Suggestions
Amanda Makulec
Senior Data Visualization Lead at Excella - Operations Director at Data Visualization Society
Amanda Makulec is a prominent figure in the field of data visualization, currently serving as the Senior Data Visualization Capability Lead at Excella. With nearly 15 years of experience, she has worked across various sectors, including federal, nonprofit, and private organizations. Her expertise lies in health data visualization, where she emphasizes the importance of user-centered design and responsible data communication.
Background and Education
Amanda holds a Bachelor's degree in Zoology and Sociology from Miami University and a Master of Public Health from Boston University. She also serves as adjunct faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she co-designed and teaches a course for the Data Visualization and Analytics master's program.
Professional Contributions
As the Executive Director of the Data Visualization Society, Amanda plays a crucial role in advancing the profession. She co-hosts the Chart Chat podcast and is co-authoring a book titled Dashboards that Deliver, set to be published in 2025. Her work has been featured in notable publications such as The New York Times and Fast Company, particularly focusing on the intersection of public health and data visualization.
Speaking Engagements and Workshops
Amanda is a sought-after speaker and educator, leading workshops that reach audiences globally. She has conducted sessions on effective data visualization techniques, emphasizing storytelling through data to enhance understanding and decision-making.
Key Skills and Philosophy
Her approach to data visualization is informed by principles of agile software development and a commitment to visualizing data responsibly, especially in contexts that impact health care delivery. Amanda advocates for creating visualizations that not only present data but also tell meaningful stories that resonate with users.
In summary, Amanda Makulec is a leader in data visualization who combines her public health background with innovative design principles to create impactful visual narratives.
Highlights
Since it popped up in The Pudding's newsletter, I've recommended this write up of a real-world attempt to have Claude.ai create a visual data story to more than three dozen colleagues, students, and Data Visualization Society friends.
For me, the article reinforced the ways AI can create efficiencies in the data curating, organizing, and exploratory analysis part of #dataviz design. Where AI falls (very) short is in the creation of creative, interesting, engaging data stories.
Perhaps data viz designers will become one of the most critical roles for a real human to occupy in these kinds of design processes, since we can address key challenges around making data meaningful, trustworthy, and interesting and bring a layer of creativity that doesn't constantly give off Midjourney vibes.
Remember, the world of data viz isn't just about following rules. We're challenged with making justifiable design decisions, both ethically and functionally according to Alberto Cairo, around how and why we use different encodings, charts, visual metaphor, and more to communicate a story. Learning the rules and then sometimes purposefully breaking them in creative ways is often where viz magic happens.
I won't steal The Pudding's thunder with what the final report card for Claude's data story looked like, but it wasn't a grade I would be proud of.
Link to the story in comments 👇
And that's a wrap on #outlier2024!
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the Future Fridays workshop this afternoon (the great crew pictured) and throughout the last three days. Being with so many people who I've only gotten to see on zoom rooms and Nightingale articles is such a joy.
I'm hugely grateful to Julia Hennelly, Martha Emily Kund, Zane Wolf, Amy Cesal, Simran Parwani,.and the whole organizing team who made the hybrid event a great experience. And to Steven Franconeri for his brilliant keynote and hosting us at Northwestern.
Wishing everyone safe travels, and we can't wait to see you in 2025!

