If there is one advice I could give my last year self, it would be to stop running behind learning new tools. Don’t get me wrong, tools are very useful in every realm we use them in. The problem begins when we skip learning concepts and jump directly to learning tools. Allow me to explain…
We use tables in our daily work to share data with co-workers as well as to present data in meetings and other events. Tables are great for look up, comparison and are widely understood. But do we pay enough attention in choosing the right design for a table? It is very simple to create a table…
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…