/ 01 — Case study

Bahamas National Statistical Institute

BNSI — National Statistics Portal

Redesigning how a nation finds, reads, and trusts its official data.

The Bahamas National Statistical Institute is the country's official source for census, economic, and social data. I redesigned its public portal so that anyone — from a policymaker to a student — can find, read, and trust national statistics without needing to be a data expert. As the lead UX/UI designer, I restructured the site's information architecture and visual language so official statistics finally feel as credible and usable as the institution behind them.

Overview

A look across the redesigned BNSI portal — from the homepage through methods & standards and the newsroom. Click any screen to view it in full.

Homepage · top
Homepage · continued
Methods & Standards
News & Announcements

/ 01 — Overview

Problem

National statistics were spread across dense, hard-to-navigate pages. Finding a specific publication, understanding a term, or interpreting a chart took real effort — and the experience didn't reflect the credibility of the institution behind it. Many people gave up before they found what they came for.

Solution

A clear, hierarchy-driven portal built around how people actually look for data: a homepage that surfaces headline indicators, a searchable publications library, an interactive data dashboard, and plain-language support pages (glossary, FAQ, legislation) that make the numbers legible and trustworthy.

/ 02 — Project details / at a glance

Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
Client
Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI)
Product
National statistics web portal & data dashboard
Users
Policymakers · Researchers · Businesses · Students · Journalists
Tools
Figma
Timeline
2024 · ~10 weeks

/ 03 — My focus

Designing for
clarity,
and trust.

My focus was making official data approachable without diluting its authority. That meant a strong information hierarchy, consistent patterns across every page, and support layers — a glossary, FAQ, and legislation context — that let non-experts interpret the numbers with confidence. I owned the information architecture and the core page templates end to end, from the homepage down to the support pages.

/ 04 — Who it's for

Many audiences,
one source of truth.

The portal had to serve very different people looking for the same thing: reliable numbers they can act on.

01

Policymakers

Need headline indicators and official reports to shape and defend national decisions.

02

Researchers & Academics

Dig into detailed datasets, methodology, and historical series for analysis.

03

Businesses

Track economic and labour-market indicators to plan and invest with confidence.

04

Public, Students & Journalists

Want quick, understandable answers and context they can cite and share.

/ 05 — The work

Finding & reading the data

The core of the portal: a searchable publications library, an interactive data dashboard, and the legislation that gives the numbers their authority. Tap any screen to view it in full.

Publications librarySearchable, filterable reports by topic, year & category.
Data dashboardThemed charts, each with its source and latest update.
LegislationThe statutory foundation and governing documents.

Understanding & staying informed

Support pages that make the data legible for everyone — a plain-language glossary, a topic-grouped FAQ, and a clean template for announcing new findings.

GlossaryEvery key term defined in plain language, A–Z.
FAQCommon questions grouped into popular topics.
News / press releaseA readable layout for releasing new data and reports.

/ 06 — Key decisions

Decisions that
built trust.

A few choices shaped how credible and usable the portal feels.

01

Led with headline indicators

Surfaced the four most-requested national figures on the homepage so value is visible in seconds.

02

Made publications searchable, not scattered

Replaced loose PDF links with a filterable library organised by topic, year, and category.

03

Paired every chart with its source

Each dashboard figure shows its source and last-updated date, making data citable and trustworthy.

04

Added a plain-language support layer

A glossary, FAQ, and legislation context let non-experts interpret data without specialist knowledge.

/ 07 — Outcome

A portal the
nation can trust.

The redesign turned a dense repository into a portal built around real questions — where headline data is instantly visible, publications are findable, and every number carries the context to be understood and trusted. Wayfinding is simpler, publications are searchable in a few clicks, and the portal now looks and behaves like a source a nation can rely on.

/ 08 — Reflection

The hardest part of statistical design isn't the charts — it's trust. Getting people to believe a number means showing where it came from, what it means, and why it matters. On BNSI, the real design work was building that credibility into every screen.