Framing A One Data Vis A Day Challenge

Earlier this evening, I somewhat half-heartedly challenged @jayjacobs that he & I should be generating one data visualization per day. I didn’t specify anything else (well, at least that I can disclose publicly, for now) but I think I’m going to try to formalize a bit of the ‘rules’ before I get some shut-eye:

– The datavis _must_ be posted to either one of our blogs (i.e it and the data behind it must be shareable). Alternative: we setup a blog just for this.
– The data behind the datavis _must_ also be public data and either referenced or published with the datavis.
– The datavis _must_ answer a question. No random generation of numbers for a lazy bar chart, etc. Said question must be posed with the datavis and (hopefully) a bit of a short story/explanation with it and the datavis in the blog post.
– The datavis cannot be a blatant repeat of a previous datavis.
– The datavis does not have to break new ground (i.e. bar charts are #spiffy).
– The datavis _must_ be open for comments.
– There are no restrictions on what tools/languages can be used (i.e. Jay can cheat and make Tableau robocharts).
– There are no restrictions on the type of data being analyzed & visualized. Ideally, it will be from infosec or IT, but restricting it to those areas might make the challenge more difficult (the ‘public’ bit).

I’ll sleep on that and, perhaps, reduce the requirement to one per week after talking to Jay again this week.

Your thoughts & input on this challenge are most welcome in the comments, especially if you want to suggest things we can visualize. Also, feel free to volunteer to join us in this, once we start it.

Cover image from Data-Driven Security
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4 Comments Framing A One Data Vis A Day Challenge

  1. David F. Severski

    A nifty idea! I’m not sure my schedule will permit active participation right now, but I’m definitely interested in at least reviewing and commenting on what you create.

    David

    Reply
  2. Jay Jacobs

    I’d be all for the “One Data Viz a Week” challenge. Doing one a week will allow for data collection, some thoughtful analysis and some revisions (and oh yeah, and a life perhaps!) Plus, with a week to prepare, we’d be more likely to push beyond our comfort zone. I could see signing up for that. Another rule may be that it must be created that week, no releasing of previously unreleased work (as that was my first thought of gaming the system).
    What kind of duration are you thinking of? It might be nice to put a time frame around this, like “52 weeks of dataviz” or something like that.

    Reply

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