I really love this tool that allows reporters to develop their own data visualization components for a story. For years I was forever waiting for an old-school graphics guy to get me maps or charts I had requested, and they always seemed lacking in creativity and dynamism but I didn’t have the skill set to conceptualize or illustrate something different. This tool allows you to plug your data into a variety of graphs and charts and that experimentation could either lead to something you could publish, take to your data viz guy as a prototype, or expand your concept and enable you to imagine something new altogether. I think it really democratizes the process of data visualization, which is key to keeping readers engaged online, I think.
— Christa