Planning the Full Journey of Your Insights

Your insights deserve more than a PDF.

by Gabrielle Merite, Founder of Figures & Figures

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31% of World Bank policy reports are never downloaded (based on 2014 data*)

Not once. That's hundreds of research papers, data analyses, and policy recommendations sitting unread in digital archives. Worse, 87% were never even cited anywhere. Reports aren’t the only ones affected, we see a similar tendency towards scientific papers deemed too hard to read, and we, through our clients, have experienced similar attitudes towards lengthy business analytics reports.

Why are we still using yesterday's distribution model?

We see it all the time in our work with organizations. Brilliant researchers and communicators spend months analyzing data, crafting recommendations, and packaging everything into a comprehensive report or scientific paper. Then what happens? The PDF gets uploaded to a website, maybe gets a tweet (sorry an X?) or two, and... silence.

We're stuck in a distribution model from yesterday. Meanwhile, our audiences have moved on. People consume information through TikTok, Instagram stories, interactive websites, and many more different formats. They live in an ambiance of information. And they expect information to be accessible, engaging, and available on their terms.

There isn’t one way to share data anymore. There is a need for a multichannel communication strategy, one that encompasses all media types.

Rethinking the Information Flow

Insights should be approached like a universe of knowledge, where stories flow through multiple channels simultaneously. Each piece – whether it's a tweet, an interactive data visualization, or an in-depth analysis – should work as a standalone story while contributing to a larger narrative.

Each piece should work independently while reinforcing the others:

The Quick-Access Stream

Before anyone dives into a report, they need to know it exists. This is where social media bite-sized insights become crucial - not just for awareness, but for impact.

That World Bank statistic above? It works as a tweet, an infographic, or the hook for this newsletter. Each social media insight should be able to stand alone while inviting deeper exploration. It's about meeting people where they are, with insights they can immediately grasp and share.

The Narrative Stream

This is probably the most popular (although not the most used!) format these days: Scrollytelling articles, video explainers, and long-form blogs that guide audiences through complex ideas, with key charts and vanity numbers, without overwhelming them. Think of those as the bridge between quick insights and deep analysis.

The Interactive Stream

Data resonates most when it speaks to personal experience. Interactive dashboards and exploration tools let users find their own story in the numbers, discovering patterns that matter to them specifically. Like a choose-your-own-adventure for data.

The In-depth Stream

Full reports, technical documentation, and methodology papers serve as definitive references. They're no longer endpoints, they are a part of a larger ecosystem.

These parallel streams create a natural flow - from social media spark to narrative deep-dive, from interactive exploration to comprehensive documentation. It is not about choosing between rigor and reach. It's about creating multiple pathways that let each audience find their own way to our insights.

Building a transmedia journey for your insights

At Figures & Figures, clients often come to us for a single deliverable - a report design or campaign. But we challenge them: "What if we thought bigger?”

Instead of designing one report, we often end up developing a data visualization campaign identity or data visualization guidelines that empower organizations to tell their story consistently across all channels. We help them build frameworks that scale: from social media data templates that maintain rigor to interactive dashboards that align with their report materials.

Don’t know where to start? Envision the story you want your audience to embrace, then work backward - what streams do you need to build today to make that narrative resonate and spread?

And if you need help, let’s start a conversation.

*Doemeland, Doerte; Trevino, James. Which World Bank reports are widely read (English). Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 6851 Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group.