2. Data
Monica Bulger & Aaron Sobel
Visualization Bren School of Environmental Science
& Management
University of California, Santa Barbara
November 30, 2009

3. Data visualized in 2009 Group Projects
--images from “Pathway to Self-Funding,” “Cumulative Impacts of Large-Scale Renewable Energy Development in the West Mojave,” “Management
Recommendations for Piute Ponds, EAB,” and “Post-Fire Sedimentation and Flood Risk Potential in the Mission Creek Watershed of Santa Barbara,” available
at http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/research/gp2009.htm

5. Who is your
audience?

7. What is your inform
purpose?
request
advocate
publicize
what else?

9. Re-think how you
represent data

10. --image from visualcomplexity.com

11. Think visually
--image from visualcomplexity.com

12. What is your data story?
--image from Design & the Elastic Mind exhibition, “The Million Dollar Blocks Project” available at http://www.moma.org

13. “Data slides aren’t really about data.
They are about the meaning of data.”
--Duarte (2008)

15. Maps tell stories
visually

17. --image from Design & the Elastic Mind exhibition, “New York Talk Exchange” available at http://www.moma.org

18. Barack Obama Personal Visits by State
Jan 2007 - Feb 2008
--Image created by graduate students in UCSBʼs Geography Department using data from IGERT “Issue Browser” project (2009)

19. 3-D allows for visualizing complex data
-- Time Magazine http://www.time.com/time/covers/20061030/where_we_live/

20. Visualizing the distance to the nearest McDonald’s
--Image from infosthetics, available at http://www.infosthetics.com

21. Stacked Graph
Each colored layer represents a musician, progressing from left to right through
the eighteen month span growing wider when listening was more frequent, and
skinnier when it was not.
-- Stacked Graph http://www.leebyron.com/what/lastfm/

22. Stacked Graph
Each colored layer represents a musician, progressing from left to right through
the eighteen month span growing wider when listening was more frequent, and
skinnier when it was not.
-- Stacked Graph http://www.leebyron.com/what/lastfm/

23. Maps in
practice

24. Sample GP brief
Where is the
Cuyama Valley
located?
-- Anderson, C., Dobrowski, B.,
Harris, M., Moreno, E., Roehrdanz, P. (2009). Conservation Assessment for the Cuyama Valley (Project Brief).
Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara. Available at http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/research/gp2009.htm

26. Draw the viewer’s
attention

27. Focus on key points
-- image from Duarteʼs (2008) slide:ology, p. 69

29. Find the best fit for
representing your data
visually

30. Pie charts vs. bar graphs
proportion
comparison
-- image from Dutton, W.J. & Helsper, E.J. (2007). Oxford Internet Survey 2007 Report: The Internet in Britain. Oxford Internet Institute, UK.

31. What does the pie chart tell us?
What information is missing?
--Adlerman, D., Maciejowski, N., Randall, J., Shirley, R. (2009). Management Recommendations for Piute Ponds Edwards Air Force Base, California (Project
Poster). Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara. Available at http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/research/
gp2009.htm

32. Decision trees
can show the
viewer why you
chose the path
you did
--Image from FlowingData, available at http://www.flowingdata.com

33. activity
In groups of 3, improve the following
image.
--Consider what it’s trying to say
--Identify necessary vs. extraneous
information
--How can you clarify the information and
make it more meaningful for your target
audience(s)?

34. Sample GP diagram
-- Anderson, C., Dobrowski, B.,
Harris, M., Moreno, E., Roehrdanz, P. (2009). Conservation Assessment for the Cuyama Valley (Project Brief).
Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara. Available at http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/research/gp2009.htm

35. GP diagram in context
--Hess, L. , Johnson, P., Karasek, T., Port-Minner, S., Radhakrishnan, U. (2009). Pathway to Self-Funding: A Case Study on the Calfornia Commerical Spiny
Lobster Fishery (Project Poster). Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Available at http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/research/gp2009.htm

37. “Slides should be processed in 3 seconds
or less. It’s impossible for people to
process your slides and your words

40. Notes from discussion:
* avoid noise: colors that don’t make sense,
shapes that aren’t significant, arrows that don’t
serve a purpose. This information can be
mis-interpreted.
* if linear relationship, show it, don’t complicate
it with unnecessary info.
* is it necessary for each box to be separate?
Combine related information.

42. * Thank you to Jim Frew and Darren Hardy for
sharing their expertise throughout the workshop.