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
More data = better decisions, right? Not always. When you are getting more information than you can process within a specific time period information overload starts creeping. Confusion, stress, anxiety and low motivation usually follow. Can we prevent that? In general, the more information you have, the more accurate your decisions will be. But at … Read more
Following the 10 x 10 post series on tips for better charts, these are the 10 tips for line charts: Don’t use line markers unless you really need them to identify b&w printed charts; Don’t use a legend; directly label the series, instead; If you can’t easily see the pattern of each series you may … Read more
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
This is the second of 10 posts where I’m listing tips for better charts. Please take a look at the first post where the project is discussed. These are my chart formatting tips: Use the right chart type for the data and the problem; Apply sound design principles; Use color strategically: mute axis and grid … Read more
This is the first in a series of 10 posts where I’ll suggest a (hopefully) coherent set of tips to improve our charts and, more important, to improve the way we make sense of the data. These are the planned posts: General charting; Formating; Column/Bar charts; Line charts; Scatterplots (XY charts); Pie charts; Other chart … Read more
Dear Mr. Hervé Carré I’ve been browsing through some of the Eurostat publications and I thought you would appreciate some constructive feedback, since it is your job to ensure that governments, businesses, media and the general public do have access in a timely manner to reliable and objective data. I’m starting with some general findings, … Read more
Stephen Few shares with us his capstone presentation that he delivered at InfoVis 2007. If you follow his newsletter or his blog (you should) there is nothing really new but, if you don’t, this is a good summary of his views regarding information visualization. I’d like to comment a few points. Knowing how to use … Read more
The relevance principle means that every variation should carry a meaning, derived from data variation, not from design variation. If it doesn’t, it can be confusing or misleading. Suppose chart A displays population density by country. “Vary colors by point” is an option in Excel, but why should you use it? This is a design … Read more