Data visualization is a marvelous way to understand and communicate complex ideas. Graph visualization expands the expressive power of the medium, revealing patterns and connections that put everything in context. During this webinar, we explore the many beautiful and informative uses of graph visualization.

1. Graph Visualization
Andreas Kollegger

2. How is graph visualization useful?
• As a thinking tool, to visually organize information
• As a development tool, for working with connected data
• As a communication tool, for describing what is in the graph
• As an interactive tool, for exploring relationships
• As a reporting tool, for summarizing business information
• As an analysis tool, for revealing trends, anomalies, structure
• In general — when you’re interested in how things are connected

3. Graph usefulness generally maps
to different graph sizes
Tiny
Small
Large
Giant

4. Tiny Graphs
• Use: Communication of a few concepts within a specific context
• Social Scale: family-size
• Features:
• Node Count: up to a double-digit
• Detail: detailed node information

5. Tiny Graphs: What is a graph?

6. Tiny Graphs: What is a graph?
Ann Loves Dan

7. Tiny Graphs: What is a graph?
Ann
Loves
Dan

8. Tiny Graphs: What is a graph?
Ann
Loves
Dan
Node Relationship Node

9. State Diagram

10. Workflow Diagram

11. Domain Diagram

12. Infographics
• https://www.dreamstime.com/

13. Small Graphs
• Uses: Navigation based on connectivity
• Social Scale: family-size up to a neighborhood
• Features:
• Node Count: hundreds of nodes
• Detail: representative node information

14. Computer Network Diagram

15. Org Chart

16. Route Maps

17. Board Members

18. Large Graphs
• Use: Aggregate analysis
• Social Scale: small town
• Features:
• Node Count: 10’s of thousands of nodes
• Detail: cluster categorization

19. Protein Network
• A network diagram showing protein
interactions inside a cell carousel
• Red and yellow are drug targets;
red is cancer, yellow is other
diseases
• http://oncologynews.com.au/

20. Twitter Communities
• An individual’s twitter connections
• Color coded communities identified
based on topic area of posts
• http://oncologynews.com.au/map-of-drugs-reveals-uncharted-waters-in-search-for-new-treatments/

21. Harry Potter Fanfiction
• Colored by language
• http://colah.github.io/posts/2014-07-FFN-Graphs-Vis/

22. Giant Graphs
• Use: to impress
• Social Scale: global
• Features:
• Node Count: 100’s of thousands to millions and beyond
• Detail: large-scale structure coloring

23. Twitter Network
Sample
• A sample network of Twitter users
• Shows all 415,808 nodes, but none of
the 283,317 edges
• https://dhs.stanford.edu/

24. Twitter Network
Sample
• Same network layout, with only edges
shown
• https://dhs.stanford.edu/

25. Twitter Network
Sample
• Now with nodes and
relationships
• Force-directed layout
• https://dhs.stanford.edu/

26. Cosmic Web
• Discrete galaxies,
connected by gravity
• http://cosmicweb.barabasilab.com

27. Brain
• Visualization of biological
neural network
• https://github.com/nxxcxx/Neural-Network

28. Internet Routes
• Visualization of network
routes across the Internet
in 2005
• By The Opte Project

29. Simplifying the Complexity

30. Area Grouping
• Group nodes together
• Each group has an internal
layout
• Overall layout is group
to group

31. Node Clustering
By Similarity

32. Edge Bundling - Unbundled

33. Edge Bundling - Bundled

34. The Cycle of Complexity
Increase Scale
Aggregate
Tiny
Small
Large
Giant
Small
Large

35. Alternative Graph Representations
And Other Chart Types

36. Radial Tree
• A tree centered
on a focus node
• Navigation re-
centers the tree
• https://github.com/d3/d3/wiki/Gallery

37. Geo Map
• Node layout
anchored by
geospatial
location
• https://github.com/d3/d3/wiki/Gallery

38. Chord Diagram
• Useful for showing
relationship
bundles between
groups, and sub-
groups
• https://github.com/d3/d3/wiki/Gallery

39. Circle Packing
• Awesome for drill-
down overview of data
sub-categories
• https://github.com/d3/d3/wiki/Gallery

40. Sankey Diagrams
• Perfect for
emphasizing
numerical values
on relationships
• https://github.com/d3/d3/wiki/Gallery

41. Thanks!
What would you like to do with graph visualization?
Andreas Kollegger
andreas@neo4j.com
@akollegger