This repository contains the materials for the D-Lab Excel Visualization workshop.

Basic familiarity with Excel is helpful (see Excel Fundamentals. Advanced Excel experience is not required. Participants should be comfortable opening a workbook and navigating rows, columns, and worksheets.

Check out D-Lab's Workshop Catalog to browse all workshops, see what is running now, and review prerequisites.

This workshop teaches participants how to turn data into clear, effective, and accessible Excel visualizations. Participants will learn how to start with an analytical question, prepare chart-ready data, choose appropriate chart types, build Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts, and use AI as a reviewer for visualization decisions.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Apply core principles of effective data visualization.
• Prepare and structure data in a chart-ready format.
• Choose chart types based on the analytical question, audience, and data structure.
• Build and interpret Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts.
• Apply accessibility principles, including readable labels, sufficient contrast, and non-color-only encodings.
• Use AI critically as a reviewer for chart design, interpretation, and data structure.

We will use Microsoft Excel to go through the workshop materials. Microsoft Excel Desktop is recommended because it has the fullest feature set and best performance. Excel for the web may work for some activities, but some charting and Pivot Table features may be limited or appear differently.

Those in the UC Berkeley community have free access to Microsoft Excel through Microsoft 365:

https://software.berkeley.edu/microsoft-365-apps-enterprise

Before the workshop:

1. Make sure Microsoft Excel is installed on your computer or available through Microsoft 365.
2. Download the workshop workbook from this repository or the linked Google Drive folder.
3. Open the workbook in Microsoft Excel.
4. Open the workshop slides.
5. Save a copy of the workbook before beginning the exercises.

This repository includes:

• Workshop slides
• Excel workbook / dataset

D-Lab works with Berkeley faculty, research staff, and students to advance data-intensive social science and humanities research. D-Lab provides practical training, consulting, resources, and space to support learners at all skill levels. No programming, statistical, or computer science background is necessary to get started with many D-Lab services.

Visit the D-Lab homepage to learn more about upcoming workshops, consulting, data services, and working groups.

• Lance Santana