose a new one?

The format for this exercise is flexible and exploratory. You can opt to create lists of objectives, draw diagrams, write a structured plan, or engage in a free-writing exercise.

The primary aim of this task is to develop a foundation to begin exploring spatial data for your project. It’s important to note that your final prototype might diverge significantly from what you record in this entry, and that’s perfectly acceptable. Remember, the process of using SDOH spatial data for visualizations is a dynamic process.

Assess Project Needs

Project Needs will include data, computer services, time, and attitude. To assess this, you will need to survey your motivation and pain points, as well as technical, financial, people, and time resources.

  • Data: What data do you have, and what will you need to find? How comfortable are you working with data, and what is the state of data where you are now? Do you curate community resources on post-it notes, PDFs, spreadsheets, or databases? Consider taking a data maturity assessment to better understand your data strategy along dimensions of purpose, practice, and people. Take your data skills a notch or two to the next level, progressing with patience, rather than jumping into a complex warehousing project that could be overkill.

  • Computing Resources: Do you have expansive computing resources and software available to you (e.g. large university of industry environment), or are you seeking free and/or low cost computing solutions? If you’re developing a project for a team member at a different institution, can they access the technical resources needed, or would they need to purchase a costly subscription? Knowing what resources are available to you is essential for selecting the best approach for app development.

  • Community: Are you working within an isolated environment, or do you have multiple colleagues who are ready to help? Perhaps you’re surrounded by people, but everyone is already overstretched with their work. At the same time, who will take over the project when you’ve moved on — are there interns, analysts, or volunteers interested in learning from your findings? Identify your needs.

  • Attitude: This facet is also crucial, and can help you decide which adventure to choose in later modules. If troubleshooting coding bugs like tasty puzzles sounds fun, take the coding route, even if you’ve never seen yourself as a coder. If you just want to get through the application building process as fast as possible to move on to a different project, go for a software-based option instead. You may find yourself to be a prototyper, enjoying the process of building a project; or an optimizer, instead wanting to refine pieces until they are perfect. The best teams have both!

Consider sustainability at this stage. What will your project look like in five years?

Is there an app for that?

In the ever-evolving landscape of data visualization and technology, it’s essential to explore existing tools and applications before embarking on a new project. This not only saves time and resources but also allows you to benefit from the wealth of solutions that may already address your needs. Here are some ideas to help you determine if there’s an app or web visualization that aligns with your SDOH data visualization project:

  • Research Existing Solutions Start by conducting thorough research on existing data visualization tools and applications. Look for platforms that specialize in healthcare, public health, or social determinants of health. Consider both general-purpose visualization tools and those specifically designed for SDOH.

  • Collaborate and Network Connect with professionals in the field of public health and data visualization. Attend conferences, webinars, or join online forums where experts discuss SDOH projects. Networking can provide valuable insights into tools that have been successfully used in similar projects.

  • Evaluate Open Source Solutions Consider open-source visualization tools and frameworks. Open-source projects often have active communities and can be tailored to specific needs. GitHub and other repositories are great places to explore such solutions.

  • Consult with Peers and Stakeholders Reach out to colleagues, peers, and stakeholders involved in similar projects. They might have insights into tools that have proven effective in their work. Collaboration can lead to shared resources and knowledge.

  • Check for Integration Capabilities If your project involves integration with existing systems or databases, ensure that the identified tools have the necessary integration capabilities. Compatibility with data sources is crucial for a seamless visualization experience.

  • Consider Customization and Scalability Assess whether the existing tools can be customized to meet the specific requirements of your SDOH data visualization project. Additionally, evaluate their scalability to accommodate potential future expansions or changes in data sources.

  • Evaluate Cost and Licensing Analyze the cost implications and licensing requirements of using existing tools. Some applications may be free, while others might have subscription fees or licensing agreements. Factor in your budget constraints when making a decision.

By thoroughly exploring existing solutions, you can make informed decisions about whether to build from scratch or leverage the capabilities of existing apps and web visualizations for your SDOH project. Remember, a well-researched approach can lead to more efficient and impactful data visualization outcomes.

2.5 Finalize Approach

The field of project management is vast, interdisciplinary, and always growing. Here are some highlights that can go a long way in scoping your project effectively and finalizing goals In these steps, you’ll move from ideas to a concrete plan.

Define SMART Goals

You’ve already sketched out a few goals for your project, including an overview and SDOH-specific plans. Now let’s get specific. Establish SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals or similar criteria for the project to ensure clarity and effectiveness:

Specific: Clearly define the objectives and outcomes of the project.

Measurable: Set quantifiable metrics to assess progress and success.

Achievable: Ensure that goals are realistic and feasible within the project scope.

Relevant: Align project goals with the overall purpose and objectives.

Time-Bound: Define specific timelines for the completion of key milestones and the entire project.

Check out resources at the end of this module for more examples of SMART goals & resources.

Define Requirements

System Requirements Based on the inventory of your project assessment above, you’re ready to generate a list of system requirements. Identify major system capabilities (e.g. must use free or opensource technologies; must integrate new data contributed with approval), system assumptions or constraints (e.g. you will have access to colleagues for support; you have a limited budget and time to accomplish goals), user characteristics, and any other requirements.

Review your project needs, your own strengths, and stakeholder needs defined earlier in this module. You may find multiple templates online for ideas.

User Requirements Identify the goals for your intended audience. Be specific about the types of interaction you have in mind. Following are a number of potential options, with increasing complexity:

  • Implement a user-friendly interface with features like drop-down selection, click for pop-up windows, and storytelling to enhance access to information.
  • Ensure that users can easily explore relevant data points and insights related to social determinants of health (SDOH) within their specified areas.
  • Incorporate interactive elements such as sliders and number entry fields to allow users to input specific parameters, enabling a more personalized and focused exploration of the data.
  • Design the application to respond dynamically to user inputs, providing real-time visualizations and insights based on the selected criteria.

Word of the Day: Affordances

These user behaviors, like anticipated clicks or zooming to view, are called affordances in the design space. Affordances are clues that an object can be used to perform some action. If you see what looks like a button on the internet, you may want to click it. If you see a slider, you may want to slide it.

Designing products well take affordances into account. In this stage of planning, you’re engineering things so that your audience will know what to do intuitively, based on these visual cues. A deeper dive into the topic can be found at Smashing Magazine.

Break Down Details

Generate a Timeline

  • Develop a detailed timeline outlining the various stages of the project, from data preparation and analysis to application development and deployment.

  • Clearly define milestones and deadlines to track progress effectively.

Task Breakdown

  • Break down the project into manageable tasks and subtasks, assigning responsibilities to team members based on their expertise.

  • Prioritize tasks based on dependencies and critical paths to ensure a smooth workflow.

Process Documentation

  • Establish a systematic approach to document the entire process, including data preparation steps, analysis methodologies, and application development strategies.

  • Maintain a comprehensive record of decisions made, challenges encountered, and solutions implemented throughout the project.

Communication Plan

  • Develop a communication plan that outlines how team members and stakeholders will stay informed about project progress.

  • Define regular check-ins, status updates, and channels for effective communication within the team.

Enable Agile Processes

While there are many project management styles out there, we recommend approaches that allow for regular updates and revisions. The traditional “waterfall” method of developing a project on your own and delivering it one go is not realistic for complex spatial data visualization work about SDOH & Place, as you’ll miss crucial engagements and opportunities for improvement along the way.

We recommend embracing “agile” methodologies to foster flexibility and adaptability in project execution, especially the processes of iterative development and user-centered design.

Iterative Development

  • Implement an iterative development approach, allowing for continuous refinement and improvement based on feedback and evolving requirements.

  • Conduct regular sprint cycles to review and adjust project goals, ensuring alignment with stakeholder expectations.

User-Centered Design

  • Prioritize user feedback and engagement throughout the development process, incorporating user-centered design principles.

  • Conduct usability testing to gather insights into user preferences and refine the application interface accordingly.

By establishing clear deliverables and defining an agile and well-documented process, the project can proceed systematically and effectively, addressing the identified objectives and stakeholder needs.

Activity

Establish your final Project Requirements, based on the assessment completed in this module. They should include:

  • Your project overview
  • Your project goals & objectives
  • System Requirements
  • User Requirements
  • Timeline

Indicate which project management approach you’ll be adopting. Include a few sentences to describe your process and communications plan. This will be a work in progress, so feel free to update as you go!

Resources

For a deeper dive on topics discussed in this chapter, please check out the following. If you have a resource to add, feel free to suggest one by submitting an issue to our toolkit repository.