Book Image

Data Visualization: a successful design process

Book Image

Data Visualization: a successful design process

Overview of this book

Do you want to create more attractive charts? Or do you have huge data sets and need to unearth the key insights in a visual manner? Data visualization is the representation and presentation of data, using proven design techniques to bring alive the patterns, stories and key insights locked away."Data Visualization: a Successful Design Process" explores the unique fusion of art and science that is data visualization; a discipline for which instinct alone is insufficient for you to succeed in enabling audiences to discover key trends, insights and discoveries from your data. This book will equip you with the key techniques required to overcome contemporary data visualization challenges. You'll discover a proven design methodology that helps you develop invaluable knowledge and practical capabilities.You'll never again settle for a default Excel chart or resort to "fancy-looking" graphs. You will be able to work from the starting point of acquiring, preparing and familiarizing with your data, right through to concept design. Choose your "killer" visual representation to engage and inform your audience."Data Visualization: a Successful Design Process" will inspire you to relish any visualization project with greater confidence and bullish know-how; turning challenges into exciting design opportunities.
Table of Contents (13 chapters)
Data Visualization: a successful design process
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

The visualization anatomy – data presentation


The presentation of data involves thinking about pretty much every other design feature that might be included in our visualization. Here, we are determining the following:

  • The use of color

  • The potential of interactive features

  • The explanatory annotation

  • The architecture and arrangement

The decisions we make about these layers should be focused on delivering extra meaning, intuitiveness, and depth of insight to our readers or users.

One of the key concepts throughout our judgment of presentation-related design options is to seek to make the visible, invisible. In contrast to data representation, where our objective is to make the invisible stories and insights, visible, data presentation features should almost feel invisible so that the portrayal of the data maintains visual dominance. Therefore, try to bear the following two things in mind:

  • Visual inference means data inference: If it looks like data, it should be data. If it isn't data then you've...