This week's post was written by Chantal Hoff. Chantal is an epidemiologist by training, who works as …
Continue Reading about What is adult learning, and its role in evaluation? →
Learn graphic design, data storytelling, qualitative visualization, UX design, and other stuff they don't teach you in grad school.
For decades, creative expectations for data people have been really low. A long report and a presentation was often “enough” to finish up most projects.
Now-a-days, researchers and evaluators are expected to design short, visual, engaging reports in a variety of formats. And then share these reports with overwhelmed audiences across multiple platforms.
Very few data people were ever taught this creative stuff in school. But if you’re willing to take initiative, this isn’t just a challenge, it’s an opportunity.
My masters degree is in sociology. And there was nothing creative about my early career positions as a research assistant and data analyst.
But then I started blogging as a hobby. Which pushed me to learn web and graphic design. As my creative skills grew, my day job started to morph in unexpected ways.
I was still running frequencies, writing survey questions, and analyzing quantitative data but I was also getting asked to design infographics, illustrate slide decks, and take on all sorts of other creative projects.
Teaching myself design created so many opportunities. It led to promotions, new positions, and, eventually, a successful independent consulting business.
And what I’ve learned teaching this creative stuff to other data people, is that it doesn’t just work for me. It can work for you too.
On the courses page you'll find my FREE Beyond the PDF course along with upcoming live workshops. If you want a private workshop instead, just follow the link!
This week's post was written by Chantal Hoff. Chantal is an epidemiologist by training, who works as …
Continue Reading about What is adult learning, and its role in evaluation? →
Did you know that you can open a PDF using Canva? For years and years, the PDF has been the …
Continue Reading about How to open a PDF in Canva (3 simple ways). →
Evaluation is a systematic process to determine merit, worth, value or significance... But then …
I'm writing this at the start of the American Evaluation Association's national conference. …
You want to know the secret to improving the quality of your charts, graphs, and …
Continue Reading about Formstorming Charts, Graphs, and Illustrations →
Have you been told your report is too wordy? Or maybe you received input that your report was …
Continue Reading about Is your report too wordy? Don’t do this. →
One of the cool things about teaching data design is that I get to personally learn from the people …
Icons can be a really easy and effective way to illustrate reports and visualize qualitative …
Do you want to become a confident data designer? The first step is probably understanding what data …
Why are so many organizations still stuck in a PDF rut? I've been blogging since around 2008. …
Continue Reading about Web Reports are Easier to Design than PDFs →
What do you think of when I say, "qualitative data visualization?" Do you just pull up a picture …
Continue Reading about What is Qualitative Data Visualization? →
Welcome to episode 003 of my cartoon Q&A series. Technology and the web have really changed …
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