Visualization

Effective Visual Communication

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Now you own a brand new power saw (Qlikview). But do you know how to build a house?
A key feature of Qlikview is graphical representation of data. Do you have the skills to use that capability effectively? The challenges of effective visual communication are not unique to Qlikview. The principles of visual communication can be learned and there are many resources available to learn from.
An important and useful work to me has been the book “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” by Edward R. Tutfe (ISBN-0961392142). In this book, Tufte defines and articulates many important principles of statistical graphical representation, including the “Lie Factor” “Chartjunk”, and the “Data-Ink ratio”. The principles of Chartjunk and the Data-Ink ratio ask us to consider which of these two charts communicate more effectively.

Tufte has authored several more books that expand and illuminate these themes of quality and effectiveness in graphical communication. All of the books are beautifully printed. Tufte also teaches seminars and maintains a web site at: http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/

Another work I have found very useful is “Information Dashboard Design” by Stephen Few (ISBN-0596100167). This book applies visual communication principles from Few, Tufte and other researchers to the practical application of “dashboard design” . Few’s book analyzes the shortcomings of some poor designs and then goes on to enumerate a number of elements for effective designs. He closes the book with some examples of optimal designs.

Stephen Few also teaches public workshops. His schedule and blog can be found at http://www.perceptualedge.com/.

Lastly, the IBM Many Eyes project http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/ is an ongoing source of inspiration and amusement.

-Rob
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One thought on “Effective Visual Communication”

  1. The default look for QlikView 9 will be inspired by Tufte’s and Few’s ideas on data visualization. This part is certainly very important.

    Great blog post as well!

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