BMI 5/625, Spring 2024

Final Project

Project Brief

Goal: To create a data visualization portfolio website that includes the following:

• Bio: A page that includes a short paragraph describing yourself.
• Project sub-pages/posts: 4 sub-pages, each of which should feature one of your labs (pick ones that you are particularly proud of or interested in!).
• Project “Final Visualization” Page: An additional visualization, of the style and on the topic of your choosing; this page should also feature the slide deck for your verbal presentation.

Note that all three components are required, but that the first two (the bio and the selected labs) are not intended to take up a substantial amount of time to prepare. Your focus should be on the novel additional visualization component.

Tools:

• The website you make will need to be based off of R Markdown; feel free to build on the site you built for the blogdown lab.

Details

Bio: Please craft a short paragraph about yourself that is suitable for a professional audience. If you need instruction on how to craft a bio, please consult this excellent presentation by Dr. Letisha Wyatt and Robin Champieux.

Project Posts: Please use / build off of your labs and visualization brief from the class. Note that the entire lab is likely far more content than is worth including; you should pick and choose specific parts that you found interesting or where you were particularly pleased with your result.

Final Visualization Project: Please build another visualization, using data of your choice. Besides the final visualization itself, you will prepare:

1. A short writeup, covering the categories described below.
2. A short (5 minutes) oral presentation, to be given in class during the last week, accompanied by slides or whatever visual aid is appropriate (a live demo, etc.). The presentation should briefly cover the various categories described below, adjusted and abbreviated as necessary to better fit a presentation format (i.e., your presentation should not simply walk through your figure’s R code).

Format

Your writeup and presentation should include the following domains:

1. Description of the DATA you used (either given to you or where you found it, what unique characteristics of the data, what quantitative and qualitative information is in the data set, etc.)
2. Description of the AUDIENCE you are aiming for (including more detail than simply saying “a biochemist”).
3. Description of the TYPE of graph (e.g. Bar chart, Sankey Dendogram, etc).
4. Representation Description: What are you trying to show?
5. How to read it & what to look for: How should a newbie to this graph approach interpreting it? What are the major highlights of the graph type?
6. Visual Presentation: address how you are using annotation, color, and general composition (e.g. how are things arranged, scale, etc.)
7. How I created it (i.e. your “Methods section”); additionally, include a bit about the process. Please include an early draft of your visualization (it might be a completely different), and why you changed it/what you tweaked to get to your final visualization.

Additionally, alongside your writeup, include all relevant R code to make the graph fully reproducible. This includes the process in which you wrangled the data and plotted it fully comprehensible. This does not have to in one “chunk” (and indeed should not be), but instead should be woven into your brief so as to help the reader trace what you did and why you did it.

FAQ

Q: Will I have time to continue to work on my webpage after my final presentation in class on June 10th or 12th?

A: Yes – you can submit your final portfolio up to June 21st at 5PM.

Q: Do I need to use my own data for the final visualization?

A: No – if you don’t have available data, feel free to use one of our labs’ data sets (although you must create a different visualization and ask a different question than was explored during the lab), or find another acceptable dataset. If you need help identifying a dataset, please contact us! Good sources of inspiration include

• Data is Plural: https://tinyletter.com/data-is-plural/archive
• Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/
• This neat Github repo of public datasets: https://github.com/awesomedata/awesome-public-datasets
• Data.gov

Q: Does the final project need to be a completely different type of visualization (i.e., one that we haven’t covered in a lab)?

A: No – however, you must show improvement in your visualization skills from your first visualization brief. We encourage you to expand your visualization skills into new territory; however, we also highly value doing excellent work on a more standard plot. Exotic plots, although fun, aren’t always the best choices of visualizations! Remember to let your data guide your choice more than a fancy graph.

Q: Is there a required format for the slides?

A: No – use whichever tools or template are appropriate for the content you are presenting. Don’t worry about making the MOST BEAUTIFUL SLIDE in the Universe – keep it simple and understandable and all will be well!