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Office of the CIO  ›  Data @ CMU  ›  Community of Practice  ›  IronViz Challenge Coming to CMU in July  ›  Participant Instructions

Participant Instructions 

Welcome to the annual CMU IronViz Challenge. In conjunction with Data Analytics Day, we encourage and inspire CMU's broader data community of practice to participate. This challenge is modeled after the national Tableau IronViz competition. However, participants in the CMU IronViz Challenge are not limited to using Tableau. We encourage those using PowerBI and other data visualization tools to participate!

This year's theme is Advancing Data Analytics through Community Engagement and Empowerment. In keeping with that theme, a common dataset with information about CMU and its peers' Federal Grants and Contracts will be provided to all registered IronViz participants. Participants must use the provided dataset, but are welcome to create additional derived fields to support their data visualization.

All participants must register using the Participant Registration Form by Friday, May 23. They may participate individually or in teams of up to three people. Using the registration form, participants can form their own teams or request to be assigned to a team.

Finalists will be selected to present and recreate their dashboards on Tuesday, July 29, in front of the executive sponsors and a live audience. Based on their presentations, the finalists will compete for the grand prize. All participants will be recognized, and the prize winners will be announced at CMU Data Analytics Data on Wednesday, July 30.

Important Dates

Resources

Refer to the CMU Branding and Data Visualization Guidelines for guidance in color and typography choices. Additional colors outside the CMU Brand color palette may be used, but must maintain a minimum 4.5 contrast ratio between text and background colors.

Digital accessibility guidelines, as required under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), should be followed in all submissions. All dashboard developers should familiarize themselves with accessibility best practices such as maintaining color contrast between text and background colors, not using color as the only way to communicate information, and embedding alternative text or descriptive labels with images.

Be inspired by the winners of Tableau's IronViz Challenge.
Dear Supervisor,

Carnegie Mellon University’s IronViz Challenge, modeled after the national Tableau IronViz competition, is happening in July. This is an excellent professional development opportunity to showcase my data visualization and dashboard-building skills by telling a story with data, translating data findings to actionable insights, and not just rattling off numbers or sharing a spreadsheet.

This year's theme is “Advancing Data Analytics through Community Engagement and Empowerment." I plan to create a data visualization that tells a related story. The challenge criteria are broadly defined to encourage creativity and make it a fun experience.

There is a time commitment to create the submission before the June 20 deadline and to participate in the in-person event on July 29.

Key university initiatives include data visualization, collaborative community building, and developing a data-informed decision culture. This event will help foster and achieve those objectives.

Please allow me the time to participate and contribute to this valuable effort. You can visit the CMU IronViz Challenge page for additional details.

I appreciate your consideration.

Scoring

Finalists will be selected based on the initial scoring round using the rubric below. Participants selected to advance to the final round will present their data visualization to the executive sponsors and recreate it in front of a live audience. Executive sponsors will select the prize winners, who will be announced at Data Analytics Day.

Story Telling (30%) 

  • Communicates insights and trends.
  • Engages audience with compelling narrative using easily understood visualizations.
  • Interactive visualizations are easy to navigate and follow a clear sequence.
  • Titles, subtitles, captions, callouts, etc., communicate the key takeaways.
  • The design is clear, consistent, and aesthetically pleasing to the audience.
  • Consistent visual vocabulary (fonts, sizes, color palettes, chart types, etc.) is used throughout the visualization.

Data Accuracy (30%)

  • Data visualization tells an accurate story based on the data.
  • Conclusions are presented credibly and convincingly.
  • Data is not misrepresented or skewed.
  • Aggregations and breakouts account for dataset structure and reach accurate conclusions.
  • Filters, subsets, comparisons, etc., are clearly defined and communicated to the audience.

Design, Standards, and Digital Accessibility (30%) 

  • Follows the minimum CMU design guidelines for DASH. 
  • Ensures users, including those with visual disabilities, can access the content effectively.
  • Color contrast maintains a minimum 4.5 ratio.
  • Minimum 11 font size.
  • Color is not the only method used to communicate differences.
  • Alternative text is provided where possible.
  • About the Team page provides an introduction of the team members and submission.

Overall Impression (10%)

  • Visualization provides a cohesive insight to help executive leaders plan for future classes and classroom scheduling.

Accepted File Formats

Tableau

Submit your entry using a Tableau Packaged Workbook file (.twbx) that includes both the data visualizations and the underlying source data.

PowerBI

Submit your entry using a PowerBI Exchange file (.pbix) that includes both the data visualizations and the underlying source data.

Other Tools

If you have a data visualization using another software tool, please contact Matthew Hoolsema or Alexis Parker to determine the file format for your entry.

Prize Categories

  • First place: $500 gift card to CMU Bookstore
  • Second place: $250 gift card to CMU Bookstore
  • Third place: $100 gift card to CMU Bookstore
If submitting as a team, each team member will receive the prize. All participants will be recognized during CMU Data Analytics Day on Wednesday, July 30.

Questions

Please contact Matthew Hoolsema or Alexis Parker with questions about the IronViz challenge.