iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Also, I am not sure I do have the full context here to give you a good answer. It makes me feel like I need to ask a hundred more follow up questions. lol

100

If that statement is coming from the potential audience of the work, I would first try to understand why that is. Is it because they don't want visuals? Don't like them? Don't get it? I would adapt to what best helps them undertand the point of their data. But of course, that depends on context.

100

A lot of what we do involves changing direction as we go. So, I do allow for exploration. But if the client takes this as an opening to try and get more than what was agreed, I usually have a sit down and talk through it with them. If the scope changes, we record it clealy and proceed accordingly.

Thanks! :) I spend a lot of time on scoping. I try to capture as much as possible not just what the client says they want, but also risks, unknown factors, uncertainties and expected deliverables. If things start deviating here and there Inoften go back to the original scope and we adjust.

What has happened was a client made a bot based on my training workshops and gave it my name. I was a bit flabbergasted by that one.

It hasn't happened directly to me yet. But I make my views on this very clear before we agree and I get hired. I made it company policy that the charts I make have to go through discovery fist, my way. Which is the hard way: talking to people to make sure we know what they need.

Oohh hard one! If not strictly dataviz, then I think this one carolinecriadoperez.com/book/invisib...

carolinecriadoperez.com

100

You got me there. :D

Pen and paper :P OG Tableau. It just works how I think about dataviz. It helps that it was the first enterprise dataviz tool I had to truly learn because of work. But I do love making charts in something like RawGraphs, exporting it to Figma or Illustrator and doing just whatever I want with it.

020

Animated race bar charts. I always wondered who has the time?!

It depends on the branding and chosen palette, do you mean like if the charts are inside cards? White is always good. But if doing an off-white or gray, my go-to rule is to rarely use a neutral default gray. I pick one that has just a bit of the primary colour's hue in it.

Clean? Tidy? Meta? What's yours?

100

Damn... 🤦‍♀️ Look, if it's any consolation, I haven't heard from them in a couple of years. They probably have replaced the original repprt by now. I have no way of knowing if the impact continued for much longer or not. That's part of the nature of working in projects and moving on I guess...

In NZ... Perhaps a good news outlet, like The Spinoff or Newsroom. They do good work when it comes to visual storytelling and that is a part of our field I have explored less than I'd like to.

The UN. Cliche, I know. But I am still an International Relations grad at heart. LOL. They have so much data, so many amazing initiatives, so much potential for impact and change. I would LOVE to be part of any of the teams doing the data comms part. But it can be a bit above my league on skills.

The other was a H&S report where I figured a contractor who was clocking in to work sometimes 3 shifts on a row. Nobody had noticed before. I can't tell much here because NDAs, but there was an accident and he would have been there if it wasn't for the report and it could have been much worse.

The company did not lose money from this and got a big publicity boost on top. I still get happy from remembering the feedback from clients, and the smaller businesses who decided to not lay people off because not having to pay for the premiums had helped them keep people on despite the impact.

220

I worked for a health insurance company during the pandemic. One of the reports I helped the team put together was used to inform the board decision to freeze charging premiums for a few months during the lockdowns, so people could keep the plan cover going, even if they lost their jobs.

I have learned to be very upfront about my ways of working and expectations before I get onboard a big project. And I also learned to detach myself from the results of my work once it's delivered. It is awesome when the work has impact, but a lot of clients see an output as the end unfortunately.

020

Yes I have. And it can be quite demoralising. I notice this happens more with bloated, overly complex projects. The unfortunate side of it is that the more bloated a project is, the more effort it takes to do deliver a good output, which sucks even more.

Not every chart needs to be as accurate as possible at all times, if that's going to hinder it from fulfilling its purpose to their audience in the right context. Sometimes a bit of flair and whimsy goes a long way in making something more interesting. Truthfulness is non-negotiable though.

Imagine there is a spectrum. On one end is function and on the other is form. The toggles to move you to each side are are audience, purpose and context. If you are clear on these 3 things, the position of your viz on the spectrum becomes much clearer too. So, it depends!

Yes! Heaps! It is especially noticeable when it comes to communicating critique and feedback. Kiwis avoid confrontation to pathological levels, and the cues are all contextual and subtle. It took me a while to get used to it! US and Oz are very straightforward... for dataviz it can be quite tricky!

Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 11h

Today is Data Rocks 7th anniversary! This is not LinkedIn, so I won't make an unnecessarily longe post about lessons learned and whatnot. I'll instead take a mini-AMA! So, ask me anything about stuff! #dataviz, freelancing, something else... I'll be here for the next couple of hours. :)

15164

I was just thinking... we already have examples of this with Deneb and SVG visuals. Some people went all in on those, but the vast majority of places just stuck with the no third-party visual apps rule and for SVGs, most places find it cumbersome because it is kind of a hack afterall.

000

I think all of my 'it took too long to develop' dashboard problems were all because the data wasn't there, or it was incorrect, or insufficient, or nobody knew what they actually needed, or it was a vanity project, or a delirium-fueled quest stakeholders ended up realising was not gonna work...

140

What takes time is aligning teams, agreeing on metrics, defining common goals, explaining to a random manager why we are not using his hand-crafted spreadsheet from 1997 as a data source. Sure, I can gain time making the actual charts, but everything before or after that involves people remain there

I don't agree you're too far behind. Kurt is very far ahead. It is not common to find companies that are even capable of using AI like this. All of my clients in 2026 were a variation of the same theme I have been seeing since I work with data. AI is a solution for a problem very few places have.

240

Aww thank you! It's my first time sharing my non-data related art online ever. It is a strange feeling. Haha.

210

Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 28/09/2026

My very first art post on my art account, for anyone interested :)

2101

What a beautiful write up.

Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 24/09/2026

Reposted by Data Rocks

People who are fighting against Data Centres in their region: I am looking for useful resources on how you guys organise, studies, articles, sources that can help clarify how data centres operate in communities, their impact, etc. I am collating a resource pack for my local protest group.

113

Reposted by Data Rocks

Jamie Smart @jamiesmart.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Can’t eat a sandwich until you subscribe to sandwiches. Can’t eat today’s sandwich until it has applied daily sandwich updates. Sandwich now has adverts even though you paid for ad-free sandwich. Can pay again to have less sandwich adverts. Now you can eat the sandwich, but it’s smaller.

20847511188

Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 24/09/2026

The Green party also has a petition going to pause all development and consents for Data Centres. action.greens.org.nz/pause_ai_dat... Luxon's government just reformed the RMA, this week, overnight, which will coincidentally make it easier to approve Data Centres. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

011

Data Rocks @t.datarocks.co.nz · 24/09/2026

113

Reposted by Data Rocks

Alberto Cairo @albertocairo.com · 24/09/2026

In the newsletter: "Visualization as epistemic representation" openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/visualizat... Or: Building bridges between information design and the philosophy of science & scientific representation #dataViz #dataVisualization #infographics

A diagram depicting the cycle of epistemic representation. An object called the "vehicle" (a chart, for example) represents another object, called the "target" (for instance, a data set). The reader of the "vehicle" can make inferences about the vehicle itself, and later they can use those inferences to make inferences about the "target"

2227

Reposted by Data Rocks

Alberto Cairo @albertocairo.com · 24/09/2026

"There has to be a better way of connecting and sharing and existing together, a way that isn't locked into the exploitative doom loops and psychic death of what we currently have. A way that's built around humans again, not around algorithms. A way that values connection instead of confrontation."

0136

Reposted by Data Rocks

AP Stylebook @apstylebook.com · 23/09/2026

Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d92706d

5542361628

Reposted by Data Rocks

Voilà: Francis Gagnon @chezvoila.com · 23/09/2026

The book of @tizianadearing.bsky.social, Absent Data, is now available for pre-order. Pre-orders are really important to assess the interest in a book, so I've pre-ordered my copy today. 📊 The support of the dataviz community for these books benefits everyone.

tizianaalocci.com

Book: Absent Data — Tiziana Alocci

141

Reposted by Data Rocks

A bit of personal news! Most of you might not know, but in my off time, I make art. Subjects vary but usually I go for urban scenes or birds. So, to keep things neat for my dataviz friends, I've made a separate account where I will soon start sharing my art stuff. Here it is: @t.cyankorax.com

262

And yes 100% for learning the craft before the tools. What makes a good carpenter? The fact that they know what type of wood to use, what varnish is best, how to shape it and cut it right or that they know how to use the very expensive and clunky auto super hammer 3000 with a saw attached to it?

040

Which passes through learning about how people read, decode and understand things. How do they recall information? How to they interact with a screen? Is it accessible to different people in different settings? Focusing on outcomes first opens up dozens of other requirements.

140