Conceiving and Reasoning Visualization Design Options - Data Visualization: A Successful Design Process - page 74

Data visualization design is all about
choices
Here is a quote from Jer Thorp ( http://blog.blprnt.com/blog/blprnt/138-
years-of-popular-science ):
"My working process is riddled with dead-ends, messy errors, and bad
decisions—the final product usually sits on top of a mountain of iterations
that rarely see the light of day."
Over the past two chapters, we have explored some of the key preparatory activities
of the visualization design process. In doing so we have built a detailed level of
clarity about what we want to achieve in our visual communication and why.
The heading for this section may seem obvious but it needs stating. As we'll see
in this chapter, the scope for creativity can be quite overwhelming. How well
you rationalize the many decisions you face throughout the process will strongly
determine whether you achieve an effective visualization design.
To frame this discussion, do a quick image search in Google for the term "data
visualization" and scroll through the first few screens. You will see just a snapshot of
evidence of the innumerable variety of ways in which you can represent data. Some
are good, some are bad. Some are really bad. Some shouldn't even be connected with
the term data visualization.
Additionally, have a glance through the collection of submissions uploaded on
to sites that run some of the main data visualization design contests (for example,
www.visualizing.org , www.infobeautyawards.com ). Choose a particular contest
and explore the spectrum of proposed solutions, all typically emerging from the
same dataset and responding to the same brief.
What can we learn from this? What does this evidence of the variety of ways in
which people interpret visualization design challenges reveal to us?
The first thing to say is that there is never a single path towards a "best" solution.
The inherent creativity and individualism of design work ensures that. An idealistic
desire for a single and simple set of rules to achieve a guaranteed effective solution
is simply unreasonable due to the many different factors that will shape the scope
and intention of any given project.
There is, however, an established body of theoretical and practical evidence that
guides us to understand which techniques work better for certain situations and
less well for others. Importantly, these guides transcend instinct or personal taste
and help us frame many of our design options, influencing the choices we make.