We (datavis folks) like to believe that one of the key advantages of charts over tables is that charts are much better at providing context, displaying patterns and so on, while a tables “merely” gives you the exact value. Fortunately, life is not that simple. Many people dislike charts and a good table with the … Read more
I’ll assume that you are not paid for your artistic skills. You’re a mere mortal in a corporate environment, trying to make sense of your data and making rational decisions if possible. You make charts all the time, but you don’t really know if this new “data visualization” is the same thing with a pompous name … Read more
Most users love Excel, non-users hate it. When it comes to data visualization, Excel is generally dispised, except by those that have to make dozens of charts every single day. I call this the Excel Stockolm Syndrome. These are the forsaken data visualization users that keep making 3D pies when they should know better by now. … Read more
So, this data visualization thing is new to you, but you already know enough to avoid basic mistakes (pies, 3D…). While playing with the data, you make these two charts: You already know that a bar chart helps you to compare data points, while a line chart is better at displaying trends, right? But you keep … Read more
I spent the last two weekends among kings and witches, foxes and wolves, dumb men and devious women, visiting castles in Scotland and villages in Africa. Two weekends of great storytelling. One little thing bothered me, though. Explicitly or not, many stories ended with the words “and now you know why”. And now you know … Read more
Here is the percentage of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the European Union and a few other countries: We are going to resist the urge to identify them and use our preconceptions against them. Let’s dig deeper instead. Some groups are more exposed to the risk of poverty. Let’s see what … Read more
What is wheat and what is chaff? Here is a list to help you take sides: If you want to fit the data into the shape of real-world objects, that’s not data visualization; If you use more than one dimension to represent a data point, that’s not data visualization; If your project breaks basic perception … Read more
Here is the draft result of my little weekend project, making horizon graphs in Excel: I’m probably using too many color bands, but I like it! The horizon graph is a very compact way to display lots of data points and a shiny example of how to break the rules for a good cause. It … Read more
In data visualization, animation is overrated. OK, it’s an interesting option if you can see a clear pattern emerging when displaying data over time/space (and, thanks to animation, we were introduced to this communicator extraordinaire named Hans Rosling). It’s fun to make an animated GIF like the one above, but you must see animation as … Read more
Data visualization is becoming a catch-all concept with little analytic usefulness. The infographic plague we have to endure is not helping. It doesn’t have to be that way. Stephen Few wrote recently about the distinction between data visualization (“the goal that data be visualized in a way that leads to understanding”) and data art (“visualizations … Read more