spreading jam

When something becomes ‘fashionable’, you very quickly learn how not to do it. A few months ago I thought I’d dabble in the animal print trend, but the same day I saw a women dressed head to toe in an ensemble of jungle prints and was reminded to keep any additions to my wardrobe minimal. Just like leopard print, when it comes to data visualisation less is more. Many recent examples of data visualisation I’ve seen, counteract the underpinning thought behind infographics, and complicate what is intended to be a concise visual story or representation of an idea that provides understanding – not confusion.

However, data visualisation is not just a current fashion; in a world of information overload it will become essential in making sense of the world around us. I hope, as Fernanda Viegas predicts in May’s edition of Wired magazine, data journalism will develop – communicating complex issues in a way that is accessible for all. I think a great example of this is the interactive timeline of the Middle East protests (shown below), which featured on the Guardian website recently. It’s an interactive timeline which not only maps the news coverage, but also allows you to click through to the corresponding articles, making following a subject simple and accessible. As David McCandless – of Information is Beautiful – says, if this develops, it has huge potential for the classroom. Watching Jamie’s Dream School, it was clear that the visually stimulated classes were most successful, and I’m certain that data visualisation would help to get children interested and engaged in more academic subjects.

However, it is often unclear with visualisations on the web how accurate the data is. Unless this is addressed, the credibility of data visualisation is questioned and it could just as well be a (sometimes) well designed picture. For it to be truly effective we need to excel in all components; design, programming and most importantly research. Hopefully then, as Aaron Koblin, Digital artist and data-arts lead at the Google Creative Lab, thinks “data visualisation will become less noticeable as such. That is, everything will become visualisation as interfaces progress into even more natural tools for interacting and understanding.”