Using Mapbox Studio for testing color overlay specifications with real data sets, Color Brewer for bivariate color recommendations, Balsamiq to define the UX and values, we gave our user the ability to easily identify clusters where population density and growth are (and will be) highest.
This design was an interesting challenge. The first challenge was to figure out the best type of mapping to visualize multiple density variables based on enumeration areas, together. We wanted our users to be able to get a sense of where clusters of census block groups existed with high or low levels, based on their selected demographic traits. I came across a super informative post about bivariate choropleth mapping, which sent me in the right direction.
One of the goals was to allow each of the two density map variables to be useful by themselves, but bolster their meaning when the other variable was turned on at the same time. The combination of two colors that would provide this value and still be differentiated was a challenge of itself. Next, much more testing was necessary for a few potential combinations to see what works the best with our existing data layers in our product. This is where Color Brewer and Mapbox Studio came in handy.
Once we understood the type of visualization we were going to use, I used Balsamiq to work through the UX and how this feature would fit into our user workflow.
As our product gets built out more, we continue to add more tilesets (map styles), so we need to do this process for each one that we selectively add.
Product info at: https://www.array-analytics.io/
