Design Challenge 2 - Overview

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Design Challenge 2

Design Challenge 2 (or maybe, better described as “Data Challenge 2”) will be a grouping of assignments (Design Exercises) we will do over the next few weeks. The idea is we will use a single data set (the American Time Usage Survey - see ATUS Data for 765-24) for a number of exercises involving exploring data, identifying questions, designing visualizations, and critiquing visualizations.

Warning: I wrote this before I decide to make the collaboration aspects optional. Students must choose if they want to participate in the optional collaboration aspects as described at Opt In: Collaborative Learning Opportunity for Design Exercises 9-12 and complete the CLO Survey: Opt in or out to the Collaborative Learning Opportunity by 2pm on Monday, October 28th.

You can think of the design exercises at the beginning of the class with the census data as Design Challenge 1 (I keep saying “design challenge” out of habit, “Data Challenge” is a more fitting name, but it doesn’t sound as good).

These next exercises will follow a similar pattern: there will be a single data set that we give you, and you will do a sequence of harder exercises to let you practice your visualization skills. The specific weekly exercises will be a bit different, but they will have a similar form.

Some things that will be different this time:

  1. (optional - only for students who opted for the CLO) We are dividing the class into groups of 4 (in Canvas discussion groups). These “assigned discussion groups” will be used for some of the class activities. We will do visualization drafts and and critiques using Canvas discussions (so that you can have a small “community of practice”). You won’t need to do any synchronous work with your group.
  2. We are not requiring Tableau. Use whatever tools that you like. We have confirmed that the dataset loads nicely into Tableau and into Python using Pandas.
  3. We are giving you a preview of the assignments that are coming up so you can plan ahead a little. In particular, you can know that you will do several assignments with this data set, so it is worth investing time in learning to work with it upfront.
  4. (optional - only for students who opted for the CLO) In addition to the regular design exercises (turned in as surveys), we will also have discussions (with your small groups) for parts of the assignment. It will be VERY IMPORTANT that you do these assignments on time, as your groupmates will want your work in order to proceed.
  5. We used a different version of this data set last year. This year we’ve made some things easier for you by giving you the data in a simpler form.
  6. Last year, we had a “class level” exercise where we had a democratic process to agree on some “stories” that everyone tried to make visualizations for. We’re not going to do that this year.

If you want to start looking at the data, read about it at ATUS Data for 765-24.

If you want to see last year’s assignments (this year’s will be different!), start with Mike’s initial exploration, and then look at 2022 DE7. The “propose and execute a project” will be quite different this year (there really wasn’t enough time last year).

The new rhythm…

Note: this “new rhythm” is only for the students who “Opt In” to the CLO. Students who do not opt in have the same Friday Design Exercise deadline as we’ve had all semester.

We will have both the group discussions (note: these do not replace the regular “online” discussions) and the design exercise turnins. The pace is very tight - because if you don’t do things on time, your groupmates lose out.

  • Monday - you will make an initial posting on/before Monday (by the end of Monday). Usually, this will be you posting something for your groupmates to give you feedback on. This is a hard deadline: we will penalize you if you miss it, and your group mates will be mad at you since they won’t be able to do their work for Wednesday.
  • Wednesday - in the 48 hours (from midnight Monday to midnight Wednesday), you will respond to each of your group mates’ initial postings. For example you might be asked to provide a critique of their design. This deadline is tight: the others need your feedback to improve their work for Friday.
  • Friday - the Design Exercise (which will include the thing that you iterated on in the discussion) is due. However, for these design exercises, we will accept late submissions until the following Monday. (but remember, the next week, there is another round of things to do)

Coming Attractions

Here are the things that are coming up (DDs are just for CLO students)…

  • Design Discussion 1 (Mon Oct 28, Wed Oct 30 these deadlines will be shifted by 2 days) - Team building - a discussion among your “assigned discussion group” to warm up for the assignments below where you will need to work together. For Wednesday, your group will need to work together to assign 4 different tasks to the 4 people.
  • Design Exercise 09: Explorations and Pictures (due Fri, Nov 01) - Initial Explorations, Initial Pictures - you will do some initial work with the data and make some visualizations.
  • Design Discussion 2 (Mon Nov 4, Wed Nov 6) - You will make a visualization that answers the question assigned to you in the previous design discussion, and then give feedback to the others in your group.
  • Design Exercise 10: My Questions - Your Questions (due Fri, Nov 08) - My Questions, Your Questions - You will make some visualizations that answer provided questions, as well as some of your own questions.
  • Design Discussion 3 (Mon Nov 11, Wed Nov 13) - Questions - You will come up with a list of questions that you want to make visualizations to answer, and help your groupmates’ refine their lists. You will also come up with one common question that everyone in the group will answer.
  • Design Exercise 11: Drafts (due Fri, Nov 15)
  • Design Discussion 4 (Mon Nov 18, Wed Nov 20) - Drafts - You will provide a draft of (some of) your final designs, and critique within your groups.
  • Design Exercise 12: Final Designs (due Fri, Nov 22) - Final Designs - You will turn in your visualizations for your questions.

Note: for these assignments, you will be creating static visualizations.

The final design challenge phases will allow you to create interactive visualizations.

A Note About Collaboration

These assignments are designed to encourage a certain amount of collaboration. You will create initial designs and show them to classmates (the other students in your group) who will give you feedback (and vice versa). You will also work together to give feedback on questions.

More generally, we encourage you to talk with your classmates. Brainstorm about ideas. Trade tips and tricks. Show your designs and critique one another. You don’t have to limit your conversations to the discussion groups (but that does provide a minimum).

However… there is a line between healthy collaboration and proper academic conduct. You are responsible for doing your own work. And you should try to come up with your ideas independently. (see the Collaboration Policy and Academic Conduct page for a more general discussion)

  • Good: a classmate gives you a critique of your design that helps you improve your design
  • Good: you critique a classmates’ design and it inspires you to try something different
  • Questionable: you critique a classmates’ design and realize that you like it better than your initial design; so you recreate their design and turn in a copy of theirs instead. In such a case, you should give credit to your classmate (proper attribution), and try to do things to differentiate what you’ve learned from them.
  • Bad (Plagiarism): you take their file and turn it in as your own, only changing a few details.

Inevitably, some student will independently come up with the same design as someone else. The design space is narrow enough (we are asking the same questions, with the same data, and using similar tools, …) that similar answers are inevitable. Try to bring your own “personality” to what you do so it is less likely to be identical to someone else.

Ultimately, we are relying on students to make an honest effort to collaborate in an honest way. You may be able to get an OK grade by copying someone else’s work, but you will learn more by trying to create your own things (collaborative with others).