#SWDchallenge: ask & answer
My kids are question generating machines. As I draft these words—sitting between two of them on an airplane about to take off—a constant stream of curiosity is coming at me from both sides. Is the internet stronger on an airplane, since you’re high up in the air? Why can’t you use electronics until 10,000 feet? Why does that man have his window shade down, when all the rest are open? What do those flaps on the wings do? Which switch in the cockpit controls them? How fast do airplanes go? What is first class? Is it better than second class? What about third class? What are you writing? Why did you cross out those words? Has anyone ever tried to stand on a cloud?
Posing thoughtful questions and then working to answer them is one way to learn about ourselves, our businesses and organizations, and the world—and it is your directive this month. Channel your childlike curiosity. Ask a question, then analyze data and create a visual that answers it.
the challenge
Pose a question that data can be used to help understand. Create and share a visualization that answers your question. When you submit your entry, please title it with the question you set out to answer. Include any notes about your process you’d like to share in your commentary. The visual you create should answer the question you pose (consider employing a takeaway title).
As always, you are welcome to stay simple and straightforward, or get creative. Tackle something that is of particular interest to you. It could be a question about yourself (which might even prompt you to collect data, like people did in the artisanal data challenge). Maybe there’s an intriguing question you’ve been meaning to dig into on the work front (just be sure to anonymize appropriately). Or perhaps you have a query about an area of interest or the world around you that could be answered with data (our list of publicly available data sources may come in handy).
Share your creation in SWD community by April 30th at 5PM PDT. If there is any specific feedback or input that you would find helpful, include that detail in your commentary. Take some time also to check out others' submissions and share your thoughts via comments and datapoints over the course of the month.
related resources
Here are a few related resources (not a comprehensive list). If you are aware of other good ones, please share in your submission commentary.
Continue, Pivot, or Put it Down (Amber Thomas, The Pudding)
How to Ask Good Questions? (Raivat Shah, Towards Data Science)
Making Data Visual (Miriah Meyer & Danyel Fisher)
Signal: Understanding What Matters in a World of Noise (Stephen Few)
SWD podcast episode 19: ask good questions
The Surprising Power of Questions (Allison Brooks & Leslie John, HBR)
Stay tuned for forthcoming details on our April virtual event, which will be focused on exploring data (open to premium community members)
I look forward to learning a ton through your questions and answers this month!
