The situation
StrengthsAsia is a Singapore-based coaching company built around Soundwave, a proprietary framework for understanding how people communicate: how much they speak and listen, whether they advocate or question, and how these patterns may change under pressure. Reports are one of the main ways participants encounter the framework, but they are not always read in the same context. A senior stakeholder may scan a report during a live briefing, while an individual participant may return to their results later and explore them in greater depth.
The design therefore needed to support two different reading experiences. The reports had to communicate key findings quickly during presentations while providing enough context for more considered, personal reading. The existing documents contained the necessary information, but dense pages, inconsistent hierarchy, and variations between print and digital layouts made that information more difficult to navigate.
"Because the reports function as both working tools and visible expressions of the brand, their clarity and consistency needed to support the credibility of the underlying framework."
Where we focused
The project began with benchmarking across comparable assessment reports and data-visualization systems. The objective was to understand how other complex documents manage the balance between density and clarity, while recognizing that Soundwave’s particular communication model required its own visual solution.
The research considered two primary readers:
- Senior stakeholders, who encounter the briefing report during a live session and need to identify the most important findings quickly.
- Individual participants, who spend more time with the Voices report and need to understand how the information relates to their own communication profile.
The product analysis highlighted three opportunities: establishing a clearer hierarchy between primary findings and supporting detail; creating a shared visual language so that both documents felt like parts of the same system; and developing a chart capable of representing the Voices framework’s particular data structure..
What we prioritized
- Progressive hierarchy. Each page begins with its most important finding, while supporting information remains available for readers who want to explore the result in greater depth.
- One system, two documents. A shared type scale, chart language, and color-coded legend connect the short briefing report with the longer Voices assessment.
- Format flexibility, tested not assumed. Every layout was evaluated for both A4 printing and digital reading rather than treating one format as an adaptation of the other.
How the work took shape
The benchmarking research informed a bespoke chart designed specifically for the Voices framework. Existing chart types could not communicate all the relationships within the assessment clearly, so the visualization was developed around the structure of the client’s data and the way the results are explained during coaching sessions.
The system was then applied in two phases: a two-page briefing report for live presentations and a 38-page Voices assessment extending the same visual language across a more detailed and personal document.
before
after
What changed
The briefing report was approved and introduced into StrengthsAsia’s sessions. The longer Voices report applies the same visual system across 38 pages, allowing participants to move between overview, interpretation, and detail without losing their place in the document.
Both reports were tested in print and on screen. The resulting system gives StrengthsAsia a more consistent way to present the Soundwave framework while helping different readers engage with the level of detail most relevant to them.
