🖥️ Week 03, Day 04 - Lecture
Data Storytelling & Project Structure
It’s a wrap! This is our final lecture of the course.
Today we look at why we structure data projects the way we do and explore different storytelling approaches. This afternoon, you’ll have your final project work session with individual support to complete your submission. Use the ☑ Project Checklist to ensure everything is ready.
Note: This page presents the content in a logical order for reference, but we won’t follow this exact sequence in class. The actual lecture will be more interactive and responsive to your questions and project needs.
⏰ Thursday, 31 July 2025 | 10:00am to 1:00pm 📍 Location: CKK.2.06 (see LSE’s 🗺️ campus map)
🎯 Why Project Structure Matters
Your final project follows a specific structure for practical reasons. Let’s look at why we organise data projects this way and how it helps with storytelling.
The Data Engineering Pipeline
Every data project follows this logical flow:
- Data Collection (NB01) Gather raw data with clear justification
- Database Design (NB02) Structure data for efficient analysis
- Analysis (NB03) Extract insights using vectorised operations
- Storytelling (docs/index.md) Communicate findings to your audience
This structure matches how data professionals actually work. It ensures your analysis is reproducible, well-documented, and easy to follow.
📊 Storytelling Approaches: Static vs Interactive
Different storytelling formats serve different purposes. Let’s look at how the Office for National Statistics approaches data communication.
This builds on what we learned in 🖥️ Week 03, Day 03 about communicating to different audiences - technical colleagues, data analysts, and the general public.
Static Reports: “Convince Me of Your Point”
The ONS article shows controlled storytelling:
- Clear narrative arc with specific progression
- Author guides the reader through findings
- Controlled disclosure of information
- Professional credibility through methodology
This approach works when you want to guide your audience to specific conclusions.
Interactive Dashboards: “I Make My Own Decisions”
The ONS also provides interactive tools where:
- Readers explore independently
- Self-directed discovery
- Personalised insights
- Empowering user experience
This approach works when you want to let your audience discover their own insights.
🎨 Advanced Storytelling with Quarto
Quarto offers useful tools for creating professional data stories. Let’s explore some advanced capabilities.
Closeread: Scrollytelling for Data Stories
Closeread is a Quarto extension that enables scrollytelling, a technique where visualisations and text work together as you scroll through the page.
Key Features:
- Interactive visualisations that respond to scroll position
- Progressive disclosure of information
- Professional storytelling techniques
- Seamless integration with Quarto
Inspiration:
- Closeread Gallery - See what’s possible
- Closeread Prize Winners - Excellence in practice
This takes the interactive elements we explored in 🖥️ Week 03, Day 03 with Streamlit dashboards to the next level, creating immersive data stories.
HTML Theming: Professional Presentation
Quarto offers extensive theming options to make your projects look professional:
- 25+ built-in themes from the Bootswatch project
- Custom CSS for unique styling
- Dark/light mode support
- Responsive design for all devices
This builds on the HTML and CSS skills we introduced in 🖥️ Week 03, Day 02 when we explored web scraping and project organisation.
👥 Peer Review Session
Stop working on your projects now. Form groups of 3 and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your projects.
Requirements:
- Show your code or pages (don’t just tell about it)
- Discuss at whatever stage you’re at, no need to be complete
- When giving feedback to others, think of the rationale. Ask “why did you make [this specific] choice?”
- Give constructive feedback into what works well and what could be improved
This peer review helps you articulate your project decisions and learn from others’ approaches.
🎨 Hands-On: Quarto Theming
Let’s experiment with Quarto’s theming capabilities to enhance your project presentation.
Switching from Markdown to Quarto
Instead of docs/index.md, try docs/index.qmd for more powerful features:
---
title: "Your Project Title"
format: html
theme: cosmo # Try different themes
---Available Themes
Explore the Quarto HTML Themes documentation to see all available options:
- Professional themes: cosmo, litera, lumen
- Modern themes: morph, quartz, vapor
- Classic themes: journal, simplex, united
Publishing to GitHub Pages
Use the render to docs method to publish your themed website:
- Render to docs folder:
quarto render --to html --output-dir docs - Enable GitHub Pages in your repository settings
- Set source to docs folder in GitHub Pages settings
This follows the same GitHub Pages setup process we covered in 🖥️ Week 03, Day 03, but now with enhanced theming capabilities.
📦 Project Sample Showcase
I’ll show you one complete end to end project sample in class (available only on Nuvolos). This demonstrates:
- Complete data pipeline from collection to storytelling
- Professional documentation and project structure
- Effective storytelling techniques
- Real-world complexity and problem-solving
This example shows what’s possible when you combine technical skills with storytelling principles.
🔗 Storytelling Resources