Information is fascinating at many different levels. Show me a simple graph of the components that make up a whole, that tells me something. I've found almost anything is more interesting when looked at across time, since it adds another dimension. This also helps with analysis, because outliers or rapid changes are often related to historical events Read More...
My eyes have been opened by the readings I've been doing from Tufte. While I only assigned myself "Visual Explanations," I'm beginning to feel as if I want to soak up as much of his work as possible. So, I went to my advisor's office (Rich Gordon), where the walls are lined with what feels like an infinite number of CAR/data/viz/new media books, and procured Tufte's other three works Read More...
I'm not anything resembling a visual genius, but I like to believe I have enough of an eye that I can tell what works and what doesn't. The reason Tufte's books are so helpful is that they tell me why something works, and give me rules so I know what I can and can't do. That's why I have great appreciation for the Tufte chapter of the week: "The Smallest Effective Difference" in my ongoing exploration of "Visual Explanations Read More...
At Medill, there's a wonderful tradition called the "Medill F." Make a factual error of any sort, and you fail the assignment. The sadistic part of me likes it -- a journalist's job is to tell the truth. If you miss the mark, you've failed the public, and failed at your job for the day. Harsh but true Read More...
"Visual and Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for Making Decisions," Edward Tufte, Visual Explanations This chapter gave practical examples of something I've been saying from almost the first day of my data analysis journey -- that it's absolutely fundamental that the decisions behind the analysis are shown to the reader/user Read More...
In this first set of reading, I learn that the principles of simplicity, accuracy and more are as true in data visualization as they are in a text story. Edward Tufte, Visual Explanations, "Images and Quantities" In Tufte's first paragraph of Visual Explanations, he discusses the importance of readability -- a concept I see as having a strong parallel to the usability so often discussed in a more modern era Read More...
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