The International Food Policy Research Institue needed a custom web application for its researchers. Their goal was to deploy data visualization tools which would allow researchers around the world to collaborate online to consolidate their findings.

The researchers are dispersed geographically but needed to be able to compile their data into a shared dataset. Various academic technology protocols and platform requirements meant that we could not assume the researchers would even possess a common operating system.

Providing IFPRI with data visualization tools under these conditions required an unconventional solution. After all, they needed their visualization data available for websites, presentations, and sometimes even print. We proposed that they could use a combination of Google Docs and Google Charts to first aggregate and then display their data. However, it wasn't a simple solution to execute.

The end result was a PHP application that broke the data visualization process down into a few easy steps. First, researchers attach their Google spreadsheet. Second, they enter any information they want to accompany the chart. Last, they set parameters for the visualization. The app then generates a modular Google Chart, using the spreadsheet as a data source. The embed code is auto-generated, and the researchers are ready to deploy their data visualization anywhere.