member spotlight: Robyn Rowse
This article is part of a new program where we aim to shine a spotlight on an SWD community member who is contributing outstanding work. The community was created to inspire positive change through data and offer a space for people to connect and help each other hone data communication skills. We have been pleased to see amazing creations and thoughtful commentary from everyone—especially those who have gone above and beyond to help us make the community a fantastic resource. Each month, we will select one person from the community to highlight through our Member Spotlight. These are people who contribute in ways that foster an even more connected and diverse learning environment. Our hope is that by shining a spotlight on them, you’ll have a chance to get to know your fellow community members a little better and learn from one another.
This month, we’re shining our spotlight on Robyn Rowse. Robyn is a regular contributor to the community; she has solved exercises, tackled monthly challenges, and provided (and accepted) feedback from others. She has a background in marketing and enjoys designing surveys and analyzing data. In recent years, she decided to pursue her data communication passion, going out on her own to start Figures Foundry. She regularly shares designs related to her personal life on the community—it’s funny how you can get to know someone from their graphs. One look through her gallery, and it’s clear she has roots in Australia (previously New Zealand), is family-oriented, loves a good survey, and gives back to her community—to spotlight a few. I can tell she has plenty of passion for data visualization and seeks opportunities to try new things.
Back in May, I had a chance to get to know Robyn further during an office hour session. In addition to chatting about tools and scatterplots, I decided to ask more about her recent challenge submission: a cleverly redesigned clothing tag. Robyn applied data viz thinking to improve the care instructions for an isolation gown. She did a nice job pairing icons and words and improving the overall clarity. I enjoyed hearing the backstory behind her design and thought I’d share, so you can get to know Robyn better, too.
Robyn’s husband is a general manager at a production factory for various events and marketing. During the pandemic shutdown, the factory repurposed production to make reusable isolation gowns, helping healthcare workers in the fight against COVID-19. The reusable option not only helps to solve personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, but it’s also an environmentally friendly choice compared to standard disposable gowns. Through the May SWD challenge, Robyn was inspired to redesign the clothing tag sewn inside the garments.
Her challenge submission and real-world application are shown above but note that Robyn’s efforts didn’t stop there. She also calculated the numbers and used a data-driven approach to market the reusable gowns to hospitals, showing the value-advantage they have over disposable gowns. This is an excellent example of how effective communication can drive positive action.
I also love seeing how Robyn adopted learnings and feedback from the challenge into her professional work. Regardless of your industry, strong communications skills are invaluable—Robyn touched product design, data analysis, healthcare, and marketing with this one project!
To learn more from Robyn’s work and experience, pop over to the community and chat with her. Feel free to ask her about starting a company, where she finds inspiration (or time) for the challenges, and any other related topics. I’ve already congratulated her and asked for her thoughts on designing surveys. You can see her response and ask your questions in the community conversation. Congrats again, Robyn, on a well-deserved Member Spotlight!
There are plenty of noteworthy members in the community—too many to spotlight at once. This program is part of our larger efforts to find new ways to share multiples voices and experiences. As you discover great work and ideas in the community, be sure to give appropriate kudos and spread the word!