Less Wow Factor, More Eureka Moment
Wow is Beauty, Eureka is Knowledge. Wow alone is a dumb blond, Eureka alone is a decrepit old wizard. Great information visualization is 20% meaningful wow and 80% useful Eureka.
05 Data visualization
Defining data visualization and knowledge buiding
Information visualization: frequently asked questions
New to information visualization? Let me give you some quick answers to frequently asked questions. What is a chart? Just open your eyes and an amazing amount of data is immediately funneled into your brain. This data is processed in real time and makes possible your interaction with the outside world. Shapes and patterns emerge … Read more
Video: Royksopp – Remind Me
I am sure that, if you aren’t a visitor from another planet, you already saw this video. I’m playing with the blog’s template during this week, trying to add interesting stuff from the information visualization point of view, like videos and images, and this is a good test video. This will not change my focus … Read more
Minard, Tufte, Kosslyn and Godin (and Napoleon)
Do you prefer the full report: Or the executive summary? For Tufte’s fans, Minard’s map plays a central role in Tufte’s iconography, and the way he praises it (“best statistical graphic ever”) is quoted endlessly (974 results in Google as of today, to be precise). Tufte discussed The Map in his first book (The … Read more
Are charts really useful for decision-making?
For many of us this is a provocative question. Haven’t Tufte, Few, Cleveland and many others proved that, beyond reasonable doubt? Isn’t there a prosperous industry based on the obvious usefulness of charts and information visualization? Is everyone wrong? Let me play devil’s advocate here. A large majority of charts you’ll find in the corporate … Read more
Charting tips 001: Do you really need a chart?
A chart is just one of the available tools to communicate and help you and your audience to understand the data; sometimes using a chart is just plain wrong: if variation seems random or non-existent, what’s the point of displaying the data graphically (yes, I know, sometimes that’s what you want to show)? So, take … Read more
How I won the Nobel Prize
Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Why? Why Al Gore? Thousands of scientists have been warning about the climate change for years. Why not them? Because of his political weight? Of course, but not only that. Because he learned (the hard way) how to communicate … Read more
Charts to understand the world (and understand the charts)
Charting, information visualization, business visualization, graphic literacy, dashboards, bad charts, good charts. How to do, why don’t do. Plus Excel and other tools. These are the topics you will find in this blog. That’s a promise. Although this is the beginning of a new blog, I’ve been writing about these things for the last 10 … Read more