Visual Representation of Data

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Visual Representation of Data

“In this world of information

overload, the benumbed

citizen no longer reads or

thinks; he watches and feels”

-William Irwin Thompson,

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-William Irwin Thompson,

American cultural historian, philosopher, poet and novelist.

An introduction to Data Visualization

What is Data Visualization?

One of the key themes underlying any form of

performance reporting is that of visual depiction.

This makes us delve a bit deeper into the concept

of Data Visualization.

Data Visualization is the process of creating

visual representation of meaningful information -

which has been abstracted in a schematic form.

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In order to convey ideas effectively, both aesthetic

form and functionality need to go hand in hand,

providing insights about complex data sets by

communicating its key aspects in a more appealing

manner.

An example of Data Visualization is the a map that helps one to graphically comprehend a location

The need for Data Visualization

“Clutter and confusion are not

attributes of data – they are

shortcomings of design.”

-Edward Tufte

The need for Data Visualization

Even as the quantity of information generated

across the web reaches astronomical proportions,

there is a dire need to devise ways and means to

digest this information in a manner that is more

intuitive.

It doesn’t mean that data visualization needs to

look boring to be functional or extremely

sophisticated to look beautiful.

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sophisticated to look beautiful.

According to Friedman (2008), the main goal of

data visualization is to communicate information

intuitively and effectively through graphical means.

Yet designers often find it challenging to achieve a

balance between design and function, and at time

end up creating gorgeous data visualizations which

fail to serve their main purpose — to communicate

information.

29 millionBooks and periodicals

2.4 millionRecordings

12 millionPhotographs

4.8 millionMaps

57 millionManuscripts

It took two centuries to fill the U.S. Library of Congress with more than…

Data Deluge: A snapshot

…today, it takes about 5 minutes for the world to produce the equivalent amount of

new digital information….

Evolution of Data Visualization

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Pre History 7500 B.C. 1786 A.D. 1857 A.D.

Cave paintings were probably the earliest known forms of visualization

Map making to visually depict locations and mark co-ordinates

William Playfair publishes the first data graphs in his book

Florence Nightingale uses a combination of stacked bar and pie charts to explain deaths in Crimean war

Types of Data Visualization

Data Visualization is said to comprise of multiple inter disciplinary studies that involve some form of visual representation or the other:

Data Visualization

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Information GraphicsScientific

Visualization

Information Visualization

Statistical Graphics

Information Graphics

Infographics

Information Graphics or Infographics includes

imagery to present complex information quickly and

clearly in signs, maps, journalism and technical

writing.

With an information graphic, computer scientists,

mathematicians, and statisticians develop and

communicate concepts using a single symbol to

process information.

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process information.

The infographic on the right represents the metro

rail system of Washington D.C.

This infographic helps you identify and plot your route in an easier fashion.

Scientific Visualization

Scientific Visualization

Scientific Visualization is an interdisciplinary

branch of science. According to Friendly (2008), it

is "primarily concerned with the visualization of

three-dimensional phenomena (architectural,

meteorological, medical, biological, etc.), where the

emphasis is on realistic renderings of volumes,

surfaces, illumination sources, and so forth,

perhaps with a dynamic (time) component”.

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The image on the right is a scientific visualization

of seismic activity plotted on a scale

Scientific visualization is useful in obtaining a quick sense of a scientific phenomenon.

Information Visualization

Information Visualization

Information visualization is the interdisciplinary

study of "the visual representation of large-scale

collections of non-numerical information, such as

files and lines of code in software systems, library

and bibliographic databases, networks of relations

on the internet, and so forth.

The image on the right is an example of information

visualization. It is a representation of a fraction of

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visualization. It is a representation of a fraction of

the World Wide Web demonstrating hyperlinks

Information visualization provides an in depth view of data including multi level reference points and increased detailing.

Statistical Graphics

Statistical Graphics

While routine statistics and data analysis

procedures yield their output in numeric or tabular

form, graphical techniques allow such results to be

displayed in some sort of pictorial form. They

include representation such as scatter plots,

histograms, probability plots, spaghetti plots,

residual plots and box plots.

The image on the right depicts the number of

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The image on the right depicts the number of

Walmart and Starbucks stores per million people.

Statistical graphics provides an analysis of everyday phenomena and events , and their impact ..

Edward Tufte’s perspective – The father of modern Data Visualization

Who is Edward Tufte?

Edward Rolf Tufte is an American statistician and

professor emeritus of political science, statistics,

and computer science at Yale University.

Tufte is regarded as an expert in the area of data

visualization.

He coined the term "chartjunk" to refer to useless,

non-informative, or information-obscuring elements

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non-informative, or information-obscuring elements

of quantitative information displays. Another key

concept of Tufte is the “data-ink ratio” to argue

against using excessive decoration in visual

displays of quantitative information.

Mind Maps

Mind Maps

A mind map is a diagram used to visually outline

information. A mind map is often created around a

single word or text, placed in the center, to which

associated ideas, words and concepts are added.

Major categories radiate from a central node, and

lesser categories are sub-branches of larger

branches. Categories can represent words, ideas,

tasks, or other items related to a central key word

or idea.

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or idea.

Mindmaps

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Prezi

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