COVID-19 ushers in the era of 'data simulation'

Rather than being limited to policy wonks and first responders, simulations ... a critical way for individuals to understand complex concepts and examine the impact of their decisions... more than just inform ... help users build empathy for others...

"Why Outbreaks like Coronavirus Spread Exponentially.” ... helped Americans understand how important social distancing was in slowing the spread of COVID-19... most viewed page of all time on The Washington Post...

experience data differently ... Rather than passively consuming information, we’re immersed in the outcomes ... help readers build up their intuition ... experiences unfold as stories i... stories are sticky, memorable, and invoke a sense of empathy ...

People of the Pandemic game combines local demographics, exponential spread, hospital capacity, and the consequences of individual decision-making into a rapid multiplayer game... drives home how your decisions... contribute to a collective whole ...

modeling a virus, not the virus ... Still, seeing plots and graphs implies a certain “truthiness” ... If we’re not straightforward about uncertainty... that models may over- or underestimate... COVID-19, people may not trust science in the future ... be very clear about our assumptions ... visuals from simulations are shared outside of that broader context ...

individuals ... tend to conflate forecasts and simulations ... we decided to [create] a game – so that there’d be no mistaking the simulation as a forecast ...