Data Visualization for Audiences in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

I wrote another post for the Data Visualization Society (DVS)'s Medium Nightingale entitled Data Visualization for Audiences in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, which summarizes a related discussion I moderated in June 2019 on the DVS Slack. The discussion was interesting and helpful to hear about others' experiences. I really like this quote, which I think is important to keep in mind.

“One guiding principle I have is that the graphic is only as useful as the audience finds it. This principle has two implications: 1) that feedback and revision is essential in the process of making an effective graphic and 2) that audience understanding/acceptance should have greater weight in making decisions than design preferences.”

The article was a Medium selected read for Data Science.

Recent activities

Baltimore summers generally involve me scurrying between air conditioned locales. In the spirit of my own proclivity for efficiency, I've been maximizing my free time the following ways.

Cody During Peloton Rides

1. I've reached 150 Peloton cycling classes under Cody's watchful eye. I expect my trends will change now that Peloton offers more 30 minute classes, which make 45 minute classes seem more "insurmountable" after a long work day, and more Rock classes available.

2. I wrote a post for the Data Visualization Society Medium, the Global Health Dashboard Epidemic, which was a Medium selected read for Data Science and Health.

3. You can get my candles at Trohv in Baltimore (in addition to Etsy).

4. I'm releasing a pizza themed journal with my friend Maria Adelmann! PIZZA METRICS is the first in a series of data-focused food-rating journals from Yum Index that allow you to rate and compare foods based on your personal preferences. Oh and we created Yum Index too! The book will be out August 2019!

Peloton Century Ride Journey

Saturdays are the only days you can convince me to do a 60 minute ride.

Last week I hit my Peloton Century Ride - my 100th cycling class with Peloton.

I have historically hated most forms of exercise. I have been told that many people get an "adrenaline rush" as a result of exercise. This is foreign to me. I am a Gemma Correll exercise cartoon. Despite my difficult relationship with exercise, I love Peloton. I use the Peloton app with my own spinning bike. I have never been so committed to exercise before. I think Peloton cycling classes are genuinely fun, the teachers and music are great, and I can do them at home with a very attentive audience:

In honor of reaching my 100th class, I thought it would be fun to explore my Peloton cycling journey with R. Peloton allows users to download their workout data in a CSV file. I assume there are many serious Peloton users that are serious about tracking their statistics and serious about improving their performance. I am not that serious, however, my curiosity compelled me to click on a "Download Workouts" button in my profile, and I noticed that a CSV file downloaded to my computer. So there's that.

Overview

I took 28 live and 72 on demand classes.

My 100 rides represent a total of 3,775 minutes on the bike. A majority of the 100 rides are 45 minute classes; the average length of my rides is 37.75 minutes. I take the most classes on the weekends, and I apparently am too pooped to take classes on Thursdays.

I predominately take on demand classes, because I like the convenience of taking a class whenever I want. However, sometimes I choose to take a class live so I have the pressure of riding while "someone" is watching (e.g. inflict guilt on myself to make me peddle faster).

Related to peddle guilt, I have taken five classes live in studio. In the studio, my main objective is to not be last on the leaderboard. I was curious if my output—which is a measure of power (how hard one works)—increased over my Peloton journey. I calculated the total output per class minute of the five studio classes I've taken. I was on the up until my last class - a 30 minutes 90s country ride with Hannah. I remember being pretty unmotivated by the music and only started to hustle when Hannah gave me a shout out. Peddle guilt is real, but can only do so much.

Teacher preference

I knew I had a teacher bias, but I didn't realize the extent of this bias until now.

Essentially 60% of my Peloton rides have literally ended with me hearing "Live Learn Lovewell" or "Bye Boo." I had my century ride with Emma - a 45 minute 80s pop ride. She gave me a shoutout and even pronounced my name right! Obviously she is a winner. I'm surprised I've seen Denis' hair whips only five times.

Music

I will use every opportunity possible to use the R magick package.

A major highlight of Peloton classes is the song selection. When I browse classes available on demand, I first filter by instructor and browse class song lists. There are certain musicians that have high priority in my cycling heart, like Fleetwood Mac or Lady Gaga. Unfortunately song/musician information isn't part of the Peloton user workout data. I first planned on looking up the playlists for each ride and recording when artists appeared (I was really committed to learning what percent of all rides have included Fleetwood Mac), but most of the playlists for my rides are no longer available.

I ended up categorizing rides based on ride title and predominant music. For example, I categorized "90s Pop" or "Y2K" classes as "Pop." I classified any "80s" or "70s" classes as "Rock," since the playlists were mostly "Rock" than "Pop." Some categories were a bit more haphazard, but also based on playlists. For example, I classified "Club Bangers" classes as "Hip Hop."

67% of the classes I have taken are Pop classes. This is probably a reflection of: 1) me enjoying Pop music and 2) a majority of classes offered are Pop themed. I've noticed that in the past few months, Peloton has been offering more Rock classes, which is great! If more Punk and Metal classes had been available, I undoubtedly would have had taken more Punk and Metal classes (depending on the instructor). Peloton - please offer a metal HIIT class to challenge everyone's sanity.

Here's to another 100 rides

For future rides, I'll try to take more classes from other teachers and improve my output the next time I'm in the studio. Even if the music is 90s country. I'm still surprised I made it to my century ride, and I'm looking forward to receiving my Peloton century ride shirt so I can further dwell on my victory.

If you're thinking about buying a Peloton bike, I—formerly filled with exercise disdain— would be happy to answer any questions! If you contact me, I can also share with you my Peloton referral code, which will give you $100 off accessories.

I'll be working on putting my R code in a web-based platform so that any Peloton user can similarly explore their user data without knowing how to code in R.

Update: You can read about my 500 Peloton rides here!