Tech research and ethics, data visualization, UX/UI design, and writing professional.
In September 2020, the New York Times published a story that revealed what Donald Trump had long been trying to hide: in the first year of his presidency, he had paid just $750 in taxes.
Based on an idea from a friend, I came up with the concept of a calculator that would show you just how much more you paid in taxes than the former President. Within hours of the story’s publication in the Times, my collaborator Kyle Ogilvie and I launched the Trump Tax Calculator.
We quickly wrote the copy—not trying to do anything nuanced, just communicating the point as clearly as possible. Then, we built out a one-page web app in Javascript that would provide individual outputs. Finally, we added ActBlue donation links for critical Senate races. Within 3 hours of coming up with the idea, it was live.
We raised over $3,500 for Senate races in key swing states. And the next day, Joe Biden’s campaign team put up their own calculator. I guess imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery.