Presentation slides:Telling Stories with Data Geoff McGhee is the Creative Director of Media and Communications and a former John S. Knight Journalism fellow at Stanford University.

1. The Role(s) of Data Visualization
Geoff McGhee
Bay Area Data Visualization Group Meetup
October 27, 2011

2. Dealing with Data
Explosion of Electronic Information
• 2003 estimate: 5 exabytes/day* new info
• Open government/transparency movements
• E-commerce, electronic record-keeping
• Digitization of media (photos, music, books...)
• Remote sensors, RFID tags, POS systems
• Plummeting Cost of Storage
• Data formats (XML, JSON, RDF… ), APIs
• Social media
* Exabyte = 1 million terabytes

3. Dealing with Data
The Promise of Data Visualization
Using the Eye-Brain Connection
• Bypass language centers, go direct to
the visual cortex
• Leverage ability to recognize patterns,
visual sense-making
• Powerful graphics chips enable
animation, live data processing possible
Map of New Brainland
by Unit Seven via Flickr

4. Roles of Data Visualization

5. Roles of Data Visualization
Visualizing New Information
• Data that reveals previously unknown
insights into patterns of life
• Visualization as a way to “throw things
on the wall” and examine
Google N-Gram Viewer • Things that used to be unknown,
unknowable, or impractical to know
• Less about visualization than the data

6. Visualizing New Mirror
Visualization as Information
San Francisco Cabspotting, Stamen Design, (2006)
http://cabspotting.org/client.html

7. Visualizing New Mirror
Visualization as Information
“Tourists vs. Locals,” Eric Fischer, (2010)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624209158632/

8. Visualizing New Mirror
Visualization as Information
“Tourists vs. Locals,” Eric Fischer, (2010)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624209158632/

9. Visualizing New Mirror
Visualization as Information
“Tourists vs. Locals,” Eric Fischer, (2010)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624209158632/

10. Visualization as Mirror
Visualizing New Remix
Information
“Flickr Flow,” Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg (2009)
http://hint.fm/projects/flickr/

11. Visualization as Mirror
Visualizing New Information
“GameDay,” Major League Baseball (2011)
http://mlb.mlb.com

12. Visualization as Mirror
The Biggest Lies in Online Dating, OK Cupid (2010)
http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-biggest-lies-in-online-dating/

13. Roles of Data Visualization
Visualizing New Information
• Can be interactive– frequently not
• “Throw it on the wall”
• Maybe best seen as a “first pass,” a
very mature but exploratory vis
Google N-Gram Viewer
• Story comes later – maybe even
because of the visualization

14. The Remix

15. Roles of Data Visualization
Remix: The Familiar Through a New Lens
• Innovations in graphic display can
change how we experience an idea
• Less about data than the visualization
• “Now I see it”

16. Visualization as Remix
“Here and There,” Berg Design (2009)
http://berglondon.com/projects/hat/

17. Visualization as Remix
“If San Francisco Crime Was Elevation,” Doug McCune (2010)
http://dougmccune.com/blog/2010/06/05/if-san-francisco-crime-was-elevation/

18. Visualization as Remix
“River Maps,” Daniel Huffman (2011)
http://somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/river-maps/

19. Visualization as Remix
“River Maps,” Daniel Huffman (2011)
http://somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/river-maps/

20. Visualization as Remix
“Dimensions,” BBC and Berg Design (2010)
http://howbigreally.com

21. Visualization as Remix
“Map of the Market,” Martin Wattenberg/Smart Money (1998)
http://www.smartmoney.com/map-of-the-market/

22. Visualization as Remix
The New York Times (2009)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/economy/unemployment-lines.html

23. Visualization as Remix
The New York Times (2009)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/economy/unemployment-lines.html

24. Visualization as Remix
The New York Times (2009)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/economy/unemployment-lines.html

25. Roles of Data Visualization
Remix: The Familiar Through a New Lens
• Can be about storytelling, but more likely:
the visual format brings out something
new from existing knowledge
• Some of the most artful and striking
visualizations come from this category
• Can take more aesthetic risks

26. Investigation and Advocacy

27. Roles of Data Visualization
Investigation and Advocacy
• Both an analytical and communications
format
• Data mining and analysis help uncover
important trends, stories
• Persuasiveness of graphic forms can be
used for transparency or persuasion

28. Visualization for Investigation or Advocacy
and Advocacy
The Washington Post (2010)
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/map/

29. Visualization for Investigation or Advocacy
and Advocacy
“What They Know,” The Wall Street Journal (2010)
http://blogs.wsj.com/wtk/

30. Visualization for Investigation or Advocacy
and Advocacy
The New York Times (2010)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/07/11/nyregion/20100711-stop-and-frisk.html

31. or Advocacy
Visualization for Investigation and Advocacy
The Sunlight Foundation
http://influenceexplorer.com/organization/att-inc/d473e580c5684a658b754eb97566cb05?cycle=2010v

32. or Advocacy
Visualization for Investigation and Advocacy
The Sunlight Foundation
http://influenceexplorer.com/organization/att-inc/d473e580c5684a658b754eb97566cb05?cycle=2010v

33. Visualization for Investigation or Advocacy
and Advocacy
“SourceMap,” MIT (2009)
http://www.sourcemap.org/object/tesla-roadster

34. Clarity of Argument

35. Visualization for Investigation or Advocacy
and Advocacy
Economic Policy Institute (2010)
http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/pages/interactive#/?start=1917&end=1918

36. Visualization for Investigation or Advocacy
and Advocacy
“Remapping the Debate” Anti-Discrimination Center, (2011)
http://remappingdebate.org/

37. Visualization for Investigation or Advocacy
and Advocacy
“Remapping the Debate” Anti-Discrimination Center, (2011)
http://remappingdebate.org/

38. Visualization for Investigation or Advocacy
and Advocacy
“Remapping the Debate” Anti-Discrimination Center, (2011)
http://remappingdebate.org/

39. Roles of Data Visualization
Investigation and Advocacy
• Storytelling is key
• Ideally about transparency and
comprehensiveness (ie whole data set)
• But also about guiding viewer to most
salient points to your argument
• Interactivity: linear story supplemented
by nonlinear reference

40. Roles of Data Visualization
Environment for Exploration
• Tool for individual or collective exploration
• Can show same data in multiple
dimensions, like time/space
• Search, filter, drill down to details
Analyzing OCR Quality of Newspapers
• Ideally, mark and share discoveries
within the tool

41. Environment as Mirror
Visualization for Exploration
“Mapping America: Every City, Every Block,” The New York Times (2010)
http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer

42. Environment as Mirror
Visualization for Exploration
“Assessing Digitization Quality,” Bill Lane Center for the American West/
University of North Texas (2011)
http://mappingtexts.org

43. Environment as Mirror
Visualization for Exploration
“Mapping the Republic of Letters,”
Stanford University (2009-Present)
https://republicofletters.stanford.edu/

44. Environment for Exploration

45. Learn More Online…

46. Video Documentary

47. Video Documentary
datajournalism.stanford.edu

48. Thanks!
geoffmcghee@gmail.com
Twitter: @mcgeoff