dan-hill 
The 2,000-mile border between the United States and Mexico divides the city of Naco. With this interactive map, users try to draw the line that splits the city, based on data on population and unemployment.
The Story Behind the Project
The town of Naco straddles Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, and the border defines its past and present. Dan Hill, a Northwestern University graduate student, was fascinated by the differences between the barriers – both real and imagined – between both sides. The border game that he designed uses data from the Mexican and U.S. Census.
Dan’s project won the best insight team project award at Chicago Migrahack. Judges said that the game was a “fun, intuitive tool that engages the user and challenges assumptions.” They liked that the simple presentation took a current meme (GeoGuesser) and added an education element.
Judges – and Migrahack participants – also were impressed by Dan’s persistence. All of his team members had dropped out by Saturday evening, but Dan forged onward through the night and Sunday morning. As the judges said in their comments, “Sometimes, collaboration is all about just showing up.”
mary-beth-meehan 
migrahack 
