The After the Flood Playbook is how we record and improve our methods. The playbook is a catalogue of interchangeable, constantly updated frameworks and processes that can be used to solve any problem you have. Currently running at 63 entries, we split categories into roughly three areas:

1 – Understanding

Key to any work we do is understanding your users or your organisation. Our methods for this include:

Novice and Expert

We ask questions of the user base with the basic assumption that people know stuff or do not, that people have time to engage or do not – and so forth. ‘Novice and Expert’ allows us to ask the big questions of your audience. It is especially useful in work for the public as people will be turned off if your content messaging presupposes too much knowledge.

Organisational Cartography

Mapping the differing parts of the business and the relationships between them. We believe that any analytics work will have many different customers within a company – not just those procuring it. By understanding these different needs we can create a product that engages this diverse and demanding audience.

2 – Data

After the Flood builds software and media that is enabled by data. Methods for understanding your data include:

Data Audit

How does your company use data? What decisions does it need to make? Where is the data kept? These and many questions are answered in the Data Audit. Data is the main material we will be building with, be it an internal analytics project or a website for the general public. We seek to understand what data you have and also what you may need.

Making New Data

A current project (launching in 09/2012) is taking our clients current data set – also available to the whole market – and creating new insight from it. By understanding the questions that their customers were really asking, we wrote some new algorithms which in turn made new data that will now feed what will be a totally original data product. (Case study coming up after launch)

3 - Design

The design phase includes many methods to produce something truly original and importantly, doable.

Rapid Prototyping

Software such as Tableau allows instant visualisation of your data, but a successful product also needs to be relevant to the customers needs. Our rapid prototyping methods allow beta versions of analytics systems in a few weeks, using a cycle of quick build, feedback and iteration.

Video Direction

Video is not cheap, but by maximising the best use of good people, we can make excellent media at effective costs. Lessons learned include the best use of scriptwriters and expert advisors, timing the input of sound design and a design feedback loop that allows for constant iteration and visible results.

The above are just a few of the methods we can bring to bear on solving your data- communication issues.

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