Exploring Data Visually - Data Points: Visualization That Means Something - page 141

Note: Ben Shneiderman, a professor of com-
puter science and inventor of the treemap, is
often quoted for, “Overview first, zoom and
filter, then details-on-demand” in his paper
“The Eyes Have It.”

This is also a great time to experiment with visual forms. Try
different scales, colors, shapes, sizes, and geometries, and
you might stumble upon a graphic worth pursuing further.
You don't always need to stick to the visual cues that are the
“best” at showing data most accurately and are easiest to
read. When exploration is your goal, don't let a list of best
practices stop you from trying something different because
complex data often requires complex visualization.

For example, Figure 4-3 shows an interactive exploration of arti-
cle deletions on Wikipedia by Mortiz Stefaner, Dario Taraborelli,
and Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia. Wikipedia is a large resource
of data with small and large data tables within articles, article
edits over time, and user interaction with articles and between
each other. The data can be explored on many dimensions, but
the topic focus of Notabilia shows a clearer picture.

Note: A common misconception is that you
must understand a graphic in under 10 sec-
onds. Relationships and patterns aren't always
straightforward, so just because a visualization
takes a few minutes to understand doesn't
make it a failed attempt.

FIGURE 4-3 Notabilia (2011) by
Mortiz Stefaner, Dario Taraborelli,
and Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia,
http://notabilia.net/