Fast Data

It has been awhile since I last posted on here, but it seems it might be a good time to dust this thing off and write again. I think 2020 has definitely been different than what anyone expected. Personally, it has been a time for more self-reflection and it has caused me to really appreciate the things that I’ve taken for granted. Things as simple as having a meal with a friend or family member.  Hopefully once we get out of this, we’ll be people who are more grateful and more kind . That’s something the world needs more of, especially, now. As for the blog ... what topics are you interested in? What data or non-data things would you like to see?  I find a lot of the data stuff I’m doing nowadays is all related to work, but I’ll try to share more of that here. So many exciting things happening in the world of data ... new tools, really creative ways of sharing data stories, more blending of dashboards and apps, and so much more. And, it’s going to be very interesting to...

Just came across this cool graphic from Visually : "A useful chart was put together to serve as a guide when working with data visualization. Look at it as a “What is Data Visualization?” guide.  Depending on which way you angle the infographic, you will get different results. It all depends from what angle you wish to showcase your data." Very cool. :) Explore more visuals like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually .

I'm not sure why it took me so long to find it, but I just stumbled upon the book, " The Sketchnote Handbook " by Mike Rohde. It's something I've always enjoyed doing without even knowing what it was called. We've all doodled at one time or another ... most likely, when we were younger. Sketchnoting is super helpful when you're trying to jot down the big ideas instead of every detail. Plus it's fun to use images as it's something we naturally connect with more than just words. Even though I'm not a great artist by any means, I love the way Mike shows how anybody can "sketchnote"! This book is a fun read and it's very visual so you won't get bored ... I promise. :) Recently, I went to a workshop about this new data analytics platform called Paxata . It's interesting to see data preparation tools like this coming into the market. As every analyst knows, most of the time is spent cleaning up the data and preparing ...

Really enjoyed this video from Accenture and Al Boardman on Visual Literacy .  Visualization is becoming more and more common as people recognize the value it provides in understanding and exploring data. Check it out! Accenture - Visual Literacy from Al Boardman on Vimeo .

I don't know if it's me, but it seems like data visualization is becoming a very popular space. One way to do that is through the use of infographics . While most infographics are static, there's definitely an opportunity to make interactive infographics with the varitety of tools that are available. I came across this infographic that shares the " 10 Rules That Make An Infographic Cool, Effective and Viral. " Found it to be helpful and just wanted to pass it along. Enjoy! Information + Story + Design = Infographics How To Create A Unique Infographic?

Wow, didn't even think it was possible, but I actually won the Crowd Favorite in the T ableau Social Media Viz Contest ! Thank you to all who checked out my twitter feed viz and for those of you who voted for me!! Really appreciate it! Be sure to check out all the amazing entries ... so much creativity and talent.  Keep on doing incredible work!! :)

One of the wonderful things about Tableau is that you can always find a new way to do something. Even though I already submitted my entry for the Social Media data viz contest, I wanted to use waffle charts that I found here . I modified the waffle charts slightly - it's fun to try using circles instead of squares just to give it a different look. Waffle charts aka square pie charts work well for summary information, but the downside is that they take up a lot of space on the screen. The hardest part was being able to provide a global filter across multiple data sources. And I found out that the only way to really do it is to use a parameter which does require both data sources to have a common field. Big props to Jesse Gebhardt for the help with getting the parameter option to work with these waffle charts! And for providing the template for creating waffle charts in Tableau. This viz breaks down the four groups (Apps, Buffer, Social, and Web) by weekday %. Thought it'...

Tableau is holding another viz contest , this time using any type of social media data. Since I've been tweeting a lot more lately, I thought it'd be very interesting to analyze my own tweets and of course, to enter the contest. :) Twitter makes it super easy to download an archive of all of your tweets (you can request this archive in the settings of your twitter account). Once I downloaded the data, I ended up grouping my tweets into four main categories: Apps - iOS & Android apps such as Flipboard, Zite, YouTube, etc.  Buffer - One of my favorite sites for spacing out your tweets according to a set schedule. I've been using it quite frequently (http://bufferapp.com). Social - Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest Web - Websites that I let tweet for me, the majority of them were done via a "Share button." Some interesting pieces of data that I found after analyzing my tweets: I have a total of 4,540 tweets since I began using twitter in August 20...