I hate infographics. Or I should say, I hate what most people think of when they hear the word “infographic.” It is not impossible to create a good infographic, and there are certain situations in which data visualization is the right approach to a problem. However, these situations are few and far between.
Certain types of information simply have no business being turned into interactive Flash visualizations. In fact, I would say that in general, interactive infographics tend to be less successful than their static counterparts. Again, it’s not because it can’t be done successfully, it’s because people have no idea where to draw the line, and everybody somehow seems to have gotten it into their heads that everything interactive is instantly better. If I’m buying a hammer for a construction project, I don’t need that hammer to come with six drill bits, a screwdriver, and a table saw. Somebody somewhere might have a need for that exact assortment of tools, but for the most part, if somebody wants a hammer, they just want a hammer.
Long story short, no, I don’t think all infographics are evil. However, they are sickeningly over-abundant these days, and people really need to take a step back and think about what tools to use before they put out another useless web-toy rather than a meaningful and informative article.