DATA AND DATA VISUALIZATION

During that lecture, I realized once again that we are all creatures of habits. So many topics, we were talking about in the last weeks are somehow routed since ever and inherent in us. Same as visualizations and storytelling, as we have seen in the lecture in week 7, “Evaluation by Narration”.

By looking at Data Visualization, we also need to understand the data stuff behind. Ramona explained the different types and structures of data in the first part of the presentation.

Quantitative Data → tells you WHAT is happening → numerically  Qualitative Data → tells you WHY it is happening → not numeric

We all know the problem that visualizations are quickly used in a manipulative manner (it doesn’t matter if consciously or unconsciously) in the newspaper or other platforms. It is still quite challenging to clarify which visualizations are “right” and trustworthy. It is mostly inescapable to have a closer look at it, to make your picture of it. Trust is a crucial design issue. So if you don’t express your view correctly in the design, it will likely not be trusted by the savvy people who are looking at it.

It was also showcased in the exhibition “Knowledge in Images” which was exhibited in the first quarter this year at Musem für Gestaltun Zürich. (there were many exciting types of data Visualizations)

Also, it is to mention that including context to data might be helpful to make your data view understandable and measurable for the audience.

→ remark to the storytelling lecture a few weeks ago → stories are the keys

I’m drifting away from the topic. ;-)

I am going back to the part to the Data itself. We differentiate between Big Data and Thick Data, as you can see in the picture below.

Pavliscak, Pamela. 2015. Data-Informed Product Design. O’Reilly. page 6

The most significant difference, I would say, is that computer/machines/algorithms generate big Data, and humans consciously collect thick Data.

Meanwhile, we might know that there is a lot of data out there and an associated emerging data economy.