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“I can’t see the
wood for the trees”
(7 things to help make data-viz clearer)
Humans are
intensely visual
creatures
Location
Alphabet
Time
Category
Hierarchy
Richard Saul Wurman
Data
visualisation is
about exposing
patterns
Correlation
!= causation
Per capita consumption of mozzarella cheese (US)
correlates with
Civil engineering doctorates awarded (US)
Spurious Correlations: http://tylervigen.com/view_correlation?id=3890
What’s the story?
As a <someone>…
I want <a feature>…
So that <a benefit>…
What does your
audience want?
User Stories
As an Hispanic Mother
I want to see how unemployment
disproportionately affects young
women who haven’t graduated
high-school,
So that I can show my daughter
the difference an education
makes
User Stories
http://nyti.ms/NHqEMC
Overview first,
Zoom and Filter,
Details-on-demand
Impact
curiosityexploration
Ben Schneiderman
personalisation
Keep
It
Simple
S…
Less is more
http://bit.ly/1nC9JWO
Size matters
0
1
2
3
Xx Xx πx² / 4
Don’t use two
dimensions
when one
will do
Worse still…
Don’t use 3D
What are 3D Pie charts good for?
The axes of evil
Changing y-axis maximum
Changing ratio of graph dimensions
The axes of evil
Truncated bar graphs
http://bit.ly/1tcUsig
Colour Matters
1 in 12 men
are colour blind
http://wtfviz.net/
Geography
!= maps
Make it personal
I've just found out I’m in the Traditional working class group in Britain’s new class system #Whatsyourclass http://bbc.in/12acLLV
Overpriced fuel? I pay £0.39 more than average to fill up. Try @BBCNewsGraphics price calculator http://bbc.in/WeKlw4#petrolprice
Which Olympics athlete are you? I'm Paloma Schmidt - find out yours with the BBC's #AthleteLikeMe #BBC2012 #London2012 http://bbc.in/NE48lq
1. Form follows function
(What are the patterns in your data)
2. What does your Audience want?
(User stories: “As x, I want y, so that z”)
3. Overview first, then detail
(Martini glass)
4. Keep it simple
(Less is more)
5. Visualisations can misrepresent and mislead
(Shapes, axes and colour)
6. Geography != maps
(Maps are great – but complicated)
7. Make it personal
(What’s the Hashtag?)
More links: one-tab.com/page/r-QbXpgPR5KmyRdq0sYnEg
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