Gmcghee Pres 110322 01

Techniques and Tools for
Telling Stories with Data

Geoff McGhee
Malofiej 19
March 22, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Data Visualization

Suddenly Ubiquitous

Definition?

What is Data Visualization?
“The purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures”

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Sometimes called “information visualization” so as to

distinguish from scientific visualization

Mysterious Engaging
Intriguing Provocative
Interactive Inspirational
Groundbreaking Complex
Arty Simple

Why Now?

Larger Context of Visualization
Nearly Ubiquitous Data
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Data Sources: New and Not So New
Growth of the Internet
Open government/transparency
movements
E-commerce
Electronic records
Social media
Handheld GPS and other devices
Electronic sensors

Data Sources: Additional Factors
Plummeting cost of storage
Embedded devices (RFID, sensors)
Smartphones/Ubiquitous Computing
Standardization of data formats (XML,

JSON, RDF, etc.)
Semantic Web/Linked Data
Data Mining and Machine Learning
Image, Voice Recognition

Making Sense of Data
Visualization Practitioners
Deeply rooted in information technology, not media

<ZLKI`ZJPLU[PÄJresearchers, statisticians (R project)
Researchers ...and increasingly:

Business Analysts: Scholars
"Business Intelligence"
Journalists
Marketers
Activists/Gadflies
Artists
Individuals

Linked Data

Linked Data: Freebase

Linked Data: Junar

Linked Data: Data Marketplace

Putting Data to Work

Roles of Data Visualization
Societal Mirror:
Visualizing New Information
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Visualization
Visualizing as Mirror
New Information
San Francisco Cabspotting, Stamen Design, (2006)

http://cabspotting.org/client.html

Visualization
New Information
San Francisco Cabspotting, Stamen Design, (2006)

http://cabspotting.org/client.html

Visualization
New Information
“Flight Patterns,” Aaron Koblin, (2005)

http://www.flightpatterns.com

Visualization
New Information
“Tourists vs. Locals,” Eric Fischer, (2010)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624209158632/

Visualization
New Information


Visualization
New Information


Visualization
New Information


Visualization as Mirror
Visualizing New Remix
Information
“Flickr Flow,” Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg (2009)

http://hint.fm/projects/flickr/

Visualization
New Information
“Revisit,” Moritz Stefaner (2010)

http://moritz.stefaner.eu/projects/revisit/

Visualization
New Information
The Biggest Lies in Online Dating, OK Cupid (2010)

http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-biggest-lies-in-online-dating/

Visualization as Mirror
Visualizing New Information
The New York Times (2008)

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html

Roles of Data Visualization
Investigation or Advocacy
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Visualization for Investigation or
andAdvocacy
Advocacy
The Washington Post (2010)

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/map/

andAdvocacy
Advocacy
“What They Know,” The Wall Street Journal (2010)

http://blogs.wsj.com/wtk/

andAdvocacy
Advocacy

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/07/11/nyregion/20100711-stop-and-frisk.html

or Advocacy
Visualization for Investigation and Advocacy
The Sunlight Foundation

http://influenceexplorer.com/organization/att-inc/d473e580c5684a658b754eb97566cb05?cycle=2010v

or Advocacy
Visualization for Investigation and Advocacy
The Sunlight Foundation

http://influenceexplorer.com/organization/att-inc/d473e580c5684a658b754eb97566cb05?cycle=2010v

andAdvocacy
Advocacy
Economic Policy Institute (2010)

http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/pages/interactive#/?start=1917&end=1918

andAdvocacy
Advocacy
“Remapping the Debate” Anti-Discrimination Center, (2011)

http://remappingdebate.org/

andAdvocacy
Advocacy


andAdvocacy
Advocacy


andAdvocacy
Advocacy
“SourceMap,” MIT (2009)

http://www.sourcemap.org/object/tesla-roadster

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Remix:
The Familiar... Through a New Lens
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Visualization
Remixes: NewasWays
Remixof Seeing
“Here and There,” Berg Design (2009)

http://berglondon.com/projects/hat/

Visualization
Remixes: NewasWays
Remixof Seeing
“If San Francisco Crime Was Elevation,” Doug McCune (2010)

http://dougmccune.com/blog/2010/06/05/if-san-francisco-crime-was-elevation/

Visualization
Remixes: NewasWays
Remixof Seeing
“River Maps,” Daniel Huffman (2011)

http://somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/river-maps/

Visualization
Remixes: NewasWays
Remixof Seeing
“Dimensions,” BBC and Berg Design (2010)

http://howbigreally.com

Visualization
Remixes: NewasWays
Remixof Seeing
“Map of the Market,” Martin Wattenberg/Smart Money (1998)

http://www.smartmoney.com/map-of-the-market/

Visualization
Remixes: NewasWays
Remixof Seeing

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/economy/unemployment-lines.html

Visualization
Remixes: NewasWays
Remixof Seeing


Visualization
Remixes: NewasWays
Remixof Seeing


Visualization
Remixes: NewasWays
Mirrorof Seeing

http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer

Uses of Visualization
Recording Exploration and Communication

Analysis

Recording Edweard Muybridge, 1878

Exploration and Analysis

Tools for Data Analysis
Common Charting Applications
Microsoft Excel http://microsoft.com/office

Open Office Calc http://openoffice.org
Google Docs http://docs.google.com
Tableau Public http://tableausoftware.com/public
IBM ManyEyes http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/
Gapminder Desktop http://gapminder.org/desktop
Google Fusion Tables http://google.com/fusiontables

Tools forStarted
Getting Data Analysis
with Visualization
Sources
Free and of
Web-Based
Public DataApplications
Google
IBM ManyEyes
Public Data Explorer
http://www.google.com/publicdata/directory
http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com
Pros: Easy as pie

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Many different chart forms
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Interactivity
Bring your own data,
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use existing data set
Cons: Java applets are slow, clunky

Little design control

Tools for Data Analysis
Google Dataset Publishing Language
Describe your data to enable

powerful visualizations
http://code.google.com/apis/publicdata/
“Use existing data: Just add an XML metadata

file to your existing CSV data files”
“Linkable concepts: Link to concepts in other
datasets or create your own that others can
use”
“Geo-enabled: Make your data mappable by
adding latitude and longitude data to your
concept definitions.”
Slate says: “HTML for data”

Tools forStarted
with Visualization
Free and Web-Based Applications
Tableau Public
http://www.tableausoftware.com/public
Price: Free
Pros: Great design

Supports many chart forms
Interactive and searchable
Combine charts in single
Information “dashboard”
Cons: Windows-only
Your data is public
Slow performance

Tableau Public

Tools forStarted
with Visualization
Free and Web-Based Applications
IBM ManyEyes
http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com
Pros: Easy as pie

Many different chart forms
Interactivity
Bring your own data, or
use existing data set
Cons: Java applets are slow, clunky

Little design control

Communication Communication

Tools for Communicating Data
Interactive Graphic Development Tools
Adobe Flash http://adobe.com/flash

Adobe Flash Builder http://www.adobe.com/products/flashbuilder/
Protovis http://vis.stanford.edu/protovis
Processing http://processing.org
Microsoft Silverlight http://microsoft.com/silverlight
Raphael JS/JQuery http://raphaeljs.com/

Adobe Flash
http://adobe.com/flash
Pros: WYSIWYG editing

Cross platform compatibility
Large user base
Great animation tools
Cons: Expensive
Plug-in dependent
Advanced apps require
serious skills
Notable users: Thousands of

mainstream news organizations;
The New York Times, MSNBC, CNN

Adobe Flash Builder

http://adobe.com/products/flashbuilder
Pros: Powerful tool for programmers to

develop Flash-based web apps
Same interface as C++, Java etc
Cons: Expensive
Virtually no WYSIWYG editor
Hard to do custom designs
Little compatibility with Flash Pro
Dependent on browser plug-in
Notable users: Slate labs, Tweetdeck,

Adobe Media Player

Processing
http://processing.org
Pros: Free, great documentation

Large user base among artists
Greatly simplifies Java programming
Taps enormous graphics power
of your computer’s video card
Moving to HTML/Javascript
Cons: Need to learn to code
Java-based visualizations won’t run on
tablets or on some computers
Notable users: Ben Fry, Aaron Koblin,

Jer Thorp

Protovis
http://vis.stanford.edu/protovis
Pros: HTML-based, works right in browser

Free, at Stanford, good documentation
Very rich creative possibilities
Both static and animated graphics
Examples provide prefab charts
Cons: No visual editor; need to learn code
Not compatible with older browsers
Like IE 8 and below
Notable users: Minnesota Public Radio,

more and more newspaper websites

Protovis

“[Having a narrative] is hard to

do when the whole point of it is
click whatever button you want!”
– Amanda Cox, NYT
Communication Communication

How do we cope?

Analysis of
Vis in Media
“We are very interested in how

visualizations are being taken up in mass
media, particularly in journalism, so we
simply collected as many examples of
that as we could.”

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B3'()*.1+(.@()*?@@ )*.1+(.@()*?@@(51.J';* E E E E E E V V V E V E V V V V E V E E E V V E E V V V V V V
<%1#%&(-:'1%;"(-%12,"&'()"@'*+(<%/'. <%1#%&(-:'1%;" E E E E E E V E E E E V V V V V V V V V V E V E E V E E E V V E E
Fig. 7. Design space analysis of narrative visualization. Columns indicate recurring design elements and selected regions highlight patterns in the data. Region (1) shows clusters of ordering
strategies that correspond to distinct genres of visual narration. Region (2) highlights the consistency of interactive designs used by visualizations. Region (3) shows the under-utilization of strategies Segal and Heer, 2010
to engage the user in the interactive functionality. Region (4) shows the under-utilization of common storytelling techniques across narrative visualizations.

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Identify Common Narrative Formats
Descriptive, Not Prescriptive

Sources of Inspiration:
Comic Books
Movies
Video Games

The “Science Fair Poster”
Using Space to Lay Out Regions; Directional Reading

The “Martini Glass”
Linear Narrative Followed by Individual Exploration

First read: narrative

First read: narrative

Second read: reference

The “Data Slide Show”
Linear Narrative With Interaction Within Each Frame

HOME PAGE TODAY'S PAPER VIDEO MOST POPULAR TIMES TOPICS Welcome, gmcghee Log Out Help TimesPeople
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WORLD U.S. N.Y. / REGION BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE HEALTH SPORTS OPINION ARTS STYLE TRAVEL JOBS REAL ESTATE AUTOS
POLITICS EDUCATION BAY AREA CHICAGO TEXAS
Published: March 6, 2011
Are State and Local Government Employees Paid Too Much?

It’s not an easy question to answer for a number of reasons. Here’s a primer on the issue.
Public workers make more …

Surveys by the Bureau of Economic
Analysis show that public workers’
annual compensation — salary plus
benefits — is higher on average than
private sector workers, and they suggest
that the gap is growing.
… especially when figured per hour

of work.
Public workers also put in significantly
fewer hours per week. According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, their
compensation per hour is much
higher.
Most of the advantage is in benefits.

They cost state and local governments
$14 an hour on average, about 70
percent more than private employers
pay for their workers.
But comparisons are tricky …

Economists point out that government
work tends to be in highly skilled
categories, so it is misleading to
compare the groups as a whole.


The “Drill-Down Story”
Wide-Angle View; Presents Links to Selected Closer Views




I would add...

“Videographics”
Linear Narratives Using Motion Graphics, Voiceover

“Videographics”
Linear Narratives Using Motion Graphics, Voiceover

“Videographics”
Could be as simple as a screencast

Transparency

Transparency

Transparency

Transparency

Conversation

Conversation

Conversation

Conversation

Questions?
email:
geoffoo@gmail.com

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Techniques and Tools for

Telling Stories with Data

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

“The purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures”

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Sometimes called “information visualization” so as to

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Nearly Ubiquitous Data

°+LTHUKZ PUK\Z[PHSYL]VS\[PVU PU

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Growth of the Internet

Handheld GPS and other devices

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Plummeting cost of storage

Embedded devices (RFID, sensors)

Standardization of data formats (XML,

Semantic Web/Linked Data

Data Mining and Machine Learning

Image, Voice Recognition

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Deeply rooted in information technology, not media

Researchers ...and increasingly:

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

San Francisco Cabspotting, Stamen Design, (2006)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

San Francisco Cabspotting, Stamen Design, (2006)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

“Flight Patterns,” Aaron Koblin, (2005)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

“Tourists vs. Locals,” Eric Fischer, (2010)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

“Tourists vs. Locals,” Eric Fischer, (2010)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

“Tourists vs. Locals,” Eric Fischer, (2010)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

“Tourists vs. Locals,” Eric Fischer, (2010)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

“Flickr Flow,” Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg (2009)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

“Revisit,” Moritz Stefaner (2010)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The Biggest Lies in Online Dating, OK Cupid (2010)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The New York Times (2008)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The Washington Post (2010)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

“What They Know,” The Wall Street Journal (2010)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The New York Times (2010)

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