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Andy Cotgreave

@acotgreave.bsky.social
2K followers 377 following 121 posts

Tableau evangelist + data communicator. Newsletter: tabsoft.co/sweetspot Book: bigbookofdashboards.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/acotgreave

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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
How do you feel about other people's AI data viz experiments? Come tell us on Chart Chat this week as we discuss three assertions made by Elijah Meeks on a recent episode of The AI Analyst. dtdbook.com/CCAndyRef
dtdbook.com
Chart Chat #75: Why No One Cares about your AI Data Viz Experiments
Data viz experts debate the impacts of AI on charts, including whether we're approaching wave of AI chart slop or peak productivity.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"Noone cares about your AI data viz experiments" said Elijah Meeks in The AI Analyst. We're going to discuss that and two other hot takes in Chart Chat on Thu 15 Oct. What do YOU think? Come join us and share your thoughts. www.eventbrite.com/e/chart-chat...
eventbrite.com
Chart Chat #75: Why No One Cares about your AI Data Viz Experiments
Data viz experts debate the impacts of AI on charts, including whether we're approaching wave of AI chart slop or peak productivity.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
What's your favourite "law" or "rule" of UX/design? For me, it's been Fitt's Law, ever since Jensen Harris (Microsoft UX legend) describe how it was used to design the Office Ribbon. Here's an excellent write up about it by Jakob Nielsen www.uxtigers.com/post/fitts-law
uxtigers.com
Fitts’s Law: Big and Near Beats Small and Far
Pointing time depends on two numbers: target distance and target size. Paul Fitts quantified this in 1954, explaining every mouse move and thumb tap since then. Make frequent targets big and near,…
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
What do you think of forward-looking statements shown at the start of tech keynotes? Don't they all essentially say, "This slide means we can show you anything we want with no promise of delivery. Thanks for paying to be here."
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Do we we pay enough attention to academic research's impact on our work? I don't, to my shame. Our goal in the next Chart Chat is to solve that. We're going to each share a paper from the data communication field, with our thoughts on what it teaches those in the workplace dtdbook.com/CCAndyRef
dtdbook.com
Chart Chat 74: From Research to Practice
The world of data visualization research is vast, represented in human computer interaction, psychology, design, computer science, and more.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
AI and data visulisation: how and when should we be embracing it? Come join a conversation with Elijah Meeks on e9 of "The AI Analyst?" on Thu Sep 3, 4pm BST: dtdbook.com/AIAnalystMeeks
dtdbook.com
The AI Analyst? e9: Make with AI. Make mistakes with AI.
What really changes when AI becomes part of the analytical process? Elijah Meeks joins Andy to find out.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Who has opinions on AI and data? Elijah Meeks does: provocative, insightful, and original. He's joining me on The AI Analyst next week (3 Sep, 4pm BST). Come join the conversation. Let me know what questions you have. 👉 dtdbook.com/AIAnalystMeeks
dtdbook.com
The AI Analyst? e9: Make with AI. Make mistakes with AI.
What really changes when AI becomes part of the analytical process? Elijah Meeks joins Andy to find out.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
holy cow. That's terrifying.
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Reposted by Andy Cotgreave
Jared Yates Sexton @jysexton.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
One of the most important issues of our time is that the future of humanity is presently being authored by people who have nothing but total contempt for humanity and seek the erasure of everything that gives being a human meaning. It’s not just annoying. It doesn’t just suck. It’s existential.
Sam Altman: cool use case of chatgpt work i heard last night:

connect your family calendars and explain your kids' interests.

every morning for the drive to school, have it make a podcast that talks about one kid's soccer game that afternoon, one kid's upcoming birthday, some news, etc.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Does anyone actually read long walls of text? In just about every AI Analytics demo I see, a prompt returns a chart and a wall of text. When I'm exploring data, I find that I rarely read the text. When I do, I skim it.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
How do you visualise excess deaths? That was a question last asked in detail in the UK during Covid. And yet, here we are, in the midst of exceptional heatwaves and what these charts (and this report) show is that the UK is not adapting to the changing climate. www.gov.uk/government/p...
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
My favourite vibe-coded app so far is my tribute to BBC Radio 4's Add To Playlist. What were the ups and downs of using Claude to write it? Find out in Chart Chat 72: Show And Tell. Live on July 23, 11am ET. Register here: dtdbook.com/CCAndyRef
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
dtdbook.com/3booksJul2026
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
It does link to data in one way: it's about how people with wealth and power abuse their position. With AI being controlled by so few, it's something we need to be wary of.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Books for the data analyst #3: "Nobody's Girl" by Virginia Roberts Guiffre. Yes, it's not about data. It's here because we all should bear witness to the suffering she and all the other victims endured. It's a tough read. More recommendations here: dtdbook.com/3booksJul2026
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
dtdbook.com/3booksJul2026
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
More books on Substack:
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Books for the data analyst #2: "Magnifica Humanitas" by The Pope. Youv'e probably read others' takes on this (which I guess they generated by putting it in ChatGPT). Read it instead! At 47k words, it's not too long. It's well worth your time. More recommendations here: dtdbook.com/3booksJul2026
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Books for the data analyst #1: "All That We See Or Seem" by Ken Liu. The plot is clunky, but the sci-fi is great. AI is everywhere. Surveillance is everywhere. I loved it becase it's set in a near future that feels very real. More books on Substack: dtdbook.com/3booksJul2026
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Reposted by Andy Cotgreave
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 05/04/2026
The biggest story in the world right now is that the president of the United States is a demented old man who takes pleasure in torturing and killing people and is committing crimes with impunity. And yet most legacy media outlets are too cowardly to tell it like it is.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Claude's PowerPoint add-in makes Copilot look awful. open.substack.com/pub/howtospe...
open.substack.com
Claude's killed Copilot in PowerPoint and Excel
It's a master data presentation maker. But who's controlling the editorial decisions made by LLMs?
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
What were your favourite Olympics charts? We'll share ours in Chart Chat this week. Animations, medal counts, bump charts and more: all dissected by a bunch of experts (me, Amanda, Steve and Jeff!). 👇Live on Thu 12, 11am ET👇 dtdbook.com/CCAndyRef
dtdbook.com
Chart Chat 69 -- An Olympic Lightning Round
Celebrating medal-worthy charts from the Olympic games and the design touches that make them great.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Yes of course. Please credit Simon scarr for the original and myself for the idea of spinning it around.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
It completely changed my understanding of data storytelling, too. I still use it to show the power of simple choices: turn it the other way round and change the colour, and the story can be completely changed: youtu.be/jIU5krE8CAA
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
How do you *prepare* to present data? ⚙️Morphs, labels, Logitech Spotlight: they're the tools. 👁️👁️The purpose? To make your eyes look where I want you to look at any given moment. I'll share more tips in Chart Chat 68 with Steve, Jeff and Amanda on Wed Feb 25th, 11am EST. dtdbook.com/CCAndyRef
dtdbook.com
Chart Chat 68 -- Some Deep Dives
Jeff will conduct a deep dive into box plots and Steve will ask Amanda, Andy, and Jeff to share how they go about giving talks about data
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
🤦‍♂️nope . That's me. Missing a spelling mistake. It's meant to be REEL.😀
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
It literally is... at about 8 seconds in! 😀
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Could Kingpin, Spiderman's nemesis, be the greatest data leader of all time? Allow me to make my case: youtu.be/RaFiip1TsZM #dataanalysis #movies
youtu.be
The Secret Data Culture of Marvel's Super Villains
Does Kingpin have the BEST data culture of all super villains? 🕷️📊 In this episode of "Real Time Data," we’re diving into the stunning world of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to see if Wilson…
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
🤯Am reading "Around The World in 80 Games" by @marcusdusautoy.bsky.social. In it, he described the "triangle game" (good for actors, interesting maths). In the past, I'd be left to imagine how that looked. But now, with just one prompt, I can build it. It's astonishing. (cc @ebertini.bsky.social)
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
🤯Am reading "Around The World in 80 Games" by @marcusdusautoy.bsky.social. In it, he described the "triangle game" (good for actors, interesting maths). In the past, I'd be left to imagine how that looked. But now, with just one prompt, I can build it. It's astonishing. (cc @ebertini.bsky.social)
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Misinformation comes at us in waves, big and small. It might be "just" a truncated y-axis, but it is an indication of the contempt the Trump administration has for us. Lesson: 1️⃣Don't truncate y-axes with bars 2️⃣Don't be selective with your data #datagraphics #data
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Visited the Robert Crumb show at Zwirner Gallery in London today. Fascinating.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Got it! It's still a great example.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
was this a genuine move from architecture grid to comic page by McCay or is this a coincidence?
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
These are amazing! I could imagine doing this same exercise for data stories, infographics, and dashboards.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Task Complete: 3100 press ups ("push ups" to you all in America) in January. This was really hard. If you have anything to spare and are able to donate, please visit my fundraising page dtdbook.com/100cruk #cancerresearch
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
I like it, especially in a bar that is moderately or very busy. I have never liked the "game" of ensuring you get served in turn. It's a distraction from enjoying the night and speaking to friends.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Dot-density pie chart or bar chart? Jake Steinberg from the Minnesota Tribune created a great chart that focuses on the gist ("Far too many ICE/CBP officers") of the data. A bar chart would allow for easier decoding of the values, but that's not always the point. #ICE #Minnesota
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Opinion | How Much Can One Man Make From Being President? Superb data storytelling, choosing emotion over accuracy. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
A guide to bringing Europe's seas back to life europeancorrespondent.com/en/r/a-guide...
europeancorrespondent.com
A guide to bringing Europe's seas back to life
As a child, I used to run through the shallow parts of the Mediterranean Sea, terrified that crabs might nip at my toes. Now, less than thirty years l
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Exquisite data storytelling in Tron Legacy and Tron. A genuinely great dashboard in the first, and, um, Pac-Man in the second. #datastorytelling #datagraphics
acotgreave.substack.com
Tron Legacy's kick-ass dashboard (part 1). And Pac-Man.
What happens when a data geek rewatches the first two Tron films?
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
That is so cool! Well done. Have you been on Late Junction yet? The Hold The Line track is perfect for that show.
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Reposted by Andy Cotgreave
Alberto Cairo @albertocairo.com · 04/12/2025
In the newsletter: 'Why Dashboards That Deliver' by @datarevelations.com @abmakulec.bsky.social and @acotgreave.bsky.social by should be your next read openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/why-dashbo... #dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVisualization
openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com
Why Dashboards That Deliver Should Be Your Next Read
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Thanks for the kind words emilia! We would be delighted if you could find your way to doing a review on amazon!
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
A world of worm #abstractart #fineline #micronpen
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
It's what i ask my kids every day. If they tell me something "newsy" they heard on tiktok we talk about the source. I've no idea if it is helping them think critically. Anything outlandish i always get them to double check on the BBC.
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Worm 3. This one is kinda gross. I like it. #fineline #abstractart #micronpens
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Worm 2. I really didn't know if I should stop or keep going with this one. I might add to it later and see if I like it better. Any thoughts? Good like this, or keep adding? #abstractart #fineline
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Worm 1. #fineline #abstractart
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Andy Cotgreave @acotgreave.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
A tribute to the marvellous BBC Radio 4 show Add To Playlist. 500 tunes, expertly dissected. And just ONE heavy metal track - that was all I needed! #abstractart #dataart
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