Trace Toronto

02 / 04

Overview

Making Progress Visible.

Trace Toronto is a civic dashboard designed to help residents stay informed about the city’s progress on public initiatives and infrastructure projects. By making government data more transparent and accessible, the platform aims to strengthen trust between the city and its residents while offering a clearer understanding of ongoing developments across Toronto.

Year

December 2025

Duration

10 Weeks

Type

Brand Identity

UX/UI (App)

Role

Branding Designer
UX/UI (App) Designer

Tools Used

Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign

Trace your city, Toronto.

Project Background

Public trust in government is closely tied to transparency, yet many citizens find it difficult to access or understand how decisions are made and how projects progress. While information exists, it is often fragmented, outdated, or presented in ways that feel inaccessible.

Trace Toronto was developed as a conceptual proposal addressing this gap. The project explores how a centralized, user-friendly platform could help residents track public initiatives, understand ongoing developments, and feel more connected to the city’s decision-making process.

Challenges & Goals

Challenges

The primary challenge was determining what information matters most to citizens and how it should be presented in a way that is both clear and approachable. Key challenges included identifying relevant and meaningful data for everyday users, structuring complex civic information into an understandable system, designing a platform that feels transparent and trustworthy and balancing a new visual identity while aligning with the city’s existing branding
Goals

The goal of Trace Toronto was to create a clear, accessible system that communicates government progress without overwhelming users. By aligning the visual language with the city’s established identity and prioritizing clarity in data presentation, the project aims to support transparency, trust, and long-term civic engagement.

Approach & Key Process

01 Context Discover

Research on Civic Transparency

Explored how Torontonians access and understand information related to government projects, identifying gaps in clarity, accessibility, and trust.

Comparative Research

Reviewed how other cities communicate public initiatives and present data to residents, examining best practices in transparency and public engagement.

Understanding the City’s Identity

Analyzed Toronto’s existing visual language and branding systems to ensure consistency and respect for established civic identity.

Target Audience

Identified key user groups, their expectations, and levels of civic engagement to better understand how different audiences interact with public information.

02 Direction Frame

Synthesizing

Experience Strategy

Established how users would navigate and interact with the system, prioritizing clarity, accessibility, and trust.

User Flow Design

Mapped user journeys to structure information logically and reduce cognitive friction throughout the experience.

Persona Development

Developed representative user profiles to ground design decisions in realistic behaviors and needs.

03 Design Develop

Concept Development

Translated insights into a cohesive concept that balances transparency, clarity, and civic tone.

System Design

Built a consistent design system including layout structures, typography, colour usage, and interaction patterns to support scalable information delivery.

04 Outcome Showcase

Mockup Creation

Iteration & Refinement

Final Outcome

Problem

How much do we really know about our city?

Governments often aim to be more transparent and communicative in order to build trust with citizens. However, this information is frequently shared through complex reports or academic papers that are difficult for the public to access or understand. Through research, this project identifies a gap between government efforts and citizens’ ability to clearly see, understand, and engage with civic progress—making trust and meaningful dialogue hard to achieve.

Message

Make progress visible.

The core message of Trace Toronto is to make civic progress visible and accessible to both governments and citizens. By visualizing progress, citizens gain a clearer understanding of the city they live in, while governments gain insight into public sentiment and lived experiences. This visibility becomes a foundation for stronger trust, communication, and collaboration.