I thoroughly enjoyed watching Journalism in the Age of Data. The movie gave a great overview of what information design and data visualization are, a little bit of the history, and advice on how to do it the right way.
In the beginning, one of the interviewees notes that half our brains are hardwired for visualization. I think this goes back to the natural tendency of our brains to pick up on patterns and connections (gestalt theory!). There was one guy who made charts of his life in different years, and one of the other interviewees pointed out that while the data is not generally necessary for anyone, we are drawn to it because it’s laid out visually. We can understand it better that way.
Throughout the video, many reasons are given for why data visualization is important. I want to list a few here that I thought were the best:
– it can get people more curious about information
– it can show connections that are otherwise not obvious (the best example of this one was when the guy mapped out air traffic over the US in a 24-hour period and it was easy to find population centers)
– it can “take something you already know and make you think about it again for the first time” (Amanda Cox of the New York Times)
They also talk about the availability of software to make data visualizations and programs that different organizations use. The Internet initially added a large amount of effort to creating interactive infographics and there is now a rise in software and websites that make the process easier. One interviewee notes that its similar to the rise in desktop publishing, and to know the technology, know about statistics, and follow current trends is the best way to stand out from the crowd since the methods are getting easier.
Achieving a balance between visually pleasing information and comprehensible information is one of the most important goals. If you have something that looks nice that no one can read, what is the point? Also, sometimes things just don’t need to be visualized, and it’s a good to be able to recognize that.
Many of the people interviewed in the video believe we are still in the beginning of an emerging trend in data visualization, and that it will only become bigger and more integrated into our lives. I agree and I think it will be exciting to see what happens. There is definitely a large amount of garbage visualizations out there right now, especially on the Internet, but once the experimental stages of interactive information design are over, I bet there will be fewer out there and they will be better quality.
Also, MAPS ARE SO COOL.
