Designing Data

Making sense of an infinitely complex world through pictures is not new — Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man allowed a viewer to intimately understand the proportion of the human body within a single, elegant diagram. Yet outside the realm of academia and science journals, we’ve now found our species plunged into the endless depths of data living through the information age. The sheer vastness of what is collected is hard to grasp, and so the imperative that surfaces is for our feeble human brains to make sense of it all — to find stories and create tools so that we may harness it and make ever-wiser, ever-informed decisions. This is where designers and the design of data comes to the fore: As a facilitator through thoughtful images and storytelling. Being equipped to handle the complexity of data — its scale, unpredictability and connections is a critical new skill. “Data” is a loaded term, it’s used to describe anything from a digital application’s fundamental atoms to rich visualizations. This lesson will prime you on the essential characteristics of data, and how you can approach telling a story for your users.

1. Basic chart literacy

   Reviewing this excellent diagram primes us on the basic questions we’re trying to answer with a data visualization — Are we seeking to compare? Show relationships? Draw comparisons? Of course this is just the beginning, and there is a vast array of options when visualizing data. This cheat-sheet has served as a common companion that I refer back to years later.

2. Designing location data with choropleth maps

   There are a myriad ways to design location data, but one of the most common is using a choropleth map. Reading this guide, you will illuminate the common needs and considerations when doing so and leave you well-equipped to design your own.

3. Interactivity in data visualization

   After answering the fundamental questions of the data at hand, making sense of it for your users is not a one-sized fits all approach. Interaction enables people to adjust a visualization to their own needs and ask it different questions. This in-depth guide explores the questions and processes designers must go through to create effective tools for people to actually use.

4. The who, where and what of data

   Before we can make a design that’s impactful, having a deep understanding of raw material by knowing the “who, where and what” is essential. This fantastic guide introduces 9 steps to doing this.

5. Understand how humans perceive visual objects in data

   Grasping how humans perceive line, shape, color and arrangement to make sense of data is the next foundational tool in your kit. This thorough read introduces core ideas that will serve as a base to provide strength and confidence when telling the story of the data at hand.