Vicky Zhou – Looking Outwards – 07

Studio NAAD is a design firm that focuses on data visualization and interactive design. “Peak Spotting” is one of their projects for Germany railway company, Deutsche Bahn, that helps visualize railway traffic for Germany’s daily passengers. Peak Spotting compiles together Deutsche Bahn’s entire network of load and capacity prediction, and integrates it with task management tools and customizable visualizations to create an accessible and easy to decipher map. This intelligible map allows passengers to plan out trips in advance and optimize their route, and allows conductors to coordinate trains and traffic. I really admire this project because it is difficult to convey the hectic and abundant amount of data that is a train system in an accurate and straightforward manner, especially in major cities such as Berlin.