Chart Challenge Sampler

About this project

In April 2024, I took on the challenge of participating in the #30DayChartChallenge for one week. Each day presented a new prompt featuring a different topic, chart type or data type, pushing me to explore various data visualization techniques.

All my visualizations were created in Excel. References for data sources are given at the bottom of each visual (where applicable)

Day 2 | Comparisons | NEO

undefined For my first chart, I did some research and learned that NEO was an acronym for Near Earth Objects and found a data source courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech. I used an Excel bubble chart to be able to visual three (3) dimensions: X-axis = time, Y-axis = relative velocity (km/s) and bubble size = largest predicted size.

Day 3 | Comparisons | MAKEOVER

For the makeover, I went back to a visualization I had created for an analysis of my kids' LEGO® collection (A data-mom's look at her kids' ever growing LEGO® collection). For the makeover, I focused on turning a very stylized tree-map / waffle chart into a more traditional waffle chart. While I liked both, this makeover helped reinforce for me that each had their place. The stylized original worked in the overall context of the larger one-pager but the makeover was less cluttered and more likely to be understood as a stand-alone visual.

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Day 4 | Comparisons | WAFFLE

undefined Day Four CATegory was waffle cats... I mean waffle charts. 😊 After doing a more traditional waffle chart as part of Day 3 | Makeover, I was inspired to go a little more fun here. These really are my cats. And my friend really did point out this insight... and now there's data to back it up.

Day 5 | Comparisons | DIVERGING

undefined For this one, I went back to an analysis I did almost exactly 2-years ago for the Maven Remote Work Challenge (What has the pandemic taught us about the future of remote work?). I was interested in revisiting this data because it gave the chance to put all the different types of household structures reported in the survey onto one chart for ease of direct comparison (my original analysis was interactive for an exploratory approach). This barbell chart was a fun option to show the difference (or divergence) in average hours reported working for remote versus onsite days.

Day 6 | Comparisons | OCED

undefined For this prompt, source data from The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED) was provided. With my background in process improvement in healthcare settings, I was intrigued by the Waiting Times data and had hoped to do a comparison between countries. However, I noted in the source data there were notes applied to the entries for some countries that indicated "definition differs". This flagged for me that comparison may not be appropriate, so I instead focused on just Canada and created this slope chart to compare the waiting times for the different types of surgeries reported.

Day 7 | Comparisons | HAZARDS

undefined This chart ended up being a testament to persistence. Originally, I had selected a different data set and spent hours cleaning it and trying to massage it into a meaningful insight. but ultimately none of the 15 variations I had explored felt impactful. So, I took a break and finished watching the F1 race with my son and was inspired to create this one. F1 is a sport with many hazards, and I found myself wondering how often races finished without any DNFs (did not finish). Here's my answer to that question.

Day 8 | Distributions | CIRCULAR

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I had never made a circular distribution before, so this was exciting to work through. Shout out to Brennan Giroux for helping me with the math for how to calculate the position of the points. This was created in Excel using a bubble chart and shows estimated time of maximum totality and duration of totality of today's eclipse as it moves through select cities along Canada's east coast.

Day 9 | Distributions | MAJOR / MINOR

undefined For today's challenge, I leaned into my music knowledge to look at the major / minor keys or modes for the songs on the billboard top 100. The theme is intended to evoke the natural and accidental keys on a piano... or handbell... if you happen to be a handbell ringer like me!