Data Visualization: a successful design process

Book description

This book will benefit anyone who wants to discover effective, attractive ways to visually analyze and communicate data. With no special knowledge required, it’s an inspirational guide that teaches through examples and illustration.

  • A portable, versatile and flexible data visualization design approach that will help you navigate the complex path towards success
  • Explains the many different reasons for creating visualizations and identifies the key parameters which lead to very different design options
  • Thorough explanation of the many visual variables and visualization taxonomy to provide you with a menu of creative options

In Detail

Do you want to create more attractive charts? Or do you have huge data sets and need to unearth the key insights in a visual manner? Data visualization is the representation and presentation of data, using proven design techniques to bring alive the patterns, stories and key insights that are locked away.

"Data Visualization: a Successful Design Process" explores the unique fusion of art and science that is data visualization; a discipline for which instinct alone is insufficient for you to succeed in enabling audiences to discover key trends, insights and discoveries from your data. This book will equip you with the key techniques required to overcome contemporary data visualization challenges.

You’ll discover a proven design methodology that helps you develop invaluable knowledge and practical capabilities.

You’ll never again settle for a default Excel chart or resort to ‘fancy-looking’ graphs. You will be able to work from the starting point of acquiring, preparing and familiarizing with your data, right through to concept design. Choose your ‘killer’ visual representation to engage and inform your audience.

"Data Visualization: a Successful Design Process" will inspire you to relish any visualization project with greater confidence and bullish know-how; turning challenges into exciting design opportunities.

Table of contents

  1. Data Visualization: a successful design process
    1. Table of Contents
    2. Data Visualization: a successful design process
    3. Credits
    4. About the Author
    5. About the Reviewers
    6. www.PacktPub.com
      1. Support files, eBooks, discount offers and more
        1. Why Subscribe?
        2. Free Access for Packt account holders
    7. Preface
      1. What this book covers
      2. What you need for this book
      3. Who this book is for
      4. Conventions
      5. Reader feedback
      6. Customer support
        1. Errata
        2. Piracy
        3. Questions
    8. 1. The Context of Data Visualization
      1. Exploiting the digital age
      2. Visualization as a discovery tool
      3. The bedrock of visualization knowledge
      4. Defining data visualization
      5. Visualization skills for the masses
      6. The data visualization methodology
      7. Visualization design objectives
        1. Strive for form and function
        2. Justifying the selection of everything we do
        3. Creating accessibility through intuitive design
        4. Never deceive the receiver
      8. Summary
    9. 2. Setting the Purpose and Identifying Key Factors
      1. Clarifying the purpose of your project
        1. The reason for existing
        2. The intended effect
      2. Establishing intent – the visualization's function
        1. When the function is to explain
        2. When the function is to explore
        3. When the function is to exhibit data
      3. Establishing intent – the visualization's tone
        1. Pragmatic and analytical
        2. Emotive and abstract
      4. Key factors surrounding a visualization project
      5. The "eight hats" of data visualization design
        1. The initiator
        2. The data scientist
        3. The journalist
        4. The computer scientist
        5. The designer
        6. The cognitive scientist
        7. The communicator
        8. The project manager
      6. Summary
    10. 3. Demonstrating Editorial Focus and Learning About Your Data
      1. The importance of editorial focus
      2. Preparing and familiarizing yourself with your data
      3. Refining your editorial focus
      4. Using visual analysis to find stories
      5. An example of finding and telling stories
      6. Summary
    11. 4. Conceiving and Reasoning Visualization Design Options
      1. Data visualization design is all about choices
      2. Some helpful tips
      3. The visualization anatomy – data representation
        1. Choosing the correct visualization method
        2. Considering the physical properties of our data
        3. Determining the degree of accuracy in interpretation
        4. Creating an appropriate design metaphor
        5. Choosing the final solution
      4. The visualization anatomy – data presentation
        1. The use of color
          1. To represent data
          2. To bring the data layer to the fore
          3. To conform to design requirements
      5. Creating interactivity
      6. Annotation
      7. Arrangement
      8. Summary
    12. 5. Taxonomy of Data Visualization Methods
      1. Data visualization methods
      2. Choosing the appropriate chart type
        1. Comparing categories
          1. Dot plot
          2. Bar chart (or column chart)
          3. Floating bar (or Gantt chart)
          4. Pixelated bar chart
          5. Histogram
          6. Slopegraph (or bumps chart or table chart)
          7. Radial chart
          8. Glyph chart
          9. Sankey diagram
          10. Area size chart
          11. Small multiples (or trellis chart)
          12. Word cloud
        2. Assessing hierarchies and part-to-whole relationships
          1. Pie chart
          2. Stacked bar chart (or stacked column chart)
          3. Square pie (or unit chart or waffle chart)
          4. Tree map
          5. Circle packing diagram
          6. Bubble hierarchy
          7. Tree hierarchy
        3. Showing changes over time
          1. Line chart
          2. Sparklines
          3. Area chart
          4. Horizon chart
          5. Stacked area chart
          6. Stream graph
          7. Candlestick chart (or box and whiskers plot, OHLC chart)
          8. Barcode chart
          9. Flow map
        4. Plotting connections and relationships
          1. Scatter plot
          2. Bubble plot
          3. Scatter plot matrix
          4. Heatmap (or matrix chart)
          5. Parallel sets (or parallel coordinates)
          6. Radial network (or chord diagram)
          7. Network diagram (or force-directed/node-link network)
        5. Mapping geo-spatial data
          1. Choropleth map
          2. Dot plot map
          3. Bubble plot map
          4. Isarithmic map (or contour map or topological map)
          5. Particle flow map
          6. Cartogram
          7. Dorling cartogram
          8. Network connection map
      3. Summary
    13. 6. Constructing and Evaluating Your Design Solution
      1. For constructing visualizations, technology matters
        1. Visualization software, applications, and programs
        2. Charting and statistical analysis tools
        3. Programming environments
        4. Tools for mapping
          1. Other specialist tools
      2. The construction process
      3. Approaching the finishing line
      4. Post-launch evaluation
      5. Developing your capabilities
        1. Practice, practice, practice!
        2. Evaluating the work of others
        3. Publishing and sharing your output
        4. Immerse yourself into learning about the field
      6. Summary
    14. Index

Product information

  • Title: Data Visualization: a successful design process
  • Author(s): Andy Kirk
  • Release date: December 2012
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781849693462