Dan Watt

Dan discovered a passion for data analysis and visualisation whilst researching the role of the brain in exercise during his Masters degree. This led to analysing client data for some of the UK’s top law firms at a research consultancy.  At the Data School Dan wants to hone his storytelling skills to make data accessible to a wider audience.

At the same time, Dan strives to make a name for himself in the world of distance running, competing for Kent at cross country and getting ever closer to the dream of a sub 2h30 marathon.

 

Blog Posts

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Fri 06 Jan 2017 | Daniel Watt
If I walked this path again
Part of reflecting in the New Year is looking back at what you would have done differently. I’m certain that I made the right choice in joining the Data School and have really enjoyed my time so far
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Thu 05 Jan 2017 | Daniel Watt
How to succeed in the Data School
Feedback is the breakfast of champions In the Data School I have been surrounded by colleagues with some exceptional skills and knowledge. The atmosphere is such that nobody should be afraid to give or receive feedback about their work
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Wed 04 Jan 2017 | Daniel Watt
Uphill battles at the Data School
As a new year begins, I’d like to share with you my biggest challenges of being in the Data School. Working as part of a big team In my previous job roles I was very independent. I worked as part of an organisation but was given the freedom to drive projects along mostly how I wanted
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Tue 13 Dec 2016 | Daniel Watt
Using the Include function in Tableau calculations
In Tableau, the default behaviour is for all data to be aggregated by whatever dimensions are in the view. This includes and dimensions which are on  the rows and columns shelf as well as the marks card. There are occasions however, when we need to aggregate by a dimension which isn’t in the view
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Thu 01 Dec 2016 | Daniel Watt
Editing Tableau Server Project Permissions
When Tableau Server is deployed in a large organisation management will want to allow users to have specific privileges or restrictions with regards to projects, workbooks and data sources. Users can be set with specific roles and privileges and we can also set permissions by project
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Thu 24 Nov 2016 | Daniel Watt
Taking apart quick table calculations in Tableau
Taking something apart and putting it back together is a great way to understand how something how something works. This is true for engines, computers and quick table calculations in Tableau
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Wed 23 Nov 2016 | Daniel Watt
Creating a Pareto chart in Tableau
If an event follows Pareto’s law then 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. To test whether superstore sales follow Pareto’s law we need to check if 80% of the sales come from 20% of the customers.  In Tableau, we can do this visually by creating a Pareto chart
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Wed 23 Nov 2016 | Daniel Watt
Hex bins in Alteryx: Part 2
In part one of this blog [https://www.thedataschool.co.uk/dan-watt/first-alteryx-macro-hex-coordinates-part-1/] I showed how to create the coordinates of the hex bins. The next thing we need to do is join these coordinates to the table with locations and counts
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Tue 22 Nov 2016 | Daniel Watt
Use the DateName function to make time charts interactive
In Tableau, Parameters can be used in a dashboard to change how the date is displayed in a time chart.  This is a great way to give users some control so they can drill deeper into the data without having to create extra charts, using valuable screen space
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Thu 17 Nov 2016 | Daniel Watt
Hex bins in Alteryx: Part 1
This week Nicco Cirone [https://public.tableau.com/profile/nicco.cirone#!/] showed me a viz he had created to show the US election results.  It was a remake of a visualisation in the FT. The FT used hexagons to represent the number of voters in each state
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Tue 15 Nov 2016 | Daniel Watt
Dashboard design: test and review
Good dashboard design involves feedback loop between the designer and the final user. If you ask your user for general feedback they may focus on more the look and feel when the dashboard is not succeeding in more important aspects
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Sun 13 Nov 2016 | Daniel Watt
Dashboard design: space saving in Tableau
Designing a dashboard can feel like trying to cram your hold luggage into your hand luggage – you need to pack carefully if you want to zip it up
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Fri 11 Nov 2016 | Daniel Watt
Dashboard design: What is a dashboard?
I come from a sea-faring family, so when I hear the word dashboard the image that comes to my mind is the view of the nautical instruments the skipper or pilot sees at the helm.  The pilot can see the sea and a series of displays which convey a large amount of information at a glance
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Fri 04 Nov 2016 | Daniel Watt
Using Alteryx to find the nearest alternative
This week at Data School we’ve been building a new viz each day from a different data source.  The topics varied from weapons confiscated at airports to the British National Food survey. My personal favourite was visualising farmer’s markets in the US
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Thu 27 Oct 2016 | Daniel Watt
Data preparation in Alteryx: where to start?
When you get in a car, you have usually have one goal in mind to get you, your passengers and your cargo to you destination. There are certain things you need to do before you can begin your journey  (eg
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Wed 26 Oct 2016 | Daniel Watt
How to dynamically update field names in Alteryx
Occasionally you will receive a data set without any headers and you will need to find the header names from a different data set.  Here is an example of data without a header row from the current Premier League standings
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Tue 25 Oct 2016 | Daniel Watt
How to repeat row labels in Alteryx
GenderNameWeightIQSalaryHeightMenTim6410028380169Bob669918024186James788045755 166Dave888830761144Mike4912038652174Subtotal345487161572839This is my first week using Alteryx and I am enjoying finding ways to automate the tedious tasks that take the fun out of being a data analyst
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Mon 24 Oct 2016 | Daniel Watt
How can I reshape data in Alteryx?
When working with data to create visualisations in tableau it often helps to pivot the data.  This means that we go from having a separate column for each metric to a column for metric name and a column for values
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Tue 11 Oct 2016 | Daniel Watt
Makeover Monday: Climate Change
This week’s makeover Monday viz shows how global temperature has risen pretty much year on year from 1850 to now.  This was created as an animation with the temperature spiralling up as the animation plays. What I like about this visualisation: 1
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Mon 10 Oct 2016 | Daniel Watt
The importance of rough sketching
On day one of the data school, Andy emphasised the benefits of doing some fast sketches of data visualisations before getting to work in the software.  Although tableau is extremely fast at building visualisations, the conceptual stage is still better suited to getting the wax crayons out
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