Darla Cameron, Washington Post
Maps tend to show population density.
Seven solutions for maps that don't tell stories.
Solution: Population squares
Hidden info
Solution: List or table
Small multiples
Use other data points
Map as navigation and/or put a face on it
Table or list
Streamgraphs!
Don't assume that since it's geographic data it must be explained on a map.
Images from space. Raw data is hard to color-correct.
Schooner-tk for processing satellite images
companion to GDAL and landsat util
Color-corrects series of images to same color profile
Gets rid of clouds
"Black metal"
Stitches images together into mosaics
Lily Mihalik and Anthony Pesce, LA Times
How designers and developers can work together
Designers: "Here's a comp. Work your magic!"
Dream big early, feature requests early, edit later.
I know code vs. I know design. Compromise or convince.
"Whip this up"
"Can't you just"
Programmer: "It's close enough" Designer: "Argh"
Programmers paying attention to details, designers learning how to talk code
Priorities and motivations
Iterate: You have to.
Programming's art. Requires critical thinking. Building elaborate machines every day. And constantly being interrupted.
When we split time, we lose time. Losses to context switching.
Attention is a finite resource.
Your time is your time. Protect it. Build walls.
Do tasks in order, don't switch between them.
Don't be like me.
Inline text editing — edit labels without editing your data
Direct selection of data points - add labels by clicking
Free text annotations
Adapting charts for different viewports
Tight newsroom integration
Multi-user support
Custom javascript expert mode
Using data because it exists is like eating the cleanest food in the trash can.
Bad data looks like good data
Missing data missing fields produced by companies field defs. fuzzy dirty
can't always blame the data
Understand: how it was collected why it was collected every column purpose
two types of bad data
bad data: Can use if can clean irredemably bad data: nope.
Can't be that bad
Isn't that bad!
What if it isn't that bad
It's bad and I feel bad
It's bad and I'll move past it.
If you don't get through the stages, everyone suffers.
Slow. Down. Can't always do it today.
Pick up the phone.
Try to poke holes in it.
Help your neighbor. Friends don't let friends use bad data.
Bad data leads to bad stories.
Bad stories lead to bad policies.
Bad policies lead to bad outcomes.
KNOW THY DATA.
MaryJo Webster
10 favorite wrestling moves
Excel date functions
Text to columns
Trim
LEFT and MID (string functions)
Transpose
Tableau reshaper
IF THEN to create new rows, then can split
If functions can also categorize
VLOOKUP
Open Refine
Tabula
What do blind people see? A thought-talk about our obsession with visuals and how it translates for the blind
Let's get uncomfortable.
What you see is not what I see.
Perception != Sensation
By abstraction. Associate visuals with other senses.
By touch.
By taste.
By sound.
We get too distracted by new and exciting.
The Snowfall effect: Only works if it enhances the story.
Our job isn't to make incredible things on the web, it's to tell incredible stories on the web.
Every story doesn't need a cool interactive. Don't force visuals for the sake of visuals.
Reporters: Talk early and often to data viz folks. Data Viz folks: Talk to reporters.
Look at why you love cool stories, not just why they're cool.
Don't say no to cool things just because they're cool things.