New to data visualization? Then keep the answers to frequently asked questions.

What is a chart?

Just open your eyes, and incredible amounts of data will penetrate your brain in the same second. Data is processed instantly and now you already understand the world around us. Forms and structures appear and you can already separate flies from cutlets.
Figuratively, a graph is a great tool, the advantage of which is that you can reflect numbers in space. As soon as the points start lining up one after the other, you will see a scheme that you would hardly have found, just looking at the numbers. At the same time, when you create a diagram, your main concern should be to simplify the detection of this diagram. Everything else is no longer needed. Everything else is just marketing;)

And why should I use charts?

Because data is a value, and you have to get as much out of it as possible. Because graphics allow you to efficiently process information. Because they make it clear that you will not understand it using other methods. And just because they save time.

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How to create professional looking charts?

Do not imitate beautiful charts from magazines, the fact that they are placed there does not mean “professional looking”. As a rule, they have more form than sense, a sort of vacuous zavlelochka. If you use graphics that help make a decision, clean them of rubbish, let them tell their story :)

But my boss loves soaring 3D pie charts in PowerPoint ...

I know perfectly well that this can be a problem. Play with him by the rules and you will be safe (or not :) If you violate, they will increase or dismiss you ...
In short, if you want to change this corporate culture by mocking data - go ahead! People are usually not stupid, they just do not know how to make beautiful. Enlighten. Let them feel the difference with what they can and what you can. Be patient and persistent. People change. But slowly.

What programs to use?

If you work in a corporate environment, you probably will not avoid Excel, or similar table editors (Powerpoint should also be there, but try to bypass it). Do not use any stupid default settings in Excel and then this can be a good starting point.
If you are design oriented, you could try Illustrator or a nice combination of design and programming such as Processing ( note: translator: Even better is NodeBox, I wrote about it). Or forget about graphic editors, working with statistical packages SAS, SPSS or R. Try SpotFire for interactive analysis of large databases.

Give at least a little hint to improve graphics now.

Simplify

In terms of?!

Delete all the nonsense from the charts, think only of the important (imagine that your budget is strictly cut down by the diagrams). Add more free space, then the graphics will play with meaning. Clear, clean graphics are beautiful.

What about books and authors?

No book had such an influence as the remarkable work of Edward Tafti. The Visual Display of Quantative Information (his books are pleasures for the eyes, so feel free to leave his book in the living room ...). Taffy combines minimalism with clear terms (such as dirty charts , data ratios and graphics, data density) to create a good basis for understanding. Use his workings to check the design of your graphs. Discover other English-speaking authors: Stephen Few , Jacques Bertin , William Cleveland, John Tukey , Stephen Kosslyn or Colin Ware .

Anything online?

Edward Tufti leads the forum ( note of the translator: all resources in English) On the Stephen Few website you can also find a forum and some interesting examples in the before / after style. It's hard to find a decent use of good visualization in the media, but the New York Times is a good example. Well, and finally, a wonderful list of online resources.

Original translation in the blog