ExcelinEd is a leading voice in education policy, and their Math Matters initiative is at the forefront of improving student outcomes nationwide. To move the needle, they needed more than a static website; they needed a high-performance advocacy tool. Partnering with the visionary designers at Tremendousness, Peaceful Media was brought in to engineer a custom WordPress platform that transforms dense legislative data into a clear, compelling visual narrative.
Project Overview
Deliverables
Website - Front End
Website - Back End
Case Study Details
The Plan
Our strategy was to transform Tremendousness’s sophisticated designs into a high-performance advocacy engine. The plan centered on three pillars: Data Integrity, User Intuition, and Client Autonomy.
Working within a tight development window, we mapped out a custom WordPress architecture designed to handle a massive matrix of data (15 policies across 50 states). We planned a “Mobile-First” logic for the interactive elements to ensure legislators could access vital data on the go, and prioritized a backend build using Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) so the ExcelinEd team could manage their own data rubrics without ongoing technical support.
Results
We delivered a polished, fast-loading, and data-rich experience exactly on schedule for ExcelinEd’s annual National Summit.
- Interactive Cartography: A dynamic, color-coded SVG heat map that serves as the site’s primary navigation, allowing users to jump from national trends to state-level specifics in two clicks.
- State-Level Precision: 51 custom-templated pages (50 states + D.C.) that automatically pull policy grades and implementation recommendations into a clean, readable layout.
- Accessibility: The platform was rigorously tested for color-blind accessibility and screen-reader compatibility, ensuring the mission reaches every advocate and policymaker.
- Performance: Successful QA across all major browsers (Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox) and mobile operating systems.
Conclusion
The Math Matters site is more than just a portfolio piece; it’s a functional tool for legislative change. By “humanizing the complexity” of policy data, we helped ExcelinEd and Tremendousness create a resource that clarifies best practices and highlights critical gaps in the American education system. This project stands as a testament to what is possible when visionary design meets intentional, “Peaceful” engineering.
Tech & Tools
- CMS: WordPress
- Customization: Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Pro
- Interactivity: Custom JavaScript & SVG Mapping
- Forms: Gravity Forms
- Email Marketing: MailChimp Integration
- Hosting & Deployment: Nexcess & WP Migrate
- QA: Cross-Browser/Device Manual Testing
18
Years in Business
215
Projects Completed
405
Clients Served
80,000,000
Users Engaged
54,000,000
Sales Generated
