This is my public portfolio for Telling Stories with Data at CMU.
- Web page URL: https://bfriedel.github.io/portfolio/
I am a second year student in CMU's MISM-BIDA program, graduating in May of 2024. I am from the East Coast of the US and I love to read books and hang out with my two dogs.
I'm hoping to create a new way of thinking for how best to present data, past just presenting bars and charts. I would like to learn a data journalism approach of how to best frame out the data to create a narrative. I am also interested in learning the basics of different tools, including Tableau and Shorthand.
Assignment: Visualizing Government Debt
In this assignment, I present data related to the General Government Debt-to-GDP ratio, offering an explanation of its significance and how it's calculated. I also display a visual representation of this ratio for European countries in 2021, emphasizing the use of color to highlight concerning aspects. The data source is credited to the OECD.
Assignment 3&4: Critique by Design
In this data visualization project, I started by selecting a specific visualization related to diversity in D1 College Football. Through a structured process, I assessed and redesigned the visualization. Key steps included critiquing it, sketching alternative solutions, and testing these with different individuals. Ultimately, I opted for a bar chart to better convey the lack of diversity growth in head coaching roles. Feedback from participants, including suggestions to enhance clarity and transparency, played a pivotal role in refining the final design.
Final Project Part 1: Final Project Part 1
In my first project part, I chose a topic for my final presentation. I focus on the STOCK Act of 2012, which aimed to prevent insider trading among members of Congress and the Executive Branch. I aim to demonstrate how Members of Congress' stock trades may conflict with their committee assignments and how these trades may benefit them compared to the general public. I mention the rise of platforms tracking Congress members' stock trades on platforms like TikTok and the New York Times' analysis of potential conflicting trades. I also touch on recent bills proposed to ban stock trading by members of Congress and the importance of increasing trust in government.
Final Project Part 2: Final Project Part 2
In the second part of my final project, I discuss the wireframe for my story and user research findings. I've created a wireframed story on Shorthand for effective presentation. My target audience includes individuals above the age of 16 in the United States, eligible to vote or soon to be, who can influence their Congress members and need to be informed about potential corruption issues at the highest levels of government. User research interviews provided insights such as the need for a case study on a "bad trade," interest in the SEC's enforcement challenges, and a desire to see more examples of violations that go unprosecuted.
Final Project Part 3: Final Project Part 3
In the final part of my Congressional Stock Trading data story, I made several content changes, including removing a section on SEC investigative challenges and adding a timeline of COVID insider trading allegations and investigations. I also clarified the term "questionable trades" to refer to potential conflicts of interest based on Congressional committees, improved source attribution on visuals, and refined the introduction for a broader audience with limited prior knowledge of Congressional insider trading. My design choices included a dark background and a red-blue motif, and I detailed the steps of my data analysis process, which involved creating datasets from various sources and using custom functions for analysis. This project served as an educational tool to raise awareness about the issue and the complexities of the data involved.