From chaos to clarity: Designing an engaging data analytics contest
Turning data-drive challenges into growing opportunities for students
The Data Analytics Challenge, now in its fifth edition, was designed to help Newcastle students expand their ambitions and explore professional opportunities in data analytics. Initially, the competition was run without a dedicated website, relying on disjointed documents to deliver instructions and resources. As participation increased, the need for a centralized, clear, and engaging platform became essential. Since 2022, I played a key role in creating and refining the website for each new edition.
The challenge
The primary challenge was to transform scattered documents into a cohesive, user-friendly website that clearly outlined the competition's objectives, requirements, and available resources. Additionally, there were no formal Terms and Conditions in place, which was crucial given the monetary prizes involved. I worked closely with the legal team to ensure these were properly defined and integrated.
The solution
I collaborated with a designer to develop a dynamic yet approachable visual style using vibrant colors, simple shapes, and engaging animations. This helped balance the technical content of the challenge. In 2023 and 2024, the graphics were updated to align with the challenge themes: data-driven food waste reduction in 2023 and exploring sports and leisure in the North East in 2024. By 2024, I also took on the full development of the site, ensuring the established structure was maintained while improving functionality where needed.
Additional thoughts
Using After Effects and Lottie boosted engagement, while a clear template sped up future updates. For this type of projects we need to be aware of the legal implications, Terms and Conditions didn't exist until I raised it and involved the legal department, which was vital for ensuring transparency and participant trust.