Last year I made a resolution, and I’m generally not one for resolutions because I simply don’t keep them. The resolution I made was to participate in all 52 weeks of Makeover Monday. By now, I’ve talked about Makeover Monday numerous times, and how I feel about it in regards to my development in using Tableau.
Well, it’s true. It was awesome.
Looking back, I want to share my 5 favorite vizzes I created as part of the Makeover Monday community in 2017.
#5 – Overview of LATAM Youth Unemployment
To date, this is my one and only “Viz of the Day” as picked by the folks who oversee Tableau Public. I was humbled and honored by this and being almost mid-year of Makeover Monday is we extra fuel to carry on to the end of the year.
#4 – The Decline of Drinking in the UK
This viz was the only one (I think) that was featured on the Makeover Monday blog as a “highlight”. Again, I was humbled and honored to be recognized by Andy and Eva.
#3 – 100 Years of the National Park Service
I’m a big fan of national parks, so this viz finds itself on the list. Things I like about it; the color palette which was pulled from their logo and branding. The dual axis area/line chart turned out really nicely using that color combo. The bar charts the are floated in the area chart, while there i no axis, I really like the way it turned out, and the tool tips give you the pertinent details.
#2 – California Wheezing – Ozone Levels in California
This viz illustrated one of the many things i learned this year which is, when dealing with a large data set, look for the story, and if you can’t find the story, try and make it personal. I did this on several occasions this year, but I was really happy with the story I ended up telling. I lived in California for a couple of years when I was really young, and I know that the air quality has always been a struggle out on the coast. The rest, as I say, is in the viz.
#1 – BCA – Overview of Our Friendly Built City (Singapore Accessibility)
The other thing I learned about this year was feedback and iteration. I submitted this viz to the Makeover Monday review webinar and Eva has made mention that she thought that hovering over the “hidden sheet” which was revealed by interacting with the map. Taking her suggestion, I had to make a couple of changes within the interactivity, but ended up with what I think was a really cool, and really interactive viz.
So, what do I do in 2018 to continue to grow and evolve my Tableau “Bag of Tricks”? No resolutions this year, but I do have some viz goals that I’m going to share here.
- Continue to participate in Makeover Monday
- Start to participate in Workout Wednesday, and if that project doesn’t continue, go back and do the 2017 exercises.
- Continue to dedicate time to Viz for Social Good and other Data Volunteerism activities
- Develop my own style. That is, there are some great developers in the community whose work you see and it is recognized as “theirs”. I’m currently all over the road stylistically, so I want to bring some consistency to what I create
- Continue and expand my blogging (more to come on this in January!)
- Speak as often as possible, whether it’s at the local Cleveland TUG, surrounding area TUGs, Tableau Fringe Festival (Applied for EMEA TFF) or even TC18 (Stretch Goal).
- Attend TC18.