Designing for an Audience - Data Points: Visualization That Means Something - page 246

FIGURE 6-3 Better Life Index (2011) by OECD, Moritz Stefaner, and Raureif, http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/
The Better Life Index is meant to be explored and fiddled with. It can be scanned
quickly but there's a much better payout when you spend time with the inter-
active. The flower metaphor might not fit in with traditional statistical graphics,
but it does make the data feel more tangible and relatable. You can also mouse
over a country to see specific estimates for each topic, as shown in Figure 6-5.
So you need to strike a balance between function and uniqueness. Novel
simply for the sake of novel can often make understanding of the data (which
should always be your goal) difficult. However, unique forms that feed off the
uniqueness of the data can help show what the numbers represent, other
than their quantitative values.
VISUALIZING EVERYTHING
Sometimes a table is better. Sometimes it's better to show numbers instead
of abstract them with shapes. Sometimes you have a lot of data, and it makes
more sense to visualize a simple aggregate than it does to show every data
point.