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IMI Policy Labs

Interactives and experiences for better policy

Policy decisions involve tradeoffs that are hard to argue in the abstract, but easy to understand once we feel them. We build interactive tools and games to broaden public understanding of complex systems and the policies that govern them.

Our sandboxes and games are illustrative examples, not predictions. We combine our research with AI tools to prototype, build, and rapidly iterate. Read more about our development process below.

The labs

The Mobility Mayor sandbox: fee and parity controls down the left, a map of D.C.’s eight wards shaded by service quality in the middle, and outcome figures for wait time, fare, revenue and equity down the right.
Policy sandbox Live

Mobility Mayor

You’re the mayor. Set caps on autonomous vehicle fleets, the per-mile fee, the per-trip fee, and whether every ward gets service parity – and see how each impacts trip costs, equity, wait times, and city revenue across all eight wards.

What it shows Why a fleet cap and an equity mandate may pull in opposite directions, and why the answer depends heavily on one number operators don’t disclose.
Open the sandbox →
The Testimony Tracker dashboard: counters reading 143 witnesses and submitters, 101 backing the bill, 31 opposed and 369 policy asks, above a stacked bar splitting support from opposition.
Dashboard Live

Testimony Tracker: AVs in DC (July 2026)

Analysis of every witness testimony and available written testimony for the DC Council's Committee on Transportation & the Environment hearing related to B26-0684.

What it shows Breakdown of stakeholder support, opposition to, and proposed amendments on one of the most sweeping AV bills introduced in any U.S. city or state.
Open the dashboard →
DC Courier gameplay: the rider heads up a green bike lane down the middle of a four-lane street, rowhouses on both sides and the Washington Monument ahead. The heads-up display shows papers left, block 9 of 25 between NoMa and the Hill, and the score.
Game Live

DC Courier

You're a bike courier delivering goods in four DC neighborhoods, based on real street designs: painted bike lanes, no bike lanes, two lane roads, and four lane roads. Avoid double-parked delivery trucks, right hooks, and doors.

What it shows Safety for vulnerable road users is heavily influenced by the built environment and driver behavior.
Play the game →
The first district of Vision Zero Defense in plan view: Franklin Boulevard running east–west through a pixel-art neighbourhood of row houses, corner shops, a school, a playground and a dog park, with traffic and people on the streets.
Strategy game In development

Vision Zero Defense

A tower defense game where the towers are safety interventions. Choose between chicanes, traffic circles, curb extensions, and other tools to reduce speed and make the neighborhood safer for families.

What it shows There’s no silver bullet for safe streets, but there are many compounding solutions.
In development

How we build these

Every experiment starts with a complex technology or policy, and a question: can we help people understand this better and inform thoughtful decisions?
  1. Identify a knowledge gap. We're interested in advancing public understanding about topics related to safety, livability, or opportunity.
  2. Understand the core mechanics. We research the problem that needs to be addressed, the range of solutions, and the tradeoffs that could be better understood.
  3. Build the prototype. We decide on whether to build an interactive dashboard or immersive experience, then use artificial intelligence tools to rapidly prototype and iterate. Before AI, an initial prototype would've taken weeks or months, but we can test several hypotheses in hours.
  4. Refine for impact. Testing and refinement is the most important part of our development process. We thoroughly evaluate each experiment for its educational value, how enjoyable it is to use, and how plausible it is before it is released to the public.
  5. Share with the world. When a completed experiment meets IMI's standards, it is made freely available to the public on this website. In the interest of advancing this medium, we plan to write articles about some experiments that didn't pan out and explainers of our development process.

Use these in a classroom

Everything in Policy Labs is free, requires no account, and (should) run in a browser on a Chromebook. If you teach planning, public policy, civics, or related disciplines, you’re welcome to use these however you like – no permission needed.

In the future, we hope to build teaching notes and discussion prompts for each experiment. If you’d like them as they’re finished, or you want to tell us what would make these more useful in your classroom, get in touch.

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