Top 3 Visualizations, Iron Viz: Student Edition 2024

Learn about the top 3 visualizations, winners, and judging for Iron Viz: Student Edition 2024 —Tableau’s annual data visualization competition just for students.

Learn about the top 3 visualizations, winners, and judging for Iron Viz: Student Edition 2024 —Tableau’s annual data visualization competition just for students.

Since 2019, Tableau has hosted a data visualization competition exclusively for students: Iron Viz: Student Edition. This competition allows students to practice their Tableau skills and meet members of the Tableau Community before jumping into the larger Iron Viz competition. The winners then go onto the big stage at Tableau Conference’s Iron Viz and experience an event unlike any other.

The 2024 Iron Viz: Student Edition competition results are in. This year’s theme is movies. In collaboration with Data + Movies, students were challenged to viz their favorite movies and cast members, from Oppenheimer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This theme got the cameras rolling for many, inspiring 66 entrants from 8 countries around the world.

How is Iron Viz: Student Edition judged?

The judging panel—which is made up of Tableau Ambassadors, Visionaries, and former Iron Viz winners—reviews the submissions, doing the difficult task of selecting the winners, using the following criteria to score all entries:

Beauty & Design: How appropriate is the design for the story being told?
Storytelling: Is a clear story being told or a question being explored, and is there appropriate context?
Analytical Depth: How sophisticated and appropriate is the data that is being used for the story?
Visualization Best Practices: Are insights being portrayed using appropriate layout, charts, and interactivity features?

Thank you to our community judges for dedicating their time and expertise: Christina Gorga, CJ Mayes, Diego Parker, Felicia Styer, Jack Hineman, Kayla Swain, Mo Wootten, Prasann Prem, Rohit Prasad, Roshni Gohil, Sarah Bartlett, Tore Levinsen, and Will Sutton.

2024 Iron Viz: Student Edition Winners

Congratulations to the top three visualizations of the 2024 Student Iron Viz competition. They used unique chart types to get their point across in fun and creative ways while also making insightful comparisons in the process. Dive into the worlds of Studio Ghibli, Spider-Man, and Black Panther with the following visualizations.

Studio Ghibli: Global Force in Animation

Jane Kamata
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science & Business Administration (Business Analytics)
Northeastern University

Studio Ghibli: Global Force in Animation

“Looking at the data, I immediately thought of Studio Ghibli, my favorite film studio. I believed I would be able to leverage my creativity and artistic skills to create a viz that showcases why Studio Ghibli is so important to popular culture while adding unique visual elements. I decided to make my own drawings of their characters to avoid property issues. I thought it was especially important to retain Ghibli's key themes and visual motifs.”

Data+Movie: Into the Spider-Verse

Xinran Peng
Master of Science in Informatics (Human Computer Interaction/Design)
Indiana University of Bloomington

Data+Movie: Into the Spider-Verse

“I love the Spider-Man movies and the latest animated film, and thought it would be very fun to compare the different Spider-Man actor's careers, and dig deeper into the Spider-Verse. This data visualization aims to answer intriguing questions, such as identifying the actor with the most appearances across all Spider-Man movies, finding the highest-rated Spider-Man film, and uncovering which Spider-Man actor has the most featured films. Additionally, it delves into the performance of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, offering insights into how this animated gem measures up against other animation films.”

Data+Movies: Black Panther

Nkosi Mngomezulu
Master of Science in Data Science
University of St. Thomas

Data+Movies: Black Panther

“My focal point revolved around the Black Panther series, and its standing amidst the expansive array of films within the Marvel universe. I aimed to compare the performance of the Black Panther series and the highest-performing films within the Marvel cinematic canon. My exploration investigated the number of votes, duration on the films' ratings… [and] divergence in the cast composition between the Black Panther films, particularly noting the gender shift depicted in the cover images across different installments.”

Countdown to the 2024 Iron Viz Championship at Tableau Conference

Congratulations to all of the show-stopping winners and thank you to everyone who participated. Want to see more Iron Viz: Student Edition? Check out the Iron Viz: Student Edition Winners Gallery with vizzes from over the years.

Continue leveling up your skills by signing up for a free Tableau license through our Tableau for Students program.

Are you an instructor? Request new licenses so that you can jump right into teaching valuable data skills in the classroom.