Field notes on where neighborhood climate dashboards fall short

Field notes on where neighborhood climate dashboards fall short

I keep a running set of Community Data Field Notes about the practical side of civic data and public-sector product work, and one section digs into what neighborhood climate dashboards get wrong. The short version: many dashboards optimize for looking comprehensive rather than for helping a specific neighborhood partner make a decision. When the framing, headings, and accessibility choices assume a technical reader, the people who actually live with the climate risk get left out of the interpretation. My notes focus on writing for the reader in front of you, keeping the reading path clear, and making sure the data explains a real choice instead of just displaying everything at once. If you build or review these tools, the notes are worth a read.