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Infographics:Best practices & recent case studies,

June 8, 2012E&E Call

Jason Jercinovic, ER4D

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Overview

• Definition• Why & History: infographics• Best practices: How to create effective infographics• Case studies• How to measure success• Appendix: Tools and links

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Definition

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Good information graphics = the efficient use of visual metaphor to describe or explain the story behind raw data.

General definition

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Good information graphics accelerates forward thinkers' understanding of data, so they have the confidence to act.

IBM definition

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Why Infographics?

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Why Infographics?• They’re eye-catching & engaging.

A great way to bring to life content that would otherwise be dry, uninteresting or unshareable. According to research, 83% of learning occurs visually.

• It’s everything you need to know, simplified. Easily digested because they address the valuable ideas, facts and statistics that people want to know. In fact, studies show, people remember only 20% of what they read.

• They are shareable. Easily downloaded and shared via social channels.

• They improve SEO. Increasing the number of backlinks to your website improves visibility to search engine’s algorithms. As a result, page rankings become higher.

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Edward Tufte: Literally wrote the book on Information Design

“One of the Best 100 books of the 20th century."

Edward Rolf Tufte is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is noted for his writings on information design and as a pioneer in the field of data visualization.

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David McCandless’ TED Talk:

“It feels like we're all suffering from information overload or data glut. And the good news is there might be an easy solution to that, and that's using our eyes more. 

So, visualizing information, so that we can see the patterns and connections that matter and then designing that information so it makes more sense, or it tells a story, or allows us to focus only on the information that's important. 

Failing that, … visualized information can just look really cool.”

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization.html

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Creating effective infographics

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3 Types of Infographics

Infographics can also be categorized according to how they present graphic information

1. Static:Balance between information display and design. Information presented at once and in its entirety. These graphics have a quick and immediate impact on the reader.

2. Interactive: Exemplify your infographic to make it interactive, allowing multiple layers of data to be streamed in a single interface, creating a unique experience for the viewer. Information is presented according to the reader’s choice.

3. Dynamic:Display of information over time. Can also be interactive or even a video.

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3 Types of Infographics: Demonstrated with GDP

1. Static:http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20120425/173008889.html

2. Interactive: http://www.maps.igemoe.com/fact_gdp_growth.htm

3. Dynamic:http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=5.59290322580644;ti=2011$zpv;v=1$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj1jiMAkmq1iMg;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj2tPLxKvvnNPA;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=log;dataMin=282;dataMax=119849$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=12;dataMax=83$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=;example=75

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Tips to create effective Infographics

What is the business goal?Don’t create infographics for infographics sake.

Start with good data. Ask a question to your data.Does this data tell us something new & different?Is the data interesting?Support the business goal.

Know your audience. Who is going to be using your infographic? Why would they be interested?

Tell a story. Ensure that you add something.

Keep it simpleGet to the point ... visually. Remove the text and to see if the story is clear without words.

What is your launch strategy?Use your network to launch. Timing, relevance and insight.Paid syndication possibilities.

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What Makes Good Information Design?• Must have balance

between Information and Design

• Need to have all 4 to be good (or great)

1. Interestingness2. Integrity3. Function4. Form

Information

relevancemeaningnovelty

usability -usefullness

Design

beautystructure

appearance

truthconsistency

accuracy

Adapted from David McCandless www.informationisbeautiful.net

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A New Chart of HistoryJoseph Priestley, 1769

This classic masterpiece of information design shows a correlated timeline of civilizations organized by geographical area.

Note the dominance of the Roman Empire which later splits off into the Byzantine and Holy Roman Empires.

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Good design

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Napoleon’s MarchJoseph Minard, 1869

This flow map of Napoleon’s disastrous Russian campaign of 1812 is widely considered to be one of the greatest infographics of all time.

In addition to the vivid depiction of the army’s human losses during the campaign, it plots several additional variables, including the army’s position, its direction of travel, and the temperature along the path of retreat.

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Good design

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Snake Oil?David McCandless, ‘10

This ‘bubble race’ infographic visualizes the scientific evidence for health supplements mapped against their popularity (as measured by number of Google searches).

This enormously popular infographic has since been extended into an interactive experience on informationisbeautiful.net

Powered by a google doc.

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Good design

Dynamic Version

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The World Cup PredictedWired UK, June 2010

This infographic predicts the 2010 World Cup outcome based on the GDP of each country and the experience of the teams.

The prediction was incorrect, but the information design is excellent. (Full marks for integrity due to the predicitve nature of the infographic)

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Good design

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The History of Science FictionWard Shelley, 2011

This gorgeously designed flow map traces Shelley’s interpretation of the history of science fiction from its roots in ancient mythology.

Time moves from left to right, tracing the figure of a tentacled beast derived from H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds.

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Good design

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When Sea Levels AttackDavid McCandless, 2010

This elegant infographic uses a simple but effective bar chart design to show how rising sea levels may affect major cities around the world.

Note how the main point of the infographic can be understood before even reading the legend.

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Good design

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Over UnderEngineeringDegree.net, 2011

This landmark infographic probes the critical question of toilet paper orientation.

Take it at face value, and it falls into the ‘useless’ category. But of course that’s not the point, so full marks for its brilliant ribbing of info-geekery.

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Good design

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The Three Trillion Dollar WarAthletics Design Collective, 2011

The only true information in this cluttered design is conveyed in the callouts on the right. The rest of the execution is a collection of icons and words that are visually hard to parse and convey no meaning.

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Ugly, useless

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Web Trend MapAthletics Design Collective, 2011

This infographic attempts to map the main web industry players onto the Tokyo subway map.

Unfortunately, despite its appealing design, it conveys no actual information except for a basic grouping of companies by type.

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Boring, useless, rubbish

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Knot TiedTimko & Klick for good.is, 2009

This infographic was intended as a timeline of gay marriage laws in the U.S.

Despite some interesting design elements, this execution does not read like a timeline and the stylized pie charts do not visually convey the intended percentage splits.

IntegrityInterestFormFunction

Useless

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ER4D Case Studies

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Digital IBMer (Static)

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URLS of Infographics

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/ibm_media/7065042077/

• http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/zz/en/securesocialsmart/pdf/ibm_classof2012_infographic_050112.pdf• http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/zz/en/securesocialsmart/pdf/ibm_homesecurity_infographic_050112.pdf• http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/zz/en/securesocialsmart/pdf/reputation_id_cCard_sb_0501v4.pdf• http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/zz/en/securesocialsmart/pdf/ibm_cyberattacks_infographic_050112.pdf

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PureSystems Press Infographic (Static)

Results: 6,114 views on Flickr and appeared in 10 publications.  

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PureSystems (Interactive)

http://www.ibm.com/ibm/puresystems/infographic/charts/project-delay.htmlhttp://www.ibm.com/ibm/puresystems/infographic/charts/budget-schedule.htmlhttp://www.ibm.com/ibm/puresystems/infographic/charts/ongoing-support.htmlhttp://www.ibm.com/ibm/puresystems/infographic/charts/downtime.htmlhttp://www.ibm.com/ibm/puresystems/infographic/charts/time-spent.html

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Interactive Dynamic Infographic Prototype

+ Globe (example) Live prototype:• http://euro.superfaddev.com/ibm/• User: ibm_planet • Pwd: euro_2011• Use Google Chrome or an HTML5 compliant

browser

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Impressive Example (not IBM): We feel fine .org•We Feel Fine is an exploration of human emotion.

• Along the top row you’ll find fly-out options to sort the data. Their criteria include age, gender, weather location, and even date. The project offers an extremely detailed analysis of the entire world’s emotions at any given point.

• As you click anywhere in the canvas the flying boxes will scatter about. If you mouse over one of them it’ll provide a bit more detail, and clicking will open a whole new bar at the top.

• Many of the results are pulled from Twitter and actually include photo/video media as well. The number of emotions and feelings are beyond belief.

http://www.wefeelfine.org/wefeelfine_mac.html

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Measuring success

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How do we measure success:

• Views• Shares• Placements• Volume of conversation• Sentiment of conversation

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Infographic Tools:

• IBM’s Tool: Many Eyes– http://www-958.ibm.com/software/dat

a/cognos/manyeyes/

– There are a ton of features available to members plus the added benefit and security of storing personal data sets. If you get lost spend some time browsing

• Visual.ly

– Visual.ly is built with social networking features in mind to connect members all around the world. Designers are able to submit their own projects on data visualization and infographics into their site gallery. The showcase can be broken down and sorted into further categories 

– Check out the Labs (visual.ly/labs)

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Infographic Resources• http://dailyinfographic.com/• http://davidwarlick.com/graphicaday/

• http://www.instantshift.com/2011/03/25/what-are-infographics-and-why-are-they-important/• http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2011/11/6-reasons-most-infographics-do.php• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/10/14/the-dos-and-donts-of-infographic-design/• http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_your_infographic_is_evil_and_three_ways_to_fix.php• http://naldzgraphics.net/tips/reasons-why-infographics-are-important/• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-small-business/post/how-can-businesses-use-infographics/

2012/04/06/gIQAjbbh4S_blog.html• http://sparkboutik.com/ideation/why-infographics-work/• http://www.marketingtechblog.com/why-use-infographics/

SLIDESHAREhttp://www.slideshare.net/jess3/how-brands-can-use-data-visualization-to-make-an-impact-11976833

• http://www.slideshare.net/ripetungi/why-are-infographics-important

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Infographic Examples• State of the internet: http://www.onlineschools.org/state-of-the-internet/soti.html• Slavery Footprint: http://slaveryfootprint.org/

– http://slaveryfootprint.org/survey/#whats_on_your_plate , http://slaveryfootprint.org/survey/#jewellery , http://slaveryfootprint.org/survey/#closet_clothing

•  Presidential Poll Tracker Slider : http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/presidential-poll-tracker•  Candidate match game: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/candidate-match-game•  Edlundart : http://www.edlundart.com/pages/is-the-internet-awake.html•  What’s Your Economic Outlook? :

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/2011-economy-sentiment.html•  Evolution of the web : http://evolutionofweb.appspot.com/

• http://mashable.com/2011/10/23/top-mashable-infographics/• http://mashable.com/2011/09/16/airlines-social-media-infographic/• http://news.xerox.com/pr/xerox/photo.aspx?fid=146374&id=E0C17733• http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/21/how-the-enterprise-is-adopting-tablets-infographic/• http://gigaom.com/2011/11/02/what-do-young-workers-want-social-media-device-freedom/

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Twitter Data VisualizationTwitter tools to create data visualization (dynamic infographics with the twitter firehose)

– http://moritz.stefaner.eu/projects/revisit

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Pinterist