[No Lecture]

Week 7

Monday February 17th, 2025

A little purple fuzzy monster wearing a backpack stands just before a drawbridge, leading to a castle covered in flowers and confetti, with flags that say 'R' and 'Hi Friend!' flapping in the wind. A crow wearing a party hat is perched on a welome sign the start of the bridge and says 'SQUAAWK YOU CAN DO IT!'. A green fuzzy monster with a party hat stands on the opposite end of the bridge, in front of the castle, with it's arms outstretched.

Artwork by Allison Horst

Pre-class Prep

NA

Lecture Materials

There is no lecture this week!

Pre-discussion Prep

From here on out, we’ll be using discussion sections to share drafts of final project data visualizations and receive feedback from peers. Please complete the following before coming to section:

A. Prepare your data viz slide

HW #3, asks you to draft all three required visualizations for your chosen final project (HW #4) option. Find your assigned slide from the correct Google Slide deck (see table, under the Discussion Materials section, below) and add the following:

  1. one of your three visualizations
  2. the question that you’re using your visualization to answer

The visualization you bring should meet the HW #3 requirements (see #6 under the Description section) – this should be a well-constructed, carefully thought-through and polished plot. You should be prepared to discuss your design choices and receive constructive feedback from your peers.

B. Read up on how to give / receive feedback

Giving, receiving and implementing feedback is an important part of any creative process (including building data visualizations!). Review the tips in the drop down, below:

The following tips were largely adapted from this LinkedIn article.

For giving feedback:

  • focus on the strengths / weakness of the visualization itself, not the person who created it
  • balance positive and negative feedback, and start with the positives!
  • stay objective when suggesting improvements (e.g. “This part might benefit from some clarity…”)
  • be specific (e.g. instead of saying, “This chart is confusing,” point out exactly what is unclear or misleading)
  • suggest actionable solutions and / or alternatives, rather than only problems or criticisms

For receiving feedback:

  • receiving feedback can be stressful – this is a very normal feeling!
  • listen carefully without disrupting / defending yourself
  • take notes, ask questions, and thank your feedback giver(s)
  • evaluate your feedback objectively to decide what to keep / reject / modify

For applying feedback:

  • prioritize feedback based on relevance, importance, and feasibility
  • create a plan and a timeline to implement
  • critically evaluate / compare your before and after versions
  • seek new feedback!

Please also read the following articles on critiquing data viz:

Discussion Materials

Discussion Slides Exercise instructions Exercise solutions
D7 slides: critiquing data viz NA NA
Google Slides for the 1pm Section & 2pm Section NA NA

Assignment Reminders

Assignment Type Assignment Title Date Assigned Date Due
HW Homework Assignment #3 Tue 02/11/2025 Tue 02/25/2025, 11:59pm PT