How can I help diving coaches use data and visuals to make data-driven decisions for the team?
TL;DR
Data Analytics + Data Visualization + Impact Design
My job as a data analyst is to collect, analyze, and visual data so that coaches can make data-driven decisions relating to athletic training and competitions. I collect a massive quantity of data using excel and hand-coded website databases to manage all of the data. From there I utilize IBM Watson Analytics to visualize the data so that coaches can easily digest and customize the data to what they need. Ultimately I empower and drive decision making for how our divers are trained and how they compete.
Project Rundown
What I Contributed
Data Visualization
Data Analytics / Gathering
IT Product Support
Project Length
Part-Time Employment
1.5 years
The Team
Libby Gress
Charlene Yang
Rosie Chen
What I Do
I work with dozens of data spreadsheets each containing thousands of entries and many variables. With this data, I visualize data so that coaches can make data-driven decisions to improve athletic training.
Data Collection
I collect data from all three different types of workouts and utilize RedCap to collect all of the data entries and create spreadsheets using RedCap's capabilities.
Data Gathering, Cleaning, and Processing
After collecting the data from each diver, it is my responsibility to clean, process, and upload the data to our data merging website that we hand-coded so that all of our data is centrally located.
Data Analytics / Visualizations
After processing the data, I will upload the data to IBM Watson Analytics. Within IBM Watson Analytics, I will create modules (a single data visualization) and then create a dashboard (compilation of data visualizations) so that the coaches can interact with the visualizations in order to make data-driven decisions.
Side Jobs
In addition to all of the data I work with, I also have several other responsibilities such as managing all cameras, TV's, iPads, and other technology products, and directing two team managers. In addition I travel with the team to competitions in order to use and maintain technology for those competitions.
Data Visualization Dashboards
Dashboard Visualization #1
What It Shows
This dashboard displays six modules that showcase the (1) training scores by number of repetitions and average score, (2) competition scores, (3) baseline score, (4) average competition scores, (5) how failed attempts at a dive a diver has, and (6) the competition score totals.
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How Coaches Use It
The dashboard shows how each diver's training scores and competitions scores are changing over time. Ultimately, this helps coaches make decisions regarding what dives a diver will do, what areas they need to improve on, and how well they train versus compete.
Dashboard #1 Cont'd
Combination Graphs
This combination graph is used to display the number of repetitions the diver has done (blue bars) and the average training score they are get (green line). This helps coaches validate the stability of a diver's score.
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Time Graphs
This line graph shows the average score of each dive for each diver.
Dashboard Visualization #2
What It Shows
This dashboard displays two modules that showcase both the men's and women's diving team. Each bubble graph displays the precision of each diver for each of their dives. We measure the number of times they compete each dive, what dive, who dove, their average training score, and their average competition score.
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How Coaches Use It
These two bubble graphs help coaches make decisions for the competitive team. For example, when making decisions for the NCAA Championships, they can see who is diving consistently at a higher score. In addition, they can also see what dives those divers should compete base on their repetition and score.
Dashboard Visualization #3
What It Shows
This dashboard displays:
total meet scores
score trends per meet
bubble graph comparing training and competition scores
average total score per diver
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How Coaches Use It
These four modules help coaches compare a couple divers based on a variety of factors. For example, the image above shows the statistics for three different divers.
Dashboard #3 Cont'd
Bar Graphs
This bar graph contains the total score for each meet, separated by diver. This allows coaches to see how each diver compares in total meet scores.
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Trend Graphs
This line graph shows the average score trend per diver, allowing the coaches to see who is improving, worsening, or plateauing their average scores per meet.
What I Learned
Communicating to the right people at the right time is key.
While working on the data collection methods all the way through creating the visualizations, I have learned that communicating is a vital step in the design process. Often I had to get on phone calls, video chats, or in-person meetings in order to solve the complex issues I had. Ultimately, it has been a great learning experience to know who I need to reach out to and how I can minimize the time spent discussing the issue.
Always account for more time than you think you will need.
Every time I wanted to work on a task, module, dashboard, or excel spreadsheet, I ran into countless problems. From coding errors to errors that were not able to be fixed, I constantly ran into issues that required me to spend way more time on them than I initially thought. This experience has helped me more accurately account for the time spent on a task and to better manage my time when communicating with someone while working on the issue.