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some data visualization advice

An amazing interview by Ben Ferry on his YouTube channel: Power BI Guy where he had an wonderful conversation with data graphics and visual journalism veteran: Alberto Cairo, a living legend.

 

And these are my notes from this interview:

      1. The older (he gets), the less he speaks about principles and rules and the more he wants to understand the reasoning process in designing a data visualization. (On minute 10:00).
      2. One of the paradoxes of knowledge is that: the more you learn about something, the less that you feel that you actually know about that, that you’re learning. (On minute 12:17).
      3. The process of developing wisdom: becoming aware of your knowledge gaps and then try to fill them up or keep exploring (On minute 12:17).
      4. What matters in any journey, it’s not the destination, but the journey itself. (On minute 12:35).
      5. What really matters in data visualization is what the reader experiences. (On minute 23:29).
      6. Visualization design is not based on the application of rules, but it’s more like a conversation with your stakeholders and then you adjust your visualizations according to those conversation. It’s back-and-forth, giving each other reasons to do things or reasons not to do things and do things differently. (On minute 24:00).
      7. In philosophy, you have final goals and instrumental goals, data and data visualization are instrumental goals, and the final goal is understanding. (On minute 25:10).
      8. (With the information displayed), feed or ignite the curiosity on the user because it may lead to the insight (On minute 27:10).
      9. Data visualizations that are useful are already good data visualizations. If it works, it works. (On minute 29:00).
      10. If designing interactive tools, like a dashboard, try to incorporate user experience research onto the design process. (On minute 33:00).
      11. (Focus on) the sheer process of seeing daily improvements because is what keeps you going…enjoy the process, enjoy the state of flow when you’re doing something that it’s absorbing because you enter a state of mindfulness, by focusing your attention which then helps train your concentration on other areas (On minute 41:15).
      12. What really matters in life is to enjoy it and help other people enjoy it too. (On minute 43:00).
      13. Recommended book: The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam. (On minute 45:22).
      14. Seeing sketching and data visualization as instrumental goals to understand something better, the process of sketching or making a data visualization forces you to organize your thoughts and you end up understanding the topic or data better. They may also reveal realities that you never thought about. (On minute 46:30).
      15. Recommended book: Math with Bad Drawings by Ben Orling. (On minute 48:37).

And that’s it for today, thank you Ben and Alberto for this amazing conversation!

See you tomorrow!