“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