For decades, universities have collected mountains of internal data to demonstrate their value, spanning graduate outcomes, research incomes, widening participation, and more. Yet, what has often been missing is a way to see the whole picture of how a university contributes to the wellbeing of its place, community and neighbourhood. Too often, data is fragmented, buried in departmental silos, or presented in ways that fail to connect with the wider civic agendas. As a result, civic impact is hard to evidence, harder to compare, and nearly impossible to benchmark in ways that are meaningful for decision-making.
The landscape is shifting. Universities are under increasing pressure from funders, government, and their communities, to show not only what they do internally, but how they shape the places they are rooted in. Traditional metrics of success don't capture this. But now, the Civic Impact Dashboard brings together publicly available data into a single, interactive tool, designed specifically with Higher Education Institution (HEI) staff in mind; where they previously had to piece together data across multiple systems – without a clear way to contextualise what it means, or to compare themselves with peers – the Dashboard enables users to:
- access and consolidate data that was previously scattered or inaccessible across domains of the Civic Impact Framework
- interpret university and place data side by side, creating new insights into how civic contributions connect to local needs
- benchmark against similar institutions to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for collaboration
Following the successful launch of the first working prototype of the NCIA Civic Impact Dashboard in March 2025, user feedback came through several channels including an online form, direct emails, and analytics data. However, it was limited, so a user feedback workshop took place in July inviting HEI staff to identify how they navigate the dashboard; where they feel confident, confused, or lost; and which data feels most or least useful.
User-centred Design
User-centred Design (UCD) is an iterative process, which seeks to centre 'users' and their 'needs' in the design process, targeting product development towards solving a clearly defined set of issues for a defined set of users.
Adira Andlay presenting the Civic Impact dashboard at CiviCon25
In developing the dashboard, we recruited a small user testing group of HEI staff across England – with a range of roles, seniority, and experience in using data – to understand university impact. Their involvement led to:
- Subject Matter Expert (SME) interviews, to help identify which data was most important for assessing impact across the seven civic domains.
- a data dictionary in both visual and detailed formats, capturing potential metrics, sources, and definitions in one place.
- wireframing based on a UCD approach to test and refine how the dashboard should look and function, so users could explore university and place data side by side.
Based on the feedback, key information and design priorities were mapped against the dashboard objectives. These included areas of redevelopment, focused on:
- clarity of information design, simplifying how graphs are displayed, from the number shown on each screen to the data within them, to make insights easier to read and apply to university contexts.
- clearer purpose and use cases, setting out when and how the dashboard should be used, and by which types of HEI staff, so its value is better understood.
- more intuitive interactivity, moving to a tab-based navigation system, supported by clear visual and motion cues such as icons and buttons.
- shared language, defining key terms such as analysis and impact more clearly, and showing how data from the dashboard can support meaningful interpretation and action
The Civic Impact dashboard 2.0
The Civic Impact Dashboard is a data visualisation tool which supports HEI staff to understand and explore the civic contribution of their university to their local area. Many HEIs already collect internal data about the impact of their programmes. The dashboard can supplement this activity by:
- improving access to publicly available data, consolidating it in a single place. This supports universities to evaluate their impact and identify priorities for their places.
- to help university staff understand their institution's progress against the seven civic impact domains and how this might relate to local conditions or compare to other universities. Ultimately, it shows them where they stand and helps them identify which areas need more attention and investment to increase their future impact.
The dashboard doesn't show causation, and although the word 'impact' is debated, it brings together many data sources in one place for easier analysis. The end use of the dashboard is to display university and place data in ways that allow users to gain deeper insights into the relationships between universities and their local places.
Helping universities measure impact
At a time when universities are being asked to do more with less, civic partnerships are not optional, they are critical to social innovation in the education space. Yet 'civic' claims must be backed by evidence, and present actionable steps. The Civic Impact Dashboard therefore offers a timely intervention: a tool that makes visible what has long been invisible – and in doing so, helps institutions make better choices about where to invest their energy for the greatest civic good.
The Civic Impact Dashboard v 2.0 has been developed by Adira Andlay, Jessica Redmond, Jenna Fowler, Buket Konuk-Hirst and Dr Al Mathers. With thanks to the user testing group, the second iteration of the dashboard is now live in prototype form, fully interactive, downloadable, and ready for experimentation.
For decades, universities have collected mountains of internal data to demonstrate their value, spanning graduate outcomes, research incomes, widening participation, and more. Yet, what has often been missing is a way to see the whole picture of how a university contributes to the wellbeing of its place, community and neighbourhood. Too often, data is fragmented, buried in departmental silos, or presented in ways that fail to connect with the wider civic agendas. As a result, civic impact is hard to evidence, harder to compare, and nearly impossible to benchmark in ways that are meaningful for decision-making.
The landscape is shifting. Universities are under increasing pressure from funders, government, and their communities, to show not only what they do internally, but how they shape the places they are rooted in. Traditional metrics of success don't capture this. But now, the Civic Impact Dashboard brings together publicly available data into a single, interactive tool, designed specifically with Higher Education Institution (HEI) staff in mind; where they previously had to piece together data across multiple systems – without a clear way to contextualise what it means, or to compare themselves with peers – the Dashboard enables users to:
- access and consolidate data that was previously scattered or inaccessible across domains of the Civic Impact Framework
- interpret university and place data side by side, creating new insights into how civic contributions connect to local needs
- benchmark against similar institutions to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for collaboration
Following the successful launch of the first working prototype of the NCIA Civic Impact Dashboard in March 2025, user feedback came through several channels including an online form, direct emails, and analytics data. However, it was limited, so a user feedback workshop took place in July inviting HEI staff to identify how they navigate the dashboard; where they feel confident, confused, or lost; and which data feels most or least useful.
User-centred Design
User-centred Design (UCD) is an iterative process, which seeks to centre 'users' and their 'needs' in the design process, targeting product development towards solving a clearly defined set of issues for a defined set of users.
Adira Andlay presenting the Civic Impact dashboard at CiviCon25
In developing the dashboard, we recruited a small user testing group of HEI staff across England – with a range of roles, seniority, and experience in using data – to understand university impact. Their involvement led to:
- Subject Matter Expert (SME) interviews, to help identify which data was most important for assessing impact across the seven civic domains.
- a data dictionary in both visual and detailed formats, capturing potential metrics, sources, and definitions in one place.
- wireframing based on a UCD approach to test and refine how the dashboard should look and function, so users could explore university and place data side by side.
Based on the feedback, key information and design priorities were mapped against the dashboard objectives. These included areas of redevelopment, focused on:
- clarity of information design, simplifying how graphs are displayed, from the number shown on each screen to the data within them, to make insights easier to read and apply to university contexts.
- clearer purpose and use cases, setting out when and how the dashboard should be used, and by which types of HEI staff, so its value is better understood.
- more intuitive interactivity, moving to a tab-based navigation system, supported by clear visual and motion cues such as icons and buttons.
- shared language, defining key terms such as analysis and impact more clearly, and showing how data from the dashboard can support meaningful interpretation and action
The Civic Impact dashboard 2.0
The Civic Impact Dashboard is a data visualisation tool which supports HEI staff to understand and explore the civic contribution of their university to their local area. Many HEIs already collect internal data about the impact of their programmes. The dashboard can supplement this activity by:
- improving access to publicly available data, consolidating it in a single place. This supports universities to evaluate their impact and identify priorities for their places.
- to help university staff understand their institution's progress against the seven civic impact domains and how this might relate to local conditions or compare to other universities. Ultimately, it shows them where they stand and helps them identify which areas need more attention and investment to increase their future impact.
The dashboard doesn't show causation, and although the word 'impact' is debated, it brings together many data sources in one place for easier analysis. The end use of the dashboard is to display university and place data in ways that allow users to gain deeper insights into the relationships between universities and their local places.
Helping universities measure impact
At a time when universities are being asked to do more with less, civic partnerships are not optional, they are critical to social innovation in the education space. Yet 'civic' claims must be backed by evidence, and present actionable steps. The Civic Impact Dashboard therefore offers a timely intervention: a tool that makes visible what has long been invisible – and in doing so, helps institutions make better choices about where to invest their energy for the greatest civic good.
The Civic Impact Dashboard v 2.0 has been developed by Adira Andlay, Jessica Redmond, Jenna Fowler, Buket Konuk-Hirst and Dr Al Mathers. With thanks to the user testing group, the second iteration of the dashboard is now live in prototype form, fully interactive, downloadable, and ready for experimentation.
