How I Built a Dashboard I Didn’t Know How to Build (With AI)

This talk is about my experience as a journalist trying to build an interactive data dashboard without having a coding or developer background.

In journalism, we often work with datasets, charts, and visual explainers. But when it comes to creating interactive tools or dashboards, the work usually depends on technical skills or developer support. I faced this challenge while reporting on food price data. Although we published stories and static charts, I felt something was missing. Readers could see the information, but they could not explore trends, compare states, or interact with the data in a meaningful way.

This led to a practical question: Can a journalist build a dashboard without being a coder?

The talk shares how I began experimenting with AI tools to help bridge this gap. Instead of presenting AI as an easy solution, I will discuss the process, including trial and error, confusion, incorrect outputs, and the time spent understanding what was happening. Over time, I realised that building a dashboard is not only about writing code. It involves making decisions about what data to include, how to structure the interface, how users might interact with it, and what insights are worth highlighting.

A key part of this journey was developing a diet cost calculator. Rather than only showing food prices, this feature attempted to answer a more relatable question: What does it cost to afford a basic daily diet? This shift helped connect the data to everyday realities.

This talk connects to wider discussions in data visualization about accessibility, learning new tools, and how AI is changing creative and analytical work. The session will move through the problem, the experiment, the challenges, the design decisions, and the lessons learned.

This talk is intended for journalists, designers, students, and anyone curious about building with data. Key takeaways focus on realistic expectations of AI, the importance of judgement, and learning through experimentation.