The Lab Manual
Connecting Research and Policy With a One-of-a-Kind Website
Visit The Lab Manual
category
Design & UI
Digital Engineering
Research & Strategy
capability
Figma
Mapbox
Markdown
industry
Higher Education
Municipalities & Government
How do you empower government officials to leverage scientific research in their work? That’s the goal behind The Lab Manual, a Pew Charitable Trust-funded project inspired by creator and author David Yokum’s work with The Policy Lab. The Lab Manual encourages the gathering of scientific evidence to inform public policy, providing a how-to guide on topics ranging from setting up a policy lab to collaborating with researchers. Since nothing quite like The Lab Manual existed, the organization needed a site unlike any other on the web — and Oomph delivered an immersive experience that makes research approachable and engaging for users.
THE BRIEF
The goal of the site was to create a well-organized hub for a trove of resources that had been previously provided in one-off conversations. He also knew that those resources would only continue to grow, making it important to build a living site that appealed to public officials and future funders alike.
Together, we architected a vision for The Lab Manual website, identifying the essentials for launch and features to phase in later. Key goals included:
- Creating an interactive experience with tools that readers could use directly in their work
- Infusing the site with visual creativity and storytelling elements to make complex research topics more digestible
- Launching a minimum viable product (MVP) site within the desired timeline and budget, while planning for future growth
THE APPROACH
Oomph knew we had to look beyond traditional government and research sites to achieve The Lab Manual’s unique digital goals. We conducted in-depth stakeholder discovery sessions and scoured websites across industries, from data-rich websites like FiveThirtyEight to e-reader apps like Kindle, to gather inspiration for the features The Lab Manual needed: engaging long-form content, strong visual storytelling, and interactive data. Then, we engineered a website for The Lab Manual that felt like a dynamic guided journey.
Telling a Story Through Design & Development
A Narrative-Driven Homepage
To captivate users from their first click, we created a storytelling-focused homepage that concisely explained The Lab Manual’s mission and resources. Animated elements also helped make the page feel more immersive than a traditional linear scroll. We mocked up the animations directly in Figma so the client could see, rather than imagine, the user experience — saving time and effort during the development process.
Custom Educational Features
Oomph designed the website to be thought-provoking, but The Lab Manual wanted to leave readers with answers — not more questions. Our designers and developers collaborated to build features that helped readers understand content without interrupting the story. Key features included a linked glossary to expand on key terms used throughout the site; a pop-up search for other terms and topics, rather than relegating additional information to the footnotes; and a map created with Mapbox to help visitors find nearby policy labs.
Simplified Content Management
Despite the complexity of its content, The Lab Manual needed to be simple to manage. Our developers built a CMS-less solution the client could edit using Markdown, making it easier and more cost-effective to update content as The Lab Manual grows.
THE RESULTS
Bridging Science and Policy, Now & For the Future
With a solid MVP in place, we are already seeking new features and content opportunities to serve The Lab Manual’s growing user base. The website has quickly caught the eye of the industry, winning a GDUSA Digital Design Award. For The Lab Manual, though, the real win is bringing what was once a lofty vision into reality — a resource that provides government officials with the tools to create effective, evidence-based policies.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
