Enabling Discovery of Climate Adaptation Resources
Adaptation Clearinghouse- California Governors Office of Planning and Research
- Geospatial Innovation Facility, UC Berkeley
Context & Problem
Climate adaptation efforts in California rely on a wide range of tools, guidance documents, funding programs, and planning frameworks produced across agencies and organizations. For state, regional, and local decision-makers, these resources were difficult to discover, compare, and apply in practice. Information was fragmented, buried in long reports, or scattered across disconnected websites — creating friction for practitioners who needed actionable guidance under real-world constraints like limited time, staff capacity, and regulatory complexity.
A central challenge was not a lack of content, but making authoritative adaptation knowledge usable for planning and implementation decisions
What the Product Is
The Adaptation Clearinghouse is a public, web-based platform that curates and organizes climate adaptation resources to support planning and implementation across California. It enables users to discover tools, guidance, and case studies through multiple exploration paths — including search, topic-based browsing, and planning phases — rather than forcing a single linear workflow.
A core component of the product is the interactive, web-based Adaptation Planning Guide, which translates a lengthy, policy-heavy print document into a navigable, task-oriented experience designed for use during real planning workflows.
My Role
As the designer and developer working closely with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, I:
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Led product and UX strategy to define how diverse users could explore and apply adaptation resources, based on early discovery discussions and review of comparable clearinghouse models.
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Designed and developed multiple discovery pathways, including keyword search and topic-based navigation, to accommodate different user mental models and entry points.
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Iterated on the interface through multiple rounds of stakeholder feedback, balancing usability improvements with alignment to California state web standards and institutional design expectations.
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Re-imagined the 200+ page Adaptation Planning Guide as an interactive web product, restructuring dense content into scannable sections using tabs, accordions, and summaries to support real-world planning use.
Impact & Outcomes
Improved Discovery Enabled planners and practitioners to quickly find relevant adaptation tools and guidance without prior knowledge of specific agencies or reports.
Usable Planning Guidance Transformed a static, print-oriented planning guide into a practical, web-based decision aid that could be used during active adaptation planning processes.
Public-Sector Alignment Delivered a modernized experience that met accessibility and state design standards while significantly improving usability.
Product Insight Reinforced the importance of treating policy content as a product - requiring user research, information architecture, and iteration - rather than as information to simply publish.
Product Showcase
