Some tools are built to inform. Others are built to drive action.
At Sol, we believe that design can—and should—be a catalyst for change. That belief came to life through our partnership with the National Center for Disaster Preparedness and Columbia Climate School, supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, to create the Climate Finance (CliF) Vulnerability Index.
The CliF Vulnerability Index is an interactive dashboard that helps policymakers, funders, and advocates understand which nations are most vulnerable to climate shocks—and most underserved by global financing systems. It uses four forward-looking climate scenarios to assess 188 countries, identifying 65 high-risk “Red Zone” nations where limited access to finance compounds the risk of disaster.
Bloomberg spotlighted the CliF Vulnerability Index in their story “Declining Climate Funding Spurs Index of Most Vulnerable Nations,” elevating its potential to guide climate finance strategies at a global scale.
For our team at Sol, this wasn’t just another data platform. It was a chance to help translate complexity into clarity—turning massive datasets on climate risk and financial fragility into a tool that is easy to use, understand, and act on.
“The team at SolDesign Company was the ideal partner to bring the Climate Finance Vulnerability Index to life,” said Jeff Schlegelmilch, Director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness. “They translated complex data into an intuitive, user-friendly interface, and consistently showed adaptability—listening closely to understand our needs and responding to shifting data, updates, and feedback with speed, skill, and a truly collaborative spirit.”
Our Role
We led the interface and user experience design, making sure the platform was accessible to a wide range of global decision-makers—from policymakers to funders and advocates. Through close collaboration with researchers and economists, we aligned on key principles:
- Make complexity intuitive: We designed filters, visualizations, and interactive maps that allow users to navigate across timelines, climate scenarios, and financial metrics with ease.
- Ground the experience in equity: Many of the most at-risk nations have contributed least to global emissions. The platform’s structure reflects that reality— prioritizing usability for those most affected.
- Design with purpose: Every color, chart, and label was selected to elevate action, not overwhelm. We believe good design makes critical insights impossible to ignore.
Sol Reflections
To bring this project to life, Sol’s Director of Technology Kathie Trinh, supported by Marie Wendel, contributed deep expertise in web development while Creative Director and Partner, Scott Zettergren, brought his design acumen to the table.
Kathie noted how meaningful it was to transform such complex data into something the world could not only see—but truly understand: “It was a pleasure to collaborate with NCDP again for the CliF Vulnerability Index. From a technical standpoint, Marie and I were tasked with transforming complex data into an engaging, interactive tool and it was a rewarding creative and technical challenge. This project gave me insight into the vulnerabilities many countries face and am proud to help make that information more accessible.”
For Scott, the project was an opportunity to create design that transcended boundaries: “Designing a UI for a global audience is always a dream project—but seeing this one resonate so widely has been especially rewarding. It reminded me why we do this work.”
This collaboration was more than a design challenge—it was a shared commitment to equity, data transparency, and collective action. We’re honored to have worked alongside brilliant minds in policy, research, and philanthropy to bring this tool to life.
→ Explore the tool for yourself
