Learning Data Visualization

Communicate complex ideas quickly and thoroughly with data visualization. Entice and inform your audience with effective, and maybe creative, design.

Introduction

• The essence of data visualization

1. Big Idea

• What is data visualization?
• Ask what makes a good data visualization
• Why visualize data?

2. What to Think About

• Three focal points
• What your data is saying
• What your audience needs to hear
• What you really want to say
• Explanatory vs. exploratory
• The true "so what" and goals
• Human visual perception and pre-attentive processing

3. Selecting the Visualization Type

• Choose charts with intention
• Cheat sheets
• What goes in the chart?
• Comparison visualizations
• Correlation visualizations
• Distribution visualizations
• Composition visualizations
• Geographic visualizations
• Flow visualizations
• Hierarchical visualizations
• Creative, innovative visualizations
• Other factors when choosing visualizations

4. Designing Visualizations for Impact

• The importance of sketching
• What's the "so what"?
• Pre-attentive processing and design
• Keeping it fresh and predictable
• Thoughtful use of color
• Setting scales
• Labels and annotations
• Making numbers relatable
• Accessibility
• When and how to use animation and interactivity
• Ruthless editing

Conclusion

• Next steps