sara normanni
work
about
get my cv
M4PS - Interactive Map for Municipio 4, Milan
Domain
Map Design, UX/UI Design, Systems Thinking
Timeline
2025
My Role
UX/UI and Visual Designer
Team
Sara Normanni, Municipio 4 Milano & Odd Studio
Context
Municipio 4 is a highly diverse urban area of Milan, with over 200,000 residents and a dense ecosystem of public institutions, non-profits and local initiatives. Despite the abundance of territorial data, information was fragmented across sources, making coordination and informed decision-making difficult.
Problem
Too many datasets, too many actors, no shared system.Territorial information was scattered, non-standardized and hard to access, limiting collaboration between policy makers and third-sector organizations and slowing down urban and social regeneration processes.
Approach and Solution
M4ps is an open-source interactive map designed as a governance tool to centralize, explore and connect territorial data.
1
Data & Research: Integrated multi-source datasets (urban planning, public services, green areas, unused spaces, OpenStreetMap) and identified gaps requiring standardization.
2
Co-design Process: Organized a participatory focus group with 33 stakeholders from the Municipality and third sector to map needs, data priorities and desired functionalities.
3
User-Centered Design: Developed personas, user journeys and wireframes based on real use cases, from policy planning to community projects.
4
System Design: Structured data into interrogable macro-categories, enabling filtering, comparison and layered exploration.
5
Open-Source Framework: Built a replicable, documented system adaptable to other municipalities and territories.
Impact
1
Transformed fragmented data into a shared, navigable knowledge system.
2
Enabled stakeholders to identify underused spaces, fragile areas and service gaps more efficiently.
3
Supported evidence-based decision making through interactive layers, dashboards and exportable visualizations.
4
Strengthened collaboration between institutions and local actors by offering a common, transparent tool.
Learnings
1
Urban data becomes actionable only when it is designed around real user needs, not just availability.
2
Participatory design is essential in institutional tools to build trust and adoption.
3
Scalability and clarity are key when designing systems meant for governance and public impact.
4
UX/UI can act as a bridge between complex policy data and everyday decision-making.
next project
sara normanni
work
about
get my cv
M4PS - Interactive Map for Municipio 4, Milan
Domain
Map Design, UX/UI Design, Systems Thinking
Timeline
2025
My Role
UX/UI and Visual Designer
Team
Sara Normanni, Municipio 4 Milano & Odd Studio
Context
Municipio 4 is a highly diverse urban area of Milan, with over 200,000 residents and a dense ecosystem of public institutions, non-profits and local initiatives. Despite the abundance of territorial data, information was fragmented across sources, making coordination and informed decision-making difficult.
Problem
Too many datasets, too many actors, no shared system.Territorial information was scattered, non-standardized and hard to access, limiting collaboration between policy makers and third-sector organizations and slowing down urban and social regeneration processes.
Approach and Solution
M4ps is an open-source interactive map designed as a governance tool to centralize, explore and connect territorial data.
1
Data & Research: Integrated multi-source datasets (urban planning, public services, green areas, unused spaces, OpenStreetMap) and identified gaps requiring standardization.
2
Co-design Process: Organized a participatory focus group with 33 stakeholders from the Municipality and third sector to map needs, data priorities and desired functionalities.
3
User-Centered Design: Developed personas, user journeys and wireframes based on real use cases, from policy planning to community projects.
4
System Design: Structured data into interrogable macro-categories, enabling filtering, comparison and layered exploration.
5
Open-Source Framework: Built a replicable, documented system adaptable to other municipalities and territories.
Impact
1
Transformed fragmented data into a shared, navigable knowledge system.
2
Enabled stakeholders to identify underused spaces, fragile areas and service gaps more efficiently.
3
Supported evidence-based decision making through interactive layers, dashboards and exportable visualizations.
4
Strengthened collaboration between institutions and local actors by offering a common, transparent tool.
Learnings
1
Urban data becomes actionable only when it is designed around real user needs, not just availability.
2
Participatory design is essential in institutional tools to build trust and adoption.
3
Scalability and clarity are key when designing systems meant for governance and public impact.
4
UX/UI can act as a bridge between complex policy data and everyday decision-making.
next project
