THE CHALLENGE

The site had to deliver a large amount of information to an audience that ranged from industrial experts to curious children and nature enthusiasts.

OUR APPROACH

We crafted a series of small chapters, each consisting of bite-sized interactive moments and in-depth articles. We figured out early what our creative technological fidelity could be and crafted a story and UI to work with our technology. Our iterative and prototype-driven approach allowed us to refine the narrative and interaction over time to create the most engaging way of storytelling.

I. TECHNOLOGY

An immersive story crafted from iterations of prototypes.

This site is a single-page scrolling web-application that features interactive text, video, photos, data, illustrations and 3D renders woven together to engage the reader and vividly show the expedition team’s journey into an active volcano. To make this site a truly immersive experience, it was critical for us to understand where we could flex our tech and push our boundaries. Our design and tech teams worked simultaneously, designing and developing prototypes using Sketch, ThreeJs, ES6 modules with Babel, Webpack, and SCSS.

II. STORY

Telling the story of a nation of people.

We wanted to craft a story that would inspire our audience, have them empathize with the people of Masaya, and understand the threat of living next to an active volcano. We wanted the site to feel like a conversation, where the more the visitor engages, the more we give, thus allowing a sub-section of the audience to dive into specific areas of interest.

III. CONTENT

Curation and purpose as guiding principles for what content should go where.

The Quake expedition team captured video and photo assets from the volcano, spanning fifteen 8TB hard drives. By curating the media content and data visualizations, we created a story that immersed the audience into the shoes of the explorers themselves.

IV. DESIGN

Creating a system that elevates what’s around it.

Design was leveraged in this project to help accentuate the story. Designing a experience with UI that would animate and direct the user where to go. Design also allowed users to understand what things could be “deep-dived” into.

Navigation and way-finding was always top of mind, letting our users understand where they are, in the larger narrative. A design language was then crafted to ensure consistencies across the different moments and content that we encountered.

THE OUTCOME

Site has won mad awards - including a webby.
The numbers are legit. Average site time ~3 mins and bounce rate of 20%. People Scroll.

Radical ideas need radical builders and there is no better team on the internet suited for making magic than the Gin Lane crew

- Sam Olstein,
Global Director of Innovation, GE