Dear data

When it comes to data, plenty of people think of it as zeroes and ones deep inside the matrix. In fact, data is everywhere. Almost everything can be recorded as data. 

Louis recently published an article about data he’d found on his phone’s notes app, that allowed him to chart his wife’s contraction times leading up to the birth of their daughter Isabel. From his visualisation, you can clearly identify the moment where they would need to leave for hospital – the “Go zone” – even if nature ultimately conspired to lead them down a more eventful (but happy!) path.

We recently came across a project called “Dear data” which is a year-long, analogue data drawing project by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec, two award-winning information designers living on different sides of the Atlantic. 

Over a year, they collected and measured a particular type of data about their lives. For example, every time they looked at the phone, or their emotional journey over the course of a week. Then they drew on a postcard and sent it to each other.

You’ll be amazed by how the data can be turned into beautiful patterns. 

I was inspired by them and try to draw my own pattern of data

My job is making data visualisation for clients using Power BI and Tableau. I recorded the number of times I used Tableau or Power BI and the purpose of using it for three days.

Tableau usage is on the top, while Power BI is at the bottom with dotted lines. Each flower represents a purpose, and I added a petal each time I used it. 

• Black flower = data transformation

• Grey flower = measures

• Orange flower = chart

• Purple flower = table

The visualisation shows how I use these tools, and you can see Power BI has been used more heavily recently. This is a perfect way for non-data experts to start working with data. This is also a journey of self-discovery; once you pay attention to a particular topic, you’ll gain insight to an aspect of your life that might often be neglected.

We encourage everyone to give this a go – it’s a fun exercise and you might just discover the beauty of data!

We specialise in data visualisation at White Box

We can help illuminate your data so that you can make the right, unbiased decisions for your organisation.

As your partner in data visualisation, we’ll help you to realise the full potential of your data and maximise your business success through advanced and innovative solutions that make all the difference.

Get in touch today for your free data strategy consultation.