How to create a career in data visualization...

Having worked in data visualization for a scary long time AND co-founding a company dedicated to all things analytics, people often ask me how I did it. My focus is and remains mostly front end, a rarity at least in the narratives that are shared widely.

Here's what worked for me.

Be genuinely curious about the world.

If you can spot the patterns in the real world, that transfers well. If you're willing to listen to others, you can notice commonalities in problems and thinking patterns. All of this funnels well into creating outputs such as data visualizations that land well.

My hidden superpower isn't just listening - it's hearing beyond the literal words to the intent.

Users of at least 2 languages generally fare better here, so if that's you then WORK that bilingual advantage. Learning a language forces you to struggle to understand the barest of concepts and learn all over how to express yourself. It's never a 1 to 1 match to your other language.

Stick with the hard problems.

I spent almost 3 years once trying to overhaul a critical system. The hardest part was convincing others - it wasn't painful enough to the people who controlled the budget, but created an enormous amount of stress for the frontend team who interfaced with clients every minute.

Small frictions eventually generate enough heat to create change.

They're transformative. My sticky problem is a key part from my shift from language interpretation to analytics. Which brings me to the next point...

It's not a pivot.

Far too often, we label any changes in our career as a pivot. That implies a sharp turn and discounts all of our prior experience. Multidisciplinary fields are enriched by everything that comes into it. I once wrote a post called linear aggression, because the myth we're sold compared to the reality we experience contrasts so much. But it's the trope that sells.

Sure, you changed lanes, but you didn't lose the distance you traveled.

Data visualization is a blend of more than most of us realize. Beyond graphing statistics, we're making patterns in numbers decipherable to humans beyond us - that's communication at its core. Chances are high that you've already been doing that in some way.

Learn at least 1 tool or codebase pretty well.

To do the work, you've got to have one area of depth in the trade. Get really good with at least one tool, and you can absolutely have a level of functioning in others. Leverage "T-shaped" expertise.

Be a T, not a square

Learning anything well doesn't require having all the answers, but having a system for getting there - just like learning a language. You may be missing a facet, but you have a way to solve for it (ex: knowing who else to call if it's too far out of your domain, hitting Stack Overflow, etc). One deep skill gives you something to leverage for knowledge.

Solve problems while making beautiful things

With visualization work, it's far too easy to focus on the end product. It's worth its weight in the problems it solves.

Here's the rub: form and function aren't opposites, but supporting structures. Do both well and you create a product that stays in the hearts and minds of people.

Form and function aren't opposites, but supporting structures.

To have a solid career in visualization, you have to make things other people can truly use. Beyond charts on a page, think about flow, intent, how users "converse" with the work, but also how it grows - what I and my coauthor call Functional Aesthetics for Data Visualization.

It's the end of the page where I should sell you something. Here's what I'd love to do instead: pitch me on your hardest analytical project that you'd love to solve. I'll feature the winner here with some ideas.