Using Infographics to Represent

Madeleine Sorapure

the Work of Writing Programs

infovis as a mass medium of communication

advances in data collection, storage, and analysis have brought about new techniques, tools, audiences, purposes for infovis

data visualizations entertain, inform, persuade, and communicate on a wide range of topics

analyzing & producing infographics

data visualization is no longer the domain of experts in work-related tasks using expensive proprietary software

several projects encourage the social exploration of data

the general trend is toward “automatic infographics editing”: web-based, template-driven, free or for a fee

a closer look at easel.ly templates (“vhemes”) offer different visualization types—

e.g., chart, diagram, map, timeline while providing defaults, easel.ly also allows users to change

color schemes, drag-and-drop objects, and add images

automated infographics:the fear

“You start with a complete visual and then work your way backwards to the data…. It's rare that good graphics are produced when you go this direction.” “A pretty presentation of random factoids is not the same thing as a graph that is shaped by information, expressing it in a way that gives new & better insights.”

“It is inevitable that products like this will arrive. After they do, prepare for the proliferation of more and more poorly developed visualizations.”

automated infographics: the hope

“Anything that makes it that easy to create something will always produce mediocre ideas. To allow someone to easily create an infographic for something very worthwhile is worth the risk of having so many bad infographics made.”

“What an application like this could do is enable people who understand journalism and statistics but not design to get into making infographics. Even charts and tables are meaningless if they're compiled by people who don't understand what they say.”

rhetorical expertise we bring our experience using technology rhetorically and

critically to the discussion, development, and implementation of data visualization tools

“editorial layers” in infovis: sites at which “editorial judgments, and thus rhetorical techniques, can enter into the construction of narrative visualizations” (Hullman & Diakopolous, 2001) data visual representation text/annotation interactivity

opportunities different ways of organizing, understanding, and

representing information: e.g., Ben Schneiderman’s “information-seeking mantra” overview zoom & filter details on demand

interactivity new connections to visual rhetoric and technical

communication