Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
with disheveled hair. Although graphs do have a long-standing tradition in
scientific circles, the reality is that, when properly designed and executed,
graphs can be one of the most intuitive ways to analyze information. There
is a good chance you have used graph representations if you drew things in
a notebook or on a whiteboard to think through or explain concepts—which
is really a form of visualization.
More importantly, graphs provide a means of gaining highly unique and
valuable insight from data. Graph analysis brings complex relationships to
light, informing effective decision-making. Visualization is central to that
process. Being able to see relationships visually is critical to understanding,
whether they be characteristics of the raw data or specific features
highlighted by graph analytics.
Information visualization existsforthesolepurposeofunderstanding more,
and in less time. Our brains are naturally wired to perceive and comprehend
things visually. Reading is a time-consuming, sequential process, requiring
the reader to mentally piece together an understanding. Pictures can convey
information instantly, revealing complex patterns and outliers in easily
digested ways.
There was a time when visualizations were drawn by hand after the
painstaking gathering of data. But today, computer systems can harvest vast
amounts of data and turn it into pictures in mere milliseconds, enabling
analysts to instantly comprehend and act on information. Virtually any
business can now benefit from visualization, and, as a result, it has become
core to systems across all industries and around the world. Graphs,
however, are one of the last forms of visualization to remain underutilized.
There was a time, though, when that was true for all information
visualization in business.
Visualization in Business
The use of computer-rendered visualization for decision-making in business
is a relatively recent phenomenon. Twenty years ago, as recent grads from
the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, we decided to abandon
the design of physical landscapes for the lure of an emerging and wide-open
new world of virtual landscapes. One of us spent a few years working on
three-dimensional (3-D) modeling software before we joined forces with
other colleagues to see if similar technology could be applied to the problem
