Surveillance Watch
Mapping what's hidden: How Payload powers the Surveillance Watch initiative
We've tried a couple of headless platforms, and Payload stands out with the right balance of features to improve both the admin and the developer experience.
The impact of Payload
Payload not only met but exceeded the needs of both Humaan and Surveillance Watch.
Zero client training
Surveillance Watch’s team picked up the admin interface and managed the content independently, eliminating the need for time-consuming training sessions.
Faster developer onboarding
New developers at Humaan were up and running with Payload within hours, accelerating the project timeline and reducing onboarding costs.
Reduced costs, delivery time
Humaan experienced reduced hosting infrastructure costs and delivered the project in half the time typically required for traditional website development.
Surveillance Watch sought to elevate a substantial body of raw data into an engaging, interactive data visualization experience.
In an era where data privacy is paramount, they needed to find clear and incisive cut-through for their messaging—by leveraging a headless CMS platform that could enable and breathe life into their data, effectively conveying the depth of relationships and insights uncovered.
Taking on this ambitious challenge, forward-thinking web development agency Humaan turned their Payload experience towards delivering a world-class outcome.
THE CHALLENGE
Bringing raw data to life
Surveillance Watch needed a solution that could seamlessly transform complex data into an intuitive, interactive experience.
A need for flexibility
The project demanded a content management solution that wouldn’t lock them into rigid structures. Surveillance Watch’s raw research data was constantly evolving, and the agency needed a platform that could adapt as they designed on the fly, without introducing technical debt.
Balancing control and simplicity
Previous headless CMS options either burdened the project with unnecessary features or required significant work—Surveillance Watch required a CMS that provided robust customization without the overhead of unused functions.
Smooth authoring experience
The data visualization control on the backend had to be not only powerful but also easy for the client to manage without extensive training. Surveillance Watch needed a platform that was intuitive enough for non-technical users to operate independently.
THE SOLUTION
How Payload and Humaan empowered data transformation
Humaan leveraged Payload’s flexibility and developer-friendly features to build a bespoke, interactive data experience for the Surveillance Watch initiative.
Modern content management
Using Payload, Humaan was able to efficiently build a complex project that separated the content engine from the presentation layer, ensuring a dynamic content structure that would support Surveillance Watch's evolving visual experiences.
Customizable and lightweight
Payload's out-of-the-box control and customization features enabled Humaan to start the project with minimal overhead. The platform was unobtrusive, allowing the development team to focus on the unique needs of Surveillance Watch without being bogged down by unnecessary features.
Enhanced user experience
With Payload, Surveillance Watch’s team could dive into an elegant authoring experience without any formal training. The simplicity of the Payload admin UI ensured that only essential tools were visible, putting making content management on easy mode.
Letting the data speak for itself
Humaan and Surveillance Watch turned raw data into a dynamic, interactive experience with Payload running behind-the-scenes.
The platform allowed Humaan to focus on creating a compelling visual experience that highlighted the intricate relationships between surveillance companies and the entities they support.
Surveillance Watch now has a modern website from front to back, showcasing their research in a manner that is both impactful and simple to manage, helping to bring greater awareness to issues that might otherwise remain hidden.
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