The famous week finally arrived. The task for the last week of training at the Data School is straightforward: everyone gets the same dataset and has to present a dashboard at the end of the day. There is vast room for creativity. However, this was not very straightforward for me. After two days of struggling with ideas for my dashboard and producing a reasonable output in due time, things got better on the third day.
Today we got a dataset on gender pay gap in the UK from gov.uk. The data was good enough to use without too much data prep. Instead of jumping directly into prep and trying to connect to external data as I did the previous two days, I took time to clearly understand the data. Then I tried to figure out some questions I would like to answer with this. This made a huge difference in how I managed my time today. In general. I would advise to spend at most 2 hours on data prep, if needed. Next try to sketch a dashboard to answer the question(s) you want to answer and then start your visualization. Here is how I managed my time.
How I planned my day (6 hrs)
- Kickoff - 30 mins
- Data exploration & preparation - 2hrs max
- Brainstorming & visualization - 1.5 to 2hrs
- Dasboarding - 1hr
- Presentation rehearsal - 30 to 45 mins
- BREAK!!! (Don't forget) - Ofcourse this comes in between the tasks.
I pushed myself to stick to this schedule today and things turned out much better at the end. I didn't get enough time to prepare and rehearse my presentation but it was still ok. I was quite happy with my dashboard. Remember, the team and convo are always available for help and even for brainstorming. Explore your creative ideas but make sure the content and quality are accurate enough. Think of a nice story you want to tell with your dashboard. A fool with a plan, is better than a genius without a plan.
