[Video Link for Email/Other Subscribers - 7.5min]
SAP recently released its 3rd annual sustainability report online, and wow is it cool. Okay, the only reason I’m sharing this with you is because of my love for interaction and information design. If you watch the introductory video above or visit the website, you’ll see what I mean. The example proves its worth for any type of bundled info. Here are the key aspects:
- Global navigation is on the bottom of the screen instead of the top. Presented as a persistent bar, submenu items appear in a new bar above with large icons and a corresponding graphic.
- Interacting with complex datasets is possible through Flash, and produced with Flex (Adobe).
- Feedback in comment forms are possible in various webpages through stakeholder (user) profiles. A dedicated section for feedback allows users to select the areas they feel most important to them. Collective input analysis is done by server side scripts to then display feedback from the audience.
The first aspect is something not many designers are accustomed to, because they’re usually accustomed to websites with persistent global interfaces that sit at the top and left. However, for subsites or specialty bundled information -this rule can be happily broken 
The last two aspects are much more difficult to implement because 1) Flex application development can be very expensive requiring specialists that aren’t easy to come by, and 2) Feedback mechanisms beyond passive commenting with forms (usually blogs), require an organizational openness to actively soliciting feedback (high psychological barrier) and will need a user profile and display system (moderate difficulty to implement).
Where they messed up though is not including a link to the online report in the YouTube video description! Lol