I’ll be honest, Tableau is still a little difficult for me. But I learned how to make different types of charts and rework data sets, and I'm the most proud of figuring out the barbell chart. I want to expand on what I learned by leaning more into filters and interactive elements. At first, I wasn’t sure what would be possible to do with Tableau, but I’ve learned that nothing is really too ambitious. I have concepts that I want to expand on and turn into full projects with Tableau charts.

I also learned to concept sketch, which has been one of the most useful skills I’ve picked up from class. Sketching has never come naturally to me, and I usually don’t map out a project before I start. But concept sketching has been a massive help in the design process, because I can see what’s working and what isn’t, what can be expanded on, and more inspiration as I work. It’s something that I’m going to use for other projects going forward, for sure.

I learned that data visualization can take on pretty much any form, and I had a pretty close-minded view of what counted as data visualizations before this class. Seeing Oliver Uberti’s work was really col, and his project pushed me to be the most creative I’d been all semester. I didn’t think I would be good at visualizing data because I pictured it as scientific illustrations, but it’s a more creative and fun field than I ever imagined .