Practice, exchange feedback, and get inspired in the SWD community

The SWD community is your online destination for honing data visualization and storytelling skills and connecting with others. From a monthly data viz challenge to video lessons: there are so many ways to learn! If you are new to the community or would like help navigating the various resources, scroll down for a guide on how to get started.

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Let us take you on a tour!

Cole shows you around the community in this 14-minute video tour. Click play to watch.

Ready to jump in? Tackle the step-by-step starter path outlined below to get familiar with the main sections and start practicing.

Traverse the SWD community starter path

Here is a curated set of initial activities to undertake to build familiarity with the various components of the community and help you understand how to use each. While we suggest tackling them in the set order, you can also jump around to meet your individual needs. If you joined the community with members of your work team, consider coordinating the timing of activities and discussing with each other along the way to further your learning.

Start by signing up to be a member of SWD community if you haven’t already done so. It’s fast and free.

COMPLETE YOUR PROFILE: We want to get to know you! Upload a picture and tell the community a little about yourself and your goals. In your profile, you can track your activity and add visuals to your gallery.

SOLVE AN EXERCISE: Take 10 minutes to practice tying words to this graph. Next, declutter this graph. After submitting your solution, review those shared by others. See the exercise bank for many more exercises.

TAKE ON THE CHALLENGE: The topic changes monthly—you can take part in the current challenge or browse contributions from others. Scroll down to review past challenges and see the thousands of shared visuals.

WATCH A VIDEO: Everyone has access to the 10-minute video become a data viz superstar PART 1. This is just a single snippet—premium members can watch the entire hour plus access our full video learning library.

OFFER FEEDBACK: Offering thoughtful input to others is a great way to sharpen your skills. You can browse feedback requests and share your ideas. Feeling stuck? Ask for feedback from the community!

EXPLORE: Discover great work as you shuffle through thousands of visuals in the community, browse conversations to see what people are talking about, or locate specific resources via search and filter. Have fun!

This is just the beginning. There is much to traverse and learn in the SWD community, and we welcome you as an active participant. Add datapoints liberally to the great work you see and leave thoughtful comments to others.

For a greater level of support, go premium to access our full video library, attend regular virtual events to learn in real time from Cole and the storytelling with data team, and get individual attention through weekly office hours.

The SWD community remains in beta while we continue to refine it. We welcome your feedback.

For more ways to learn with the storytelling with data team, check out our upcoming public workshops and webinars or organize a custom session for your team. You can also learn through our books, blog and podcast.

See you in the SWD community!