Designing with data

Data is a special type of content EG Instagram takes your data. Data is everywhere EG Election campaigns, pay scales etc.

EG Sanctions Data- created a map of the world that is filled in with different coloured dots that have a colour code that represents a different thing EG Yellow represents terrorism and blue represents drug trafficking. this site allows you to change the date that you are looking at so that you can see how the world has changed over time. In my opinion this is much more pleasing to the eye compared to the National Insurance minimum wage pay scales graph as is very monotonous to read as it contains very little colour and is presented in a more stereotypical manner.

People to Search

David McCandless– Teaches that the key components of a good information design are that the information needs to be interesting (meaningful & relevant) and have integrity (accuracy, consistency).

Manuel Lima– mentors and trains creative professionals in the areas of UX design, data visualization, and visual culture. (See Flights to London Graph)

Giorgia Lupi– “My 2020 in Data (So Far)”-Documenting her life during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in a data visualisation for ‘The New York Times.’

User Interviews- User Research 2022

Designing with Data by Brian Suda- Brian Suda takes you on a journey through the basics and makes it easy to produce beautiful looking, accurate representations of data. He’ll walk you through how to visualise and design data in such a way that it engages the reader and tells a story rather than just being flashy, cluttered and confusing.

Six Principles for any Chart Design- Manuel Lima

 

• Be honest

Data accuracy and integrity come first. Don’t distort or confuse the information for embellishment or partiality. Emphasise clarity and transparency provide users with the contextual elements they need to understand a given visualisation. Maximise the integrity of the graphic by using clear labels, accurate axes and baselines, and supporting tooltips and legends.

• Lend a helping hand

Provide context and help users navigate the data. Build affordances that prioritises data exploration and comparison. Create a warm onboarding experience that makes it easy to learn how to read the chart and its information.

• Delight users

Always exceed expectations. Consider performance, polish, surprise, and innovation. Embrace dynamic, fast, and clever experiences. When appropriate, employ signature features and small moments of delight that guide users to what they need.

• Give clarity of focus

Reduce cognitive load and focus on what matters. Every action, color, and visual element should support data insights and understanding. Focus on the user’s task and everything else will fall into place. Direct users to the essential information as quickly as possible. Maximize the data-ink ratio and avoid extraneous graphic elements. Apply color in meaningful ways to contribute to graph comprehension: label, group, highlight, or measure.

• Embrace scale

Allow the system to extend and adapt to any context. Respect different user needs on data depth, complexity, and modality. Every chart should aim to be as accessible as possible. Consider how chart elements EG. colour palettes, filter configuration, axes, panels, interactive mechanisms might scale to accommodate a variety of users’ needs, screen sizes, and data types.

• Provide structure

Use visual attributes to convey hierarchy, provide structure, and improve consistency. Experiences should be intuitive and easy to use. Consistency drives familiarity. Develop uniformity in graphical treatments (shape, color, iconography, typography) and interaction patterns (selection, filtering, hover states, expansion). Motion should feel controlled, giving the user a sense of stability and continuity while remaining responsive.

 

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