Case Study: Palantir Cyber Timeline Infographic

I was tasked to work on a unique Customer Experience project that would act as an internal advocate and educational experience for VIP visitors.

Goals & Objectives

Create a wall-mounted collateral piece that would, to outside visitors, raise awareness for the cyber capabilities of Palantir's software and workflow - an area which affects almost all of Palantir's partners. Furthermore, the installation would act as a conversation starter for building partnerships with clients that haven't found a solid solution for their cyber needs.

Audience & Research

I identified the audiences that would engage with this piece based on the goals outlined: C-Suite executives, Technical Leaders, and VIPs that would be visiting the Palantir Headquarters. The installation was to be placed just outside the main Executive conference room in the waiting area. This area allowed Palantir executives and their guests a chance to gather and mingle prior to high-level meetings. Based on some research, I made some general profiles of what might be expected from each user.

• C-Suite: Mostly interested in the broad scope of what a timeline would look like for a cyber breach and its resolution. What is the overall process? How long would it take?
• Technical Advisors and Experts: Already knowledgeable with cyber cases, and would be interested in seeing the details of a Palantir engagement. The timeline would show them an accelerated resolution compared to the norm.
• VIPs: Mostly interested in a broad scope of what Palantir does and a description of what a cyber breach is and how it's resolved.

Working with stakeholders at Palantir, I engaged multiple individuals from Business Development to Cyber Security to acquire the data and storylines needed to create this piece. I acquired an actual timeline based on a real-world cyber breach that Palantir had brought to resolution to assess what the timeline might look like. Based on my audience research, I worked with the Cyber team to break down the event into broader phases for the VIP and the C-Level user. Also, due to client-confidentiality, we anonymized the specific details of the data, yet maintained the integrity of the actual timeline to show accuracy.

Prototypes

I devised three visions of how the data could be visualized: Calendar view, Timeline view, and List view. I presented the concept views with my stakeholders, but to me it was clear that the Timeline view could best cater to the various users we were targeting. I saw that this view would allow for a broad general view on one level as well as a detailed view that was visualized on a timeline to show the scale of time.

Design & Iteration

After reviewing the dimensions of the wall, I worked on determining the optimal physical size of the project. I wanted a thicker, glassy material for an upscale look and selected materials from our vendor. I built a custom template based on the size of the project in Illustrator. Due to size material limitations from the vendor side, I had to cut the design template into two pieces and orient the layout to align with the cut line that would exist. I began sourcing and inputting the anonymized information into my design, then started adding in typography and a color palette based on Palantir's brand guidelines. I used a spectrum of color to represent each phase, with the red-orange range aligning with the more critical events, and the blue-green range aligning with healing and the cooldown period. I also entertained using photography and texture elements within the design, but ultimately I decided the piece felt more timeless without those elements. And because the layout was heavy on type, I pursued a simpler and cleaner look using thin lines and simple icons to allow the data to reveal the story.

Results & Response

After the installation was completed and in use for a few months, this project was able to achieve the goals set out from the beginning. It resulted in starting up the conversation about Cyber for many clients, and led to new business for our Cyber product. Duplicate versions were also requested for the New York City office as well as some other prominent areas of the Palo Alto office to increase its reach.