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Writer's pictureElena Drakulevska

Inside Out of Data Design: Riding the Emotional Rollercoaster

I LOVE animated movies!! I was finishing up university when this movie came out and of course I went to watch it. And OMG I've been waiting for the sequel ever since. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you feel ALL the emotions. Can't believe it's been 9 long years but Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' finally came out!

Now, you might wonder, what does an animated movie about some emotions have anything to do with a viz & design blog? Well, DUUH everything! Just like Riley (the main character of the movie) is growing up feeling joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust, so do we as Data Designers go through our every day life riding an emotional rollercoaster. Our mood can swing from pure joy to sheer frustration, sometimes even within the same hour!


The character from Inside Out riding on a rollercoaster
The characters from 'Inside Out' riding the emotional rollercoaster of data design (generated with DALL-E)

And that’s why I’m writing this post! In the next few minutes, you'll get a front-row seat to the emotional rollercoaster we, as Data Designers, ride every day. From the highs to the lows, we'll dive into those relatable moments that make us laugh, cringe, and everything in between. But don’t worry, it’s all in good fun—and by the end, we’ll have some handy tips to help us navigate these emotions and keep our design game strong.

If you haven't seen this movie yet, I suggest you go watch it! It's amazing!! Then come back to this post again. And, you lucky duck, you don't need to wait for the sequel either. Hope you have fun reading, as I had so much fun creating it! ^^


Emotion # 1: Joy


Scenarios

Ahhh, we created a beautiful, insightful report that receives amazing feedback from our client. We got an AMAZING idea and been in the zone for a couple of hours (just like I was when I came up with this post). We learned something cool and put it to practice right away. Our complex DAX code made a WOW-worthy conditional formatting measure, and we nailed it on the first try! Without using Google or ChatGPT! Our dataviz game is strong.


Emotion

We are feeling nothing but pure joy and satisfaction of achieving something SO amazing. Life is beautiful! Nothing can ruin our good mood.


Dealing with Joy

As much as we love feeling this way, we know life isn't always rainbows and butterflies. So, let’s use this high to prepare for when those inevitable lows come knocking.


But first things first: Celebrate our success! Sure, our TO-DO list is loooooong. But, let's take a moment to appreciate our hard work and the positive feedback before we jump to the next big thing.


Share our work: Before we lose that access to our client's file, let's scrap the sensitive data and add this gem to our portfolio. Or share it on social media. Or heck, write a blog post about it! We’ll inspire others AND build our brand at the same time. It’s a win-win, right?


Keep that rainbow going: Let’s stay motivated! Use this positive experience as fuel for our future projects. Keep an ‘Amazing Feedback Diary’ of these core memories and revisit it whenever we start doubting ourselves. It’ll be like a quick joy fix for those inevitable Blue Mondays.


Emotion # 2: Sadness

A meme of Sadness all sad and text saying: When the client want to export it to Excel

Scenarios

A project doesn’t turn out as expected, or we receive the worst feedback EVER. Or, we pour our heart into a Power BI report, and the client just wants to export it to Excel. Or print it. Or cram a bunch of tables onto a single page. Sigh. Any situation where our hard work feels under-appreciated or misused.


Emotion

Sadness and utter disappointment. What's the point of creating reports? Nobody uses them anyway.

Dealing with Sadness

Sweeping it under the rug won’t help us. The pile just gets bigger and bigger until the rug can’t hold it anymore. So, let’s acknowledge the setback: Allow ourselves to feel the disappointment and reflect on what went wrong. It’s okay to feel down—just don’t unpack and live there.


Seek feedback: Use the constructive stuff to understand the issues and learn from them. As for the unhelpful feedback? Discard it like yesterday’s trash.


Now, let’s flip through our ‘Amazing Feedback Diary’—the one we created for days like this. We all hit lows sometimes, but we can’t have the highs without them. Remembering our past wins helps us pick ourselves up when we fall.


Move forward: We can’t dwell on this forever. Let’s learn from the feedback, move on, and focus our energy on the next big thing. Onward and upward!


Emotion # 3: Anger

A meme of Anger being all angry and text saying: When the client keeps changing the requirements every minute.

Scenarios

We keep finding errors in our DAX code. Seriously, ChatGPT, all we asked for was some random data in a table format! We don’t need code, we need data! Meanwhile, our client keeps changing the requirements every minute, or worse—adding to the scope. "It’s just one more table, you’ll do it by tomorrow, right? Or by the end of the day?" And of course, we need these insights ASAP!!11! Even if we’re normally calm, hearing this can make us so angry we want to go punch a bag. 🥊


Feeling

hakfjhsgljlsfk I'm surrounded by idiots!


Dealing with Anger

Anger is unproductive (and probably not great for our blood pressure). So, let’s take a break: Stepping away from the project for a short time helps us cool down and regain perspective. Break a sweat, shout into a pillow—whatever works to release that steam!


Identify triggers: Recognizing what specifically is causing our frustration can help us stay calm when a similar situation comes up again. Is it doing repetitive work? Feeling uninspired? Or maybe we’re mad at ourselves for not getting it right the first time? Knowing the triggers gives us insight to move forward.


Channel our energy: Like we said, anger is unproductive—unless we use it as fuel. Let’s turn that frustration into motivation to find creative solutions or improve current processes. Honestly, some of my best ideas come when I’m facing a challenge. It’s all about flipping the script and using it as an opportunity for growth.


Emotion # 4: Fear

A meme of Fear all scared and text saying: When you realize the deadline is tomorrow and you haven't started the report yet.

Scenarios

We’re terrified that our report or visualization won’t be well-received by the client. We fear those dreaded last-minute changes, or worse—realizing a crucial mistake just before the deadline. Or we’re staring at the screen, heart racing, as we spot an error right before we hit "send" on that important report. Or, even worse, right after we hit "send." Cue the panic!


Emotion

Oh no, oh no, oh no! Fear and dread, like when we realize we've been walking around all day with toilet paper stuck to our shoe.


Dealing with Fear

First things first: Don’t panic! Fear is a natural response, but it doesn’t have to paralyze us. Instead, let’s turn it into a motivator.


Prepare thoroughly: Prep, prep, prep! Double-check that our data is accurate and complete so we can avoid those stupid mistakes in our report. Because nothing screams "nightmare" like realizing our numbers don’t add up.


Design with care: Make sure our visualization is clear, aesthetically pleasing, and aligns with our client’s expectations. No one wants to face the fear of a disappointed client because a report looks like it was designed by a sleep-deprived raccoon.


Seek feedback: Let’s get some input from colleagues or mentors before presenting. A fresh pair of eyes can catch issues we might miss, and it gives us that much-needed confidence boost. And don’t forget to schedule regular check-ins with the client to make sure everything’s on track and meeting their expectations. The more we communicate, the less there is to fear!


Iterate: My favorite design thinking maxim? “Fail early, fail often!” The faster we get feedback, the better we become. Be ready to tweak and refine based on what we hear. Iteration isn’t failure—it’s our safety net.


Emotion # 5: Disgust

A meme of Disgust being all disgusted and text saying: When the color palette the client insists on looks like a 90's website

Scenarios

A dataviz that's basically a color clash catastrophe and makes our eyes bleed. It's like a rainbow partied too hard on our dashboard, and now we need sunglasses just to make sense of it. Or when the client's favorite palette screams more "neon disco" than "data report." Or they demand red everywhere because, hey, it's their brand color. And a pie chart with 20 categories? Yup, we’re collectively facepalming right now.


Emotion

Disgust and a resounding 'ugh' to the poor aesthetic. Just BLAH.

Dealing with Disgust

Educate our stakeholders: Gather around everyone! It's time for a crash course on how to pick the right chart types and a color palette that doesn't make our eyes bleed. We'll break out the basics of color theory, spin the color wheel, and remind everyone why accessibility is an absolute must-have—not just a nice-to-have.


Suggest alternatives: Time to step in with some classier choices! We’ll propose dataviz options that not only accurately represent the data but also please the eye. Embracing a limited color palette enhances readability and keeps our designs sleek and sophisticated.


Show examples: We use before-and-after designs to illustrate why our recommendations rock. Once our clients see the side-by-side comparison, they tend to hop right on board with our vision!


Closing words

What a ride! We've rollercoastered through pure joy, dived deep into sadness, simmered in anger, trembled with fear, and covered our eyes in disgust—all in just a few minutes!


Next time those emotions bubble up while we're designing a report, remember to pause and take a deep breath. Whether it's the rush of getting kudos, the grind of fixing endless errors, or the anxiety of chasing deadlines, each emotion teaches us something. Keep the funny memes in mind and try out some of the tactics we discussed. Let's tackle our data-designer life one emotional rollercoaster at a time. 🎢


I hope you had as much fun reading this post as I had writing it! And hey, if you haven’t watched 'Inside Out' yet, seriously, go watch it. You’ll feel ALL the emotions—and yeah, you can thank me later.


P.S. Subscribe to MoonStory, so you don't miss any future posts! In the meantime, explore some of the previous posts around data and design.


Disclaimer: This blog post is for educational and commentary purposes and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pixar or Disney. All characters and concepts from 'Inside Out' are the property of Pixar and Disney.

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