Data Visualization
Data visualization is the graphical display of abstract information for two purposes: sense-making (also called data analysis) and communication.
Brain in Balance
Don’t Make Me Think
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Data visualization is effective because it shifts the balance between perception and cognition to take fuller advantage of the brain's abilities. Seeing (i.e visual perception) which is handled by the visual cortex located in the rear of the brain, is extremely fast and efficient. We see immediately, with little effort. Thinking (i.e. cognition), which is handled primarily by the cerebral cortex in the front of the brain, is much slower and less efficient. Traditional data sensemaking and presentation methods require conscious thinking for almost all of the work. Data visualization shifts the balance toward greater use of visual perception, taking advantage of our powerful eyes whenever possible.
Data Visualization for Human Perception
Statistical information is abstract. Whether it concerns sales, incidences of disease, athletic performance, or anything else, even though it doesn't pertain to the physical world, we can still display it visually, but to do this we must find a way to give form to that which has none.
Corporate Banking Portal Dashboard
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This translation of the abstract into physical attributes of vision (length, position, size, shape, and color, to name a few) can only succeed if we understand a bit about visual perception and cognition. In other words, to visualize data effectively, we must follow design principles that are derived from an understanding of human perception.
As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words" - often more - but only when the story is best told graphically rather than verbally and the picture is well designed. You could stare at a table of numbers all day and never see what would be immediately obvious when looking at a good picture of those same numbers. Allow me to illustrate. Here's a simple table of sales data - a year's worth - divided into two regions:
Example 1.1
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This table does two things extremely well: it expresses these sales values precisely and it provides an efficient means to look up values for a particular region and month. But if we're looking for patterns, trends, or exceptions among these values, if we want a quick sense of the story contained in these numbers, or we need to compare whole sets of numbers rather than just two at a time, this table fails.
Example 1.2
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Now look at the following picture of the same information in the form of a line graph. Several facts now leap into view:
What these numbers could not communicate when presented as text in a table, which our brains interpret through the use of verbal processing, becomes visible and understandable when communicated visually. This is the power of "data visualization."
Data Visualization
Data visualization is the graphical display of abstract information for two purposes: sense-making (also called data analysis) and communication.
Brain in Balance
Don’t Make Me Think
Data visualization is effective because it shifts the balance between perception and cognition to take fuller advantage of the brain's abilities. Seeing (i.e visual perception) which is handled by the visual cortex located in the rear of the brain, is extremely fast and efficient. We see immediately, with little effort. Thinking (i.e. cognition), which is handled primarily by the cerebral cortex in the front of the brain, is much slower and less efficient. Traditional data sensemaking and presentation methods require conscious thinking for almost all of the work. Data visualization shifts the balance toward greater use of visual perception, taking advantage of our powerful eyes whenever possible.
Data Visualization for Human Perception
Statistical information is abstract. Whether it concerns sales, incidences of disease, athletic performance, or anything else, even though it doesn't pertain to the physical world, we can still display it visually, but to do this we must find a way to give form to that which has none.
Corporate Banking Portal Dashboard
This translation of the abstract into physical attributes of vision (length, position, size, shape, and color, to name a few) can only succeed if we understand a bit about visual perception and cognition. In other words, to visualize data effectively, we must follow design principles that are derived from an understanding of human perception.
As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words" - often more - but only when the story is best told graphically rather than verbally and the picture is well designed. You could stare at a table of numbers all day and never see what would be immediately obvious when looking at a good picture of those same numbers. Allow me to illustrate. Here's a simple table of sales data - a year's worth - divided into two regions:
Example 1.1
This table does two things extremely well: it expresses these sales values precisely and it provides an efficient means to look up values for a particular region and month. But if we're looking for patterns, trends, or exceptions among these values, if we want a quick sense of the story contained in these numbers, or we need to compare whole sets of numbers rather than just two at a time, this table fails.
Example 1.2
Now look at the following picture of the same information in the form of a line graph. Several facts now leap into view:
- Domestic sales were considerably and consistently higher than international.
- Domestic sales trended upward over the year as a whole.
- International sales, in contrast, remained relatively flat, with one glaring exception: they decreased sharply in August.
- Domestic sales exhibited a cyclical pattern - up, up, down - that repeated itself on a quarterly basis, always reaching the peak in the last month of the quarter and then declining dramatically in the first month of the next.
What these numbers could not communicate when presented as text in a table, which our brains interpret through the use of verbal processing, becomes visible and understandable when communicated visually. This is the power of "data visualization."