Why Planning Matters: My Thought Process Behind a Data Project
Introduction
Before I wrote any code or imported any libraries, I spent time planning a data analysis project — and most of that planning involved one simple thing: asking ‘why?’ over and over.
This post captures how I navigated through early-stage project design not with technical tools, but with intentional questions.
The Problem
I wanted to explore how beginner developers struggle during their early learning process.
But… why?
→ Because I’ve been there myself — overwhelmed, lost, and stuck.
→ Because bootcamps and instructors often don’t understand where learners are actually struggling.
→ Because I wanted to show empathy in data.
My Idea
Use Reddit posts to extract emotional expressions and common obstacles that new coders face.
But again… why Reddit?
→ It’s raw. It’s real. It’s full of frustrated beginners sharing their genuine thoughts.
→ The data isn’t curated or filtered like course feedback forms.
→ Reddit threads reflect actual mental and emotional hurdles — not just technical blocks.
Concerns That Came Up
Q: Isn’t that biased? Aren’t Reddit posts just from people who are already struggling?
A: Yes — and that’s the point. This isn’t about average learners. It’s about those falling behind, crying out for help. They deserve visibility.
Q: Can I measure anything from emotional language?
A: Not perfectly. But even qualitative signals — like frequency of frustration words or repeat complaints — can inform mentors and educators.
Planning Themes
- Empathy as a driver: I wasn’t just curious. I cared. I wanted the project to speak up for silent strugglers.
- Meaning over metrics: I didn’t want to predict or classify. I wanted to understand.
- Human-focused analysis: The goal wasn’t model accuracy — it was insight into human learning pain points.
What I learned
Planning like this taught me:
- A good project starts with a question, not with code
- “Why” leads to more powerful design than “how”
- Emotional clarity can make a technical project more impactful
What I want to do next
- Start collecting data using Reddit API
- Learn basic text mining (tokenizing, word counts, filtering)
- Tag emotional keywords and categorize complaints
- Build a presentation or dashboard to share with educators or mentors
This post might not include any fancy code — but it reflects the most important part of any project: the thinking that comes first.