Designing the WHO's Global Traditional Medicine Dashboards
Updated: Sep 26
When the World Health Organization ran its third global survey on Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine (TCIM), the responses came from 194 invited member states, each with its own policies, systems and priorities. The survey had 64 main questionnaire items, up from 39 in the previous round, covering governance, workforce, facilities, products and service delivery. My job was to make that data something policymakers and researchers could explore, understand and act on.
This project was made in collaboration with Kai Analytics, who led the survey and research work. I was responsible for the overall design of the dashboards including the UI, the navigation, the UX and the data architecture behind them, while making sure everything followed WHO's approved brand guidelines.
Starting with the data architecture
A dashboard is only as usable as the structure underneath it. Given the scale of questions and data from participating countries, the data model had to support two very different ways of asking questions. Some users wanted the global picture, such as what percentage of member states have a national TCIM policy while others wanted to see how one country compares with its region.
That led to two connected dashboards: a global dashboard for aggregate results, filterable by region and member state, and a country profile dashboard showing each member state's capacity indicators against its region. I structured the data so both views could draw on the same source and the numbers stayed consistent and users could drill down without losing context.
Designing for people who aren't data specialists
The audience included health ministry officials, researchers and policy advisors. Many would never have opened a dashboard like this before. I worked from one principle: the user should never wonder where they are or what to do next.
Navigation: The dashboards are organised by topic, so users can move from the introduction to areas like physical infrastructure and TCIM facilities without hunting for them. Filters and drill-downs behave predictably from page to page and the structure mirrors how policymakers think about the subject. Rather than how the questionnaire was built.
UX: The introduction page gives new users the history of the survey and the extent of the data before they reach a single chart. It sets expectations about what the dashboard can and cannot tell them, which matters when the numbers may inform national policy.
UI: With dense, multi-layered data, I kept the visual design clean and consistent so that each chart answers one question clearly. Every page follows the same layout logic, so once users learn one page, they can read them all.
Staying true to WHO's brand
The dashboards carry the WHO's name and are used at the international level, so brand compliance was essential. I created custom colour palettes and fonts to follow WHO's branding guidelines, and the graphs and charts were built to follow the same guidelines. The result is a tool that reads as an official WHO product and stays legible to a global audience.
Respecting sovereignty in the design
Presenting data for nearly 200 countries carries a responsibility beyond aesthetics. The maps and regional views were built so that sovereign borders and territories were shown in line with UN accords and the team worked with WHO to make sure every country was represented respectfully.
Beyond the Dashboard
Alongside the dashboards, a case study report was published with details of the survey, the results and acknowledgements to everyone who contributed. You can read it here: WHO Global Report on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine 2024.
The Outcome
The dashboards were presented at the first WHO Global Summit on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Gujarat, India. They now give stakeholders ongoing, real-time visibility into national policies, regulatory frameworks and the integration of TCIM services. The underlying research also helped inform the WHO's traditional medicine strategy for 2025–2034.
For me, this project is a good example of what I care about most: turning complex data into something people can read, understand and act on.
Explore the live dashboards:
It was an honor to contribute to a survey at a global level and a joy to collaborate with the team at Kai Analytics.
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