When I came across this graph in the Economic Times this morning, I thought to myself there are so many ways in which bar charts can be used for comparisons, but this right here is not one of them. To compare 2 bar charts, they should have a consistent axis. 2.58 million is not equal…
The Rhetoric of Data Rhetoric is defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking or communication. In information visualization, rhetoric is like a double-edged sword. Let’s first visit the dark side of rhetoric, the side that can be used to manipulate viewers into reaching incorrect conclusions. Data can be used to create a variety…
Preattentive processing occurs without our consciousness at an extremely high speed. It is tuned to detect a specific set of visual attributes called Preattentive Attributes. If you want to understand more about how we process a visual, please refer to this post on Visual Perception. Preattentive attributes determine what information catches our attention. This is important in…
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Why is it that we can understand complex information on a visual but not from rows of tabular data? The answer to this lies in understanding visual perception and a little bit about human memory. So grab a cup of your favorite drink and read…
The short answer is NO. With all the magical tools available at our disposal, it is very easy to create awesomely complex looking charts and graphs that add no value. 3D charts are one of them. Edward Tufte called this conventional graphical paraphernalia that does not tell the viewer anything new. Furthermore, they come in…
Bar charts are the most commonly used charts. But did you know that there are different types of bar charts and these can all be created using Excel? What if you could bring more life to your presentation by highlighting aspects that no one saw before? Watch this tutorial to learn how to do this with bar charts.
As the Olympic Games and fervor go on for a few more days, FiveThirtyEight.com published an article early this week, titled “Hosting the Olympics is a Terrible Investment“. The ongoing Rio Olympics had overrun its budget by 50% by the time the Olympic torch was lit at the opening ceremonies. What sort of investment goes into hosting…