Global Forest Watch
Scaling a global forest monitoring platform.
Overview
Redesigned the dashboard for 2M+ users and unified 65+ datasets—supporting community monitoring programs linked to a 52% deforestation reduction
Global Forest Watch is a real-time forest monitoring platform that makes satellite data usable for action. It spans a web experience and Forest Watcher, an offline-first mobile companion for field monitoring in remote areas.
“Global Forest Watch is transforming how the world monitors forests with near real-time deforestation data.” ⎯ The Guardian
Role: Senior Product Designer
From early product to scalable ecosystem
Core Contributions:
- Dashboard Concept & Private Workspace: Reframed the dashboard as the main starting point and designed a private area where users could save, manage, and revisit their work.
- Offline-First Field Tooling: Shaped Forest Watcher as a resilient offline companion for low-connectivity contexts, supporting reliable monitoring and reporting in the field.
Product Journey Milestones
01
Scaled the early GFW experience to support different user needs, including a private area where users could save, manage, and revisit their work.
02
Prioritised action-oriented signals (alerts + fire) and designed scalable visual patterns that remained readable across regions and data granularities.
03
Created Topics Pages to explain what each topic means, why it matters, and how to interpret the data without needing expert context.
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04
Results
Results that strengthened both the platform and the ecosystem
Dashboard used by 2M+ people
Made the dashboard a clearer starting point with faster orientation and stronger narrative cues, so users could act without deep map expertise.
65+ datasets accessible through the same dashboard page
Enabled cross-dataset comparison in one place, helping users validate signals and build stronger narratives from multiple sources.
52% less deforestation in 1 year (with Indigenous communities)
After 36 Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon used satellite-based alerts from Global Forest Watch, deforestation rates dropped by 52% in one year.
6,000+ downloads of Forest Watcher (built for offline use)
Designed for on-the-ground monitoring, Forest Watcher supports teams operating in low-connectivity contexts, turning forest alerts into actionable work in the field.
