Data Science Intro by Michigan University - Week1 Data Visualization Theory

1 Tools for Thinking About Design

1.1 The Functional Art, by Alberto Cairo

1. visualization wheel

• Abstraction – Figuration
  – Boxes and charts (abstraction) or real-world physical objects
  (figuration)
• Functionality – Decoration
  – No embellishments (functionality) or artistic embellishments
  (decoration)
• Density – Lightness
  – Must be studied in depth (density) or understandable at a glance
  (lightness)
• Multidimensional – Unidimensional
  – Different aspects of phenomena (multidimensional) or single or few
  items of phenomenal (unidimensional)
• Originality – Familiarity
  – Novel methods of visualization (originality) or established and well
  understood methods of visualization (familiarity)
• Novelty – Redundancy
  – Explaining each item once (novelty) or encoding multiple explanations
  of the same phenomena (redundancy)

1.2 The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, by Edward Tufte

1. data-ink ratio
   Remove to improve the data-ink ratio, www.darkhouseanalytics.com
2. chart junk: grid, duck
   #(too many nouns which was never heard)
   Diamonds wear a girl’s best friend, average price of a one-carat D-flawless
   sparklines
   wired magzine
3. Qualities of a Great Visualization

• Truthful
• Functionality
• Beauty
• Insightful
• Enlightening