Alex Sanchez
Front End Developer for the Tampa Bay Times
Data viz and digital storytelling
Let's talk about the internet.
//Poynter Non-Profit News Exchange
@alxnsnchz
Hi, I'm Alex.
@alxnsnchz
@alxnsnchz
How to play
@alxnsnchz
Topics will include:
How we make decisions about UI/UX
Determining what to make based on assets
Benefits of multiple iterations
Digital strategy decisions
@alxnsnchz
"Prologue" to Failure Factories
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tl;dr
Pinellas County houses the five worst elementary schools in Florida.
All of them are majority black.
Failure rates for black children are strikingly high compared to other Florida counties.
All a result of the school board abandoning integration.
@alxnsnchz
The data we had
Test scores
Enrollment
Disciplinary records
Attendance records
Racial demographics
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How the heck do we make all this data accessible?
@alxnsnchz
Oh hai, stepper graphic!
Walk people step-by-step through the information.
Help them understand all the data
MOST IMPORTANT: See the causal relationship between resegregation and these failing schools
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BUT HOW?
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Object constancy
Use animations to draw attention to different patterns within the same data
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Charts for the sake of charts
Has to tell a story
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Iterate. Iterate.
(sometimes it doesn't work out the first time)
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@alxnsnchz
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@alxnsnchz
Think about your endgame
This is the last slide
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Digital strategy
Hashtags (#FailureFactories)
Ability to share from every slide
Ability to sign up for email updates at the end of the presentation.
@alxnsnchz
Game Over
Chart: 250K views
Day 1: 120K views
1000+ email addresses
#FailureFactories trending in Tampa Bay area
US Dept. of Education Secretary Arne Duncan: "We as adults have failed them."
@alxnsnchz
The Long Fall of Phoebe Jonchuck
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tl;dr
After lifelong history of abuse, child neglect and mental illness, a man drops his 5-year-old daughter off the side of a bridge.
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No data; More of an immersive experience
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Things I knew
Was going to be long (10K+ words per chapter)
Told in 3 chapters
Discussion about rolling out over three days or all at once
Very dark
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Time to experiment!
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Think about your own behavior as a consumer of the internet and online journalism
You are your own focus group.
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Save my spot
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@alxnsnchz
Automatic bookmarking?
Use cookies to automatically keep track of reader's paragraph as soon as they exit the page.
@alxnsnchz
Automatic bookmarking?
Use cookies to automatically keep track of reader's paragraph as soon as they exit the page.
@alxnsnchz
Chapter Delineations
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Black background
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Black background
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Gradient background
Gradient background
Once I had assets
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Digital strategy
Trailer pages
Inline Twitter "sharelines"
Reddit AMA with Lane DeGregory
Email to Tampa Bay Times subscribers
@alxnsnchz
Game Over
113K views
900-1200 concurrent viewers during first 2 weeks
Tweets specifically mentioning "Save My Spot" feature
Released on 1-year anniversary; dominated the market.
Responses from Fla. DCF
@alxnsnchz
@alxnsnchz
Poynter Non-Profit News Exchange
By Alex Sanchez
Poynter Non-Profit News Exchange
Tracking the process and development of data visualizations and digital storytelling from inception through iteration to publication. How to know when you have something that can be a data visualization or an infographic or an immersive story experience and then how to continue with that idea through all the stages of its creation until it's ready to be published.
