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Design With Data

AT PIVOT DATA STUDIO, I TRANSFORM YOUR COMPLEX DATA INTO EFFECTIVE DATA INTERFACES.

- Cydney Nielsen

MY WORK

MY WORK

WHAT I DO
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WHAT I DO

I help my clients communicate, interpret, and take action on their data by designing effective data interfaces. My strength is in figuring out what to build. I love a challenging problem and can navigate ambiguity to transform the messy and complex into the interpretable.

DEFINE

the problem

I listen to users. I work with them to understand their analytical goals, pain points, and technical requirements. I then capture these in a design brief that aligns the team and informs the design.  

WRANGLE

the data

Data is at the heart of a data interface. It's critical to understand its properties and limitations. Datasets need wrangling into an appropriate form and I collaborate with your data science team or work independently to understand and prepare your data.

DESIGN

the prototypes

Data will always surprise you and differ from your imagined ideal. I work hands-on with data to iteratively prototype visualizations in code in addition to using sketches and wireframes to explore solutions.

DEPLOY

the solution

Depending on the scope, I can build the final product or collaborate with your engineering and data science teams to deploy the data interface into a production environment.

communicate

the methods

I can help you distill the key elements of the solution and its outcomes into written or presentation form. I'm also experienced in running workshops on core visualization principles and practices. 

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ABOUT ME

ABOUT ME

My name is Cydney Nielsen. I'm a scientist, designer, and founder of Pivot Data Studio. I design and build data interfaces. My work spans several disciplines including data science, engineering, and design and I thrive when collaborating at their intersections.

2023-present

PIVOT DATA STUDIO

Founder + Director


I founded Pivot to follow my passion for data visualization and focus my full attention on tackling challenging data communication problems with clients.

2008-2018

2018-2022

MICROSOFT

Designer + Data Scientist

My love for making products led me to Microsoft where I worked on products such as Dynamics 365 Guides for HoloLens and contributed across the whole product cycle from pre-release to global deployment. 

BC CANCER

Research Associate


During my 10 years at BC Cancer, I grew from a postdoctoral fellow to a data visualization leader guiding a team of software developers. Throughout I helped translate complex genomics data into effective interfaces for scientific discovery. 

2003-2008

MIT

PhD, Computational Biology


My roots are in science. My PhD instilled in me a rigorous approach to data analysis that's invaluable to my practice today. I'm fascinated by biology, enjoy reading scientific literature, and love tackling challenging problems in this domain.

CONTACT
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