wellTech

We each chose a sub-topic and started our research. We also started to collect data, which we then analyzed and turned into graphics and visualizations based on the skills we learned in our Data Storytelling class. Our visualizations were created using mainly Tableau and Datawrapper.

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Of course, face-to-face conversations were an important part of this project, as we needed to hear people's opinions in order to determine what kind of impact technology has. One way we did this was by standing in public locations around Lehigh's campus, talking to people who came over and taking a photo of them with their iPhones. We asked them how they think technology affects them, and edited their quotes into the photos. You can see these on the Home page.

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Once we had all our information, we put it together on this Wix site to create a project that we hope informs and conveys what we learned through this project and the skills that we acquired in class.

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We presented our work to the class on a huge, very hi-tech nine-panel screen, which was a really awesome opportunity.

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Challenges

One of the biggest challenges we faced throughout this project was finding data that was actually usable. We were surprised to find that much of the data online was either not available to us for use, or recorded in a format that we could not use to make our own visualizations. To circumvent this, we had to spend a lot more time looking for data than we had originally planned, and sometimes had to manually input numbers into Excel to create our own "raw" datasets.

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Another challenge was technical difficulties — we had some issues with the site not saving our work when we worked collaboratively, so we had to redo some things last-minute. There was also a learning period in using the nine-panel screen — it took some time to navigate it efficiently and adjust to the sensitivity of the screens.

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What would we change?

If we could do this project again, knowing what we know now, we would change a few things.

 

Firstly, we would have liked to incorporate some more of the skills we learned in class. We had originally planned to get our data through data scraping, but this turned out to not be practical because of the data that we wanted to use, and the scope of our topic. It turned out that research studies and existing survey data were more specific to our needs. Perhaps with more time, or if we had chosen to focus on different aspects within our project, we might have incorporated those techniques.

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We had also initially planned on using 360 photo technology to create an immersive and interactive experience in which visitors to our site could "look around" a bedroom and select pieces of technology around the room to learn more about each topic. While this was a cool plan, we ultimately decided not to use it because we wanted to feature the photos of people with iPhones to give our project a more human aspect. 

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Lastly, we would have chosen to create the website on a platform that prioritized collaborative work. Ironically, the technology was something we struggled with throughout the entire project!

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What did we learn?

Overall, this class and project taught us so much. We have acquired so many skills throughout the semester, and although we didn't get to utilize all of them in the project, they're incredibly valuable to know. We did get to hone our data visualization skills significantly through this project, and we are really proud of what we created as a result.

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In terms of the topic itself, we wish that the information we found was more conclusive, but we learned a lot regardless. Completing this project definitely made us all more aware of how we use technology, and is helping us learn how to balance it with real human interactions.

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We have really enjoyed putting this project together, and we hope you enjoy the results!