👋 Hi!
This week, I ran a small dataviz experiment that I’m excited to share with you.
It all started when I stumbled upon a chart by Yanika Borg. It was excellent! Great design, a compelling story, and smart annotations.
But there was one small frustration.
Static charts can be limiting
As soon as I saw the chart, I wanted to dig deeper.
What’s going on with that outlier?
Is there a country that ranks high in some cases but low in others?
And… where is France? 🕵️♀️
That’s the core limitation of static charts. They are fantastic for storytelling, but they do not let the reader explore the data further.
Dataviz speedrun
So I decided to build an interactive version myself. I used D3.js and React, with some help from AI via Claude Code. To make things more interesting, I timed every step of the process.
The result surprised me.
It took me 83 minutes to reproduce the chart, add a smooth hover interaction, and build a search bar.
Here’s a GIF of the final result. You can read the full story, play with the interactive chart, and explore the code in this dedicated post.
What this says about AI and dataviz
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how AI is reshaping the dataviz landscape.
My current theory is that most practitioners will gradually move toward more powerful tools than the ones they use today. For many, that probably means switching to React and D3 since it is the end game of dataviz. They offer unlimited flexibility and control.
This little experiment shows how accessible bespoke, interactive charts have become. Just a few months ago, this would have taken me several hours.
Learn this!
I built this experiment using the exact workflow I teach in my new course about d3.js.
Doors close in 7 days and the next cohort will probably not happen before next winter. Everyone gets lifetime access, a full refund if it’s not for you, and 50% off for students, academics, and people in lower-income countries.
This is such an exciting moment to be in dataviz. Learn the foundations of the web and D3, and with AI’s help you can build things you were only dreaming about a few months ago.
All the best,
Yan
PS: I'm thinking about giving a free talk about "Dataviz in the AI era" on the 20th of February. If you would like to join can you please hit reply and type "interested"? I'll gauge the interest!
PPS: What's the thing you would love to build, but are limited with your technical skills? I can give you hints, and perhaps bonus lessons in the course!
👋 By the way, here is how I can help!
- Master R: Join my productive R workflow online course, already helping hundreds to excel in R, Quarto, and GitHub.
- Team Training: Hire me to train your team on Data Visualization and Programming.
- Engaging Talks: Book me for short, impactful talks on Data Visualization and Programming.
Check yan-holtz.com or hit reply any time! I love hearing from you.
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