Part 1 How to Make Charts Like the Pros Part 2 How to Find Stories Using Visualization Kaiser Fung July 15, 2014
Professional Sketches Subjective Critical Theory
Some Standard Data Visualization Reference Books
The Power of Visualization Dialect Maps Gapminder World Happiness Report DSL Speeds Syria Authorization Votes Beer Map of USA Scariest Jobs Chart Ever Big-Buck Pitchers http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2005/11/review_gapminde_1.html http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2014/05/how-effective-visualizationbrings-data-alive.html http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2012/04/a-matter-ofcompactness.html http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2014/06/getting-the-basics-right-ishalf-the-battle.html http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2013/09/seats-half-full-or-halfempty.html http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2013/10/deconstructing-the-map-ofbeers.html http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2013/02/remaking-a-greatchart.html http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2006/07/enigma_of_the_b.html
Mislead Misinform Language for Describing Bad Data Viz Additional Examples: Extreme temperatures in the West/Midwest: http:// junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/2005/07/another_heatwav.html American Time Use Survey: http://junkcharts.typepad.com/ junk_charts/2014/06/respect-the-readers-time.html Confuse Disorient
Beautiful Insightful Fun Language for Describing Good Data Viz What are the Secrets? Effective Clear
Language to describe what you like Make it Thick: data ink Make it Sufficient Make it Easy Make it Scream: the lede Speak Directly Consider knowledge in the head Use hierarchy of perception Make it Whole Make it Interactive* Additional Examples: Whistle-blower bubbles: http://junkcharts.typepad.com/ junk_charts/2013/03/blowing-the-whistle-at-bubble-charts.html South Korea liquor map: http://junkcharts.typepad.com/ junk_charts/2014/02/small-multiples-with-simple-axes.html I Don t Scream : http://junkcharts.typepad.com/ junk_charts/2010/01/definitely-not-working.html Florida gun deaths: http://junkcharts.typepad.com/ junk_charts/2014/04/conventions-novelty-and-the-doubleedge.html Arctic Death Spiral: http://junkcharts.typepad.com/ junk_charts/2014/04/an-overused-chart-why-it-fails-and-howto-fix-it.html Boston Subway System: http://junkcharts.typepad.com/ junk_charts/2014/06/a-great-visual-of-complicatedschedules.html
The Hierarchy of Perception Bill Cleveland
Data Visualization Blogroll Junk Charts The Functional Art Naomi Robbins Flowing Data NYT Graphics ChartsNThings Infoesthetics Information is Beautiful WTFViz TheWhyAxis.Info
Part 2 How to Find Stories Using Visualization Kaiser Fung July 15, 2014
Traditional research on dataviz focuses narrowly on visual representation, and rules of thumb But this is not enough.
Hillary (65/29) Barack (52/44) Favorable / Unfavorable Ratings, Ranked by Favorability This chart answers an important question around election time Dem. (48/43) Rep. (43/48) GW Bush(39/57) Tea Party (37/41) And it has a standard form Palin (33/57) Pelosi (31/48) Boehner (30/22) 0 20 40 60% But it hides missing data Daily Kos
All 311 Calls in NYC During 24 Hours This project makes use of Big Data/Open Data And a lot of people love the visual form But what is its purpose? Wired
This is an amazingly wellexecuted scatter plot And it raises an engaging question But the data and analysis fail to provide useful answers New York Times
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Use Visualization to Find Compelling Stories Before Creating Data Visualization
Where are the US s Millionaires? Tabulate Transform to Rank Transform column Transform to Share Formulas On-the-fly Formula Bivariate analysis Value Color Binning Legend Color Map with Color Row/Col Labels Row/Col Labels Value Color
What happened to Arctic ice volume? Transform Days to Tranform Months to Seasonality analysis Months Season Color coding Value ordering Wrap Boxplot Value color
Raw data rarely make good charts Upfront analysis and thinking is crucial Visualization tools help explore data and make sketches efficiently Use Trifecta Checkup as your guide
Kaiser Fung http://kaiserfung.com Twitter @junkcharts Blog junkcharts.typepad.com Inquiries: kaiserdatamatter@gmail.com Coming this Fall: The Art of Data Visualization Chart-making workshop, NYU SCPS