Plot.lineY(data, { x: "Date", y: "Counsellors", tip: true }).plot({
title: "Number of BetterHelp counsellors over time",
caption:
"The graph indicates a sigmoid shape, where it grew exponentially over the pandemic and started to saturate as it ended. There was a clear data anomaly around late 2021 that caused the number of therapists to dramatically decrease and flatline, before returning to its normal growth rate.",
y: {
tickFormat: "s",
grid: true,
ticks: 5
},
marks: [Plot.ruleY([0])]
})
Plot.plot({
title: "Cumulative user growth hasn't really plateaued",
caption:
"Although cumulative growth has slowed, it hasn't returned to the pre-pandemic slope, and is much closer to early- and mid-pandemic levels. New users are trying the service at a similar pace.",
x: {
domain: [new Date("2018-12-04"), new Date("2024-07-01")]
},
clip: true,
y: {
tickFormat: "s",
grid: true,
ticks: 5,
label: "All-time users"
},
marks: [
Plot.lineY(data, { x: "Date", y: "Users", tip: true }),
Plot.ruleY([0]),
Plot.ruleX(dates, {
x: "Date",
strokeDasharray: [4, 3],
stroke: "#3a7a4b",
strokeWidth: 1,
tip: true
}),
Plot.text(dates, {
x: "Date",
text: "Text",
dx: -4,
y: 0,
dy: -4,
fill: "#3a7a4b",
stroke: "white",
strokeWidth: 7,
rotate: -90,
textAnchor: "start",
lineAnchor: "bottom",
fontWeight: "bold"
})
]
})
data = [
// Originally, the about page had an updating counter
// https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/https://www.betterhelp.com/about/
// (Before this, the homepage said 'Over 2,000', which clearly wasn't true)
{ Date: "2017-08-15", Counsellors: 1595 },
{ Date: "2018-02-26", Counsellors: 1761 },
{ Date: "2018-03-20", Counsellors: 1839 },
{ Date: "2018-04-03", Counsellors: 1883 },
{ Date: "2018-05-23", Counsellors: 1933 },
{ Date: "2018-08-14", Counsellors: 2283 },
// The counters then moved to the homepage after a few months of silence
// https://web.archive.org/web/20181204043742/https://www.betterhelp.com/
// These updated very frequently so I sample ~monthly
{ Date: "2018-12-04", Counsellors: 3404, Users: 467_464 },
{ Date: "2019-01-01", Counsellors: 3486, Users: 481_050 },
{ Date: "2019-02-01", Counsellors: 3641, Users: 500_911 },
{ Date: "2019-02-28", Counsellors: 3719, Users: 517_599 },
{ Date: "2019-03-11", Counsellors: 3873, Users: 524_506 },
{ Date: "2019-04-01", Counsellors: 3744, Users: 537_317 },
{ Date: "2019-05-12", Counsellors: 4033, Users: 562_373 },
{ Date: "2019-05-31", Counsellors: 4061, Users: 575_719 },
{ Date: "2019-06-07", Counsellors: 4151, Users: 581_261 },
{ Date: "2019-07-01", Counsellors: 4186, Users: 600_150 },
{ Date: "2019-07-31", Counsellors: 4466, Users: 625_713 },
{ Date: "2019-08-29", Counsellors: 4758, Users: 649_810 },
{ Date: "2019-10-02", Counsellors: 4900, Users: 678_788 },
{ Date: "2019-11-12", Counsellors: 5332, Users: 717_087 },
{ Date: "2019-12-04", Counsellors: 5486, Users: 734_035 },
{ Date: "2020-01-07", Counsellors: 5672, Users: 760_421 },
{ Date: "2020-01-28", Counsellors: 6209, Users: 781_846 },
{ Date: "2020-02-12", Counsellors: 6530, Users: 798_489 },
{ Date: "2020-03-19", Counsellors: 7161, Users: 839_950 },
{ Date: "2020-04-01", Counsellors: 7303, Users: 857_453 },
{ Date: "2020-05-04", Counsellors: 8259, Users: 950_363 },
{ Date: "2020-06-09", Counsellors: 9386, Users: 1_033_195 },
{ Date: "2020-07-01", Counsellors: 10106, Users: 1_079_201 },
{ Date: "2020-07-30", Counsellors: 11357, Users: 1_140_617 },
{ Date: "2020-09-01", Counsellors: 11735, Users: 1_213_962 },
{ Date: "2020-10-05", Counsellors: 12695, Users: 1_269_724 },
{ Date: "2020-11-02", Counsellors: 13408, Users: 1_317_272 },
{ Date: "2020-12-05", Counsellors: 14197, Users: 1_372_812 },
{ Date: "2021-01-01", Counsellors: 14589, Users: 1_421_645 },
{ Date: "2021-01-31", Counsellors: 15799, Users: 1_493_776 },
{ Date: "2021-03-03", Counsellors: 16082, Users: 1_571_354 },
{ Date: "2021-04-05", Counsellors: 17516, Users: 1_649_122 },
{ Date: "2021-05-01", Counsellors: 19376, Users: 1_715_226 },
{ Date: "2021-06-02", Counsellors: 20612, Users: 1_795_049 },
{ Date: "2021-07-01", Counsellors: 21312, Users: 1_884_557 },
{ Date: "2021-08-01", Counsellors: 22290, Users: 1_962_677 },
{ Date: "2021-08-31", Counsellors: 23258, Users: 2_043_135 },
{ Date: "2021-09-30", Counsellors: 24314, Users: 2_128_414 },
{ Date: "2021-11-01", Counsellors: 25209, Users: 2_234_879 },
{ Date: "2021-12-01", Counsellors: 20590, Users: 2_325_724 },
{ Date: "2021-12-29", Counsellors: 20590, Users: 2_382_598 },
{ Date: "2022-02-01", Counsellors: 20590, Users: 2_490_943 },
{ Date: "2022-03-01", Counsellors: 22914, Users: 2_578_547 },
{ Date: "2022-04-01", Counsellors: 23784, Users: 2_645_363 },
{ Date: "2022-05-01", Counsellors: 24597, Users: 2_767_838 },
{ Date: "2022-06-01", Counsellors: 25426, Users: 2_874_628 },
{ Date: "2022-07-01", Counsellors: 25529, Users: 2_972_047 },
{ Date: "2022-08-01", Counsellors: 26734, Users: 3_073_355 },
{ Date: "2022-09-01", Counsellors: 27239, Users: 3_188_142 },
// Here, they finally change the landing page design but keep the counters
{ Date: "2022-10-01", Counsellors: 27694, Users: 3_295_527 },
{ Date: "2022-11-01", Counsellors: 28366, Users: 3_404_787 },
{ Date: "2022-12-01", Counsellors: 29344, Users: 3_502_180 },
{ Date: "2023-01-01", Counsellors: 29957, Users: 3_588_998 },
{ Date: "2023-02-01", Counsellors: 30961, Users: 3_704_004 },
{ Date: "2023-03-01", Counsellors: 31211, Users: 3_807_453 },
{ Date: "2023-04-01", Counsellors: 31437, Users: 3_919_895 },
{ Date: "2023-05-03", Counsellors: 31973, Users: 4_028_750 },
{ Date: "2023-06-01", Counsellors: 32327, Users: 4_125_790 },
{ Date: "2023-07-01", Counsellors: 31561, Users: 3_980_915 },
{ Date: "2023-07-31", Counsellors: 32888, Users: 4_065_366 },
{ Date: "2023-09-01", Counsellors: 32673, Users: 4_156_138 },
{ Date: "2023-10-01", Counsellors: 33840, Users: 4_238_309 },
{ Date: "2023-11-02", Counsellors: 34295, Users: 4_327_668 },
{ Date: "2023-12-01", Counsellors: 34507, Users: 4_395_512 },
{ Date: "2023-12-31", Counsellors: 34378, Users: 4_441_968 },
{ Date: "2024-01-30", Counsellors: 35194, Users: 4_453_501 },
{ Date: "2024-03-02", Counsellors: 35454, Users: 4_532_200 },
{ Date: "2024-04-03", Counsellors: 35488, Users: 4_600_691 },
{ Date: "2024-05-02", Counsellors: 35469, Users: 4_674_328 },
{ Date: "2024-06-02", Counsellors: 35515, Users: 4_753_672 },
{ Date: "2024-07-01", Counsellors: 34158, Users: 4_825_205 }
// And finally, at time of writing, they only just removed the counter
].map(({ Date: dateString, Counsellors, Users }) => ({
Date: new Date(dateString),
Counsellors,
Users
}))
dates = [
{ Date: "2020-03-11", Text: "WHO declares COVID-19 pandemic" },
{ Date: "2023-05-05", Text: "WHO ends pandemic status" }
].map(({ Date: rawDate, Text }) => ({ Date: new Date(rawDate), Text }))
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