Info.Design © National Academies Communicating Complex Information: Part II Thom Haller Principal Info.Design, Inc.
Info.Design © Overview We bring together words and images in ways that enable people to understand, take action, or make decisions. We are challenged to think strategically about content – how we focus it, organize it, and present it. We have the opportunity to present words and images in a way that support readers’ interests.
Info.Design © This week you will: Review “what sticks” and explore homework Identify when to use text, icons, visual aids, and information graphics Use visuals to help people make comparisons Use text and visuals to tell a story Identify and incorporate techniques for refining your work.
Info.Design © Time Chunk #1: What Sticks? Homework Examples
Info.Design © What Sticks From Last Week We: Experienced what happens to us (humans) as we interact with information. Learned a strategic framework for communicating complexity. Explored techniques for focusing content. Explored techniques for presenting content.
Info.Design © Explore homework Assemble into groups of three (or four) “Show and tell” Show to group members what you did; relate your results to lessons from Week 1. Identify person to report back his/her example to the class. Report back. “What choices did you make to improve your communication product to make the complex clear?”
Info.Design © Time Chunk #2: Identify when to use icons, words, visual aids, information graphics
Info.Design © Overview If we are to create documents that take readers seriously, we will need a view that allows us to imagine readers other than ourselves actively engaging with words and pictures. Karen Schriver, Dynamics of Document Design, p3
Info.Design © Humans Want Meaningful Data “If information does not inform (support someone in understanding) than it is only data, only stuff.” –Richard Saul Wurman
Info.Design © Humans Want Meaningful Data “If information does not inform (support someone in understanding) than it is only data, only stuff.” –Richard Saul Wurman Our Choices: Words Images Icons Information Graphics Animation Video Sound
Info.Design © Humans Want Meaningful Data "Words form the thread on which we string our experiences." –Aldous Huxley Our Choices: Words Images Icons Information Graphics Animation Video Sound
Info.Design © Words Words are representations of information. When we “write” we form words and present them in a specific order. Readers interact with the words and word order to create meaning.
Info.Design © Proliferation of Words In modern scientific research, 25 % of published materials are graphs, tables, diagrams, and images. The other 75% are words. –Edward Tufte, Beautiful Evidence
Info.Design © Words are often best for: Abstract concepts Such as truth and justice Procedural information Sequencing thoughts on page Content provides step-by-step instruction highlighting numbers Qualifying information Such as IF/THEN Developing argument
Info.Design © Humans Want Meaningful Data “The mind’s eye is magical.” –David Finn “How to Look at Everything” Our Choices: Words Images Icons Information Graphics Animation Video Sound
Info.Design © Use Images to: Define an entity Show time relationships Localize information Support memorization Present detail
Info.Design © Images Define
Info.Design © Images Define: We “see” by relating images to what we know
Info.Design © Images Define: We “see” by relating images to what we know
Info.Design © Images Show Time Relationships/Sequence
Info.Design © Images show time Timelines illustrate progression
Info.Design © Images show time Images support timelines
Info.Design © Images show time Illustrated process
Info.Design © Help users see sequence and hierarchy Help users find sequence and hierarchy and organization. Use graphic cues to prioritize the way information is received
Info.Design © Graphic cues (numbers) prioritize the way information is received Images show time Illustrated procedure
Info.Design © Images Show Location
Info.Design © Images Show Location (and change)
Info.Design © The computer-generated image shows our galaxy, the Milky Way, based on millions of new observations by a NASA orbiting space telescope. It is shown as it would appear to an imaginary observer - from a vantage point of trillions of miles. Images Show Location (supported by words)
Info.Design © Images localize information
Info.Design © Images Aid in Memorizing
Info.Design © Images Show Detail
Info.Design © Images can support or replace words
Info.Design © We must link words and images “Split Attention Effect” Mental integration is cognitively taxing.
Info.Design © We must link words and images
Info.Design © Create images that support words
Info.Design © Link Words and Images
Info.Design © Humans Want Meaningful Data Icons = Visual Representation Our Choices: Words Images Icons Information Graphics Animation Video Sound
Info.Design © Icons can present challenges
Info.Design © Icons often present challenges Without words, icons are often inadequate. Arbitrary Meanings change (telephone, swastika) Not clear Difficult to remember and learn
Info.Design © Challenges with Icons
Info.Design © Humans Want Meaningful Data “If information does not inform (support someone in understanding) than it is only data, only stuff.” –Richard Saul Wurman Our Choices: Words Images Icons Information Graphics Animation Video Sound
Info.Design © graphs tables maps charts Type of Information Graphics
Info.Design © Reasons for Using Information Graphics Provide emphasis Display abstract concepts Compare large amounts of data Depict relationships Condense information in a meaningful way
Info.Design © Uses of Information Graphics Planning Analyzing Monitoring Communicating Information graphics easily enable the transfer of information from one field of study to another.
Info.Design © Bar graph Graphs show quantitative patterns and comparisons Types of Information Graphics Graphs
Info.Design © Lines are one of the most versatile building blocks of information graphics Use line graphs to chart amount and change Line graphs Types of Information Graphics Graphs
Info.Design © Use scatter graphs to show relationships and concentrations of data Scatter graphs (dot graphs) Types of Information Graphics Graphs
Info.Design © display quantitative relationships between two or more groups of information help people answer questions such as: how many, how much translate numbers into pictures Graphs in general Types of Information Graphics Graphs
Info.Design © Build Graphs so people can: Retrieve large amounts of information See overall patterns of data See deviations, trend and relationships Compare information See anomalies in data Rapidly absorb the essence of the information Leave meetings sooner Types of Information Graphics Graphs
Info.Design © Pie chart Captures snapshot Displays relationships on a coordinate system Compares a component to the whole Types of Information Graphics Charts
Info.Design © Build Charts so people can: Measure area CAUTION: research shows that people can judge position or length (bar graph) than they can measure area. Compare one segment to the whole See percentage as it relates to 100% CAUTION: use “reference angle” at 12 o’clock to help users see the percentages better Types of Information Graphics Charts
Info.Design © Display relationships without being plotted on a coordinate system Compare a component to the whole Use charts to: Types of Information Graphics Charts
Info.Design © Tables compare large amounts of data in a small place Types of Information Graphics Tables
Info.Design © Present data best when user wants to know exact amounts Example: Tax table… helps people identify specific amount of money they owe on taxes. Present data more compactly than paragraphs Assist the user making comparisons and seeing relationships Support expert audiences Types of Information Graphics Tables
Info.Design © Build Tables so people can: Compare large amounts of data Find exact amounts. Example: Tax table… helps people identify specific amount of money they owe on taxes. Compare information See relationships Search through large amounts of data Types of Information Graphics Tables
Info.Design © Show navigation through space Show location -- Types of Information Graphics Maps
Info.Design © Show information visually in relationship to its physical (spatial) location. Types of Information Graphics Maps
Info.Design © Build maps so people can: see spatial and directional relationships make a rapid comparison of individual values see overall quantitative values locate places and things Types of Information Graphics Maps
Info.Design © Tool: Chart Chooser
Info.Design © What we can tell others: We do not have to depend on paragraphs as our only route for displaying content
Info.Design © Time Chunk #3: Use Visuals to Help People Comprehend
Info.Design © When you present data visually, you help people: Assimilate huge amounts of data See emerging trends in data See relationships easily Highlight problems in data
Info.Design © Use Visuals to Help People Assimilate huge amounts of data Source: Tufte, Quantitative Display of Visual Information
Info.Design © Use visuals to help people See emerging trends in data
Info.Design © Use visuals to help people See emerging trends in data
Info.Design © Use visuals to help people See relationships easily
Info.Design © Use visuals to help people Highlight problems in data
Info.Design © Time Chunk #4: Help People Take Action
Info.Design © Help people take action "If the visual task is contrast, comparison, and choice--as so often it is-- then the more relevant information within eye-span, the better." E. Tufte, Envisioning Information, 1990
Info.Design © Help people take action “We thrive in information-thick worlds because of our marvelous and everyday capacities to select, edit, single out, structure, highlight, group, pair, harmonize, synthesize, focus, organize, condense, reduce, boil down, choose, categorize, catalog, classify, list, abstract, scan, isolate, discriminate, distinguish, screen, sort, integrate, blend, inspect, filter, lump, skip, smooth, chunk, average, approximate, cluster, aggregate, outline, summarize, itemize, review, dip into, flip through, browse, glance into, leaf through, skim, refine, enumerate, glean synopsize, winnow the wheat from the chaff and separate the sheep from the goats.” E. Tufte, Envisioning Information, 1990
Info.Design © Help people take action by: Showing comparison Presenting alternatives Relating parts to the whole Providing enough data for decision making
Info.Design © Help people take action by: Showing comparison Presenting alternatives Relating parts to the whole Providing enough data for decision making
Info.Design © Help people take action Showing Comparison Place items side-by-side Help people see difference Use shapes, tables, images Show or tell how things are similar or different
Info.Design © Comparison Place items side-by- side Help people see difference Use shapes, tables, images Show or tell how things are similar or different
Info.Design © Comparison Place items side-by-side Help people see difference Use shapes, tables, images Show or tell how things are similar or different
Info.Design © Comparison
Info.Design © Help people take action Showing Quantitative Comparison Compare by showing rank of items As in a bar chart Compare changes over time Use line graphs or filled area graphs Compare patterns of relationships between two or more variables Use a scatter graph
Info.Design © Help people take action by: Showing comparison Presenting alternatives Relating parts to the whole Providing enough data for decision making
Info.Design © Help people envision alternatives
Info.Design © Alternatives: Small multiples reveal a scope of alternatives
Info.Design © Alternatives: Bar graph data can be presented in small multiples
Info.Design © Alternatives: You can portray changes over time within one graphic, rather than presenting each graphic individually.
Info.Design © Alternatives: Use layering to provide different levels of visual detail Layering: two elements work together and achieve new meaning Merits of Layering Layering can show different layers of detail Layers can help us see contradictions Layers help us “multitask” information retrieval Layers can decrease our memory load
Info.Design © “Layering” of information supports users
Info.Design © Cautions about Layering Because layers add to our “gestalt” observation of the page, we must be careful... surplus visual activity = clutter For example: Avoid surrounding words by boxes
Info.Design © Help people take action by: Showing comparison Presenting alternatives Relating parts to the whole Providing enough data for decision making
Info.Design © Help people relate detail to the whole Detail slows and personifies the pace of visualization. Advantages (according to Tufte) -High density designs allow viewers to select, narrate, recast, and personalize data for their own uses. -Thus, the control of information is given over to USERS (not to editors, designers, or developers).
Info.Design © Help users relate parts to the whole Use visual relationships and placement to help people compress facts Provide categories or structured order Provide callouts Use location views to offer the viewer freedom of choice to assess, compare, and sort through detail. Use panoramic and vista views to show how parts relate to the whole
Info.Design © Use color to show categorical breakdown
Info.Design © Show relationship of parts to the whole: callouts
Info.Design © Location (Panorama) View
Info.Design © Location (Vista) View
Info.Design © Location: visually compressing facts
Info.Design © Help people take action by: Showing comparison Presenting alternatives Relating parts to the whole Providing enough data for decision making
Info.Design © Use visuals to help people Make informed decisions Note: Nutrition Facts is considered an excellent “image” because it provides a consistent pattern for labeling.
Info.Design © Make Informed Decisions
Info.Design © Use visuals to help people Make informed decisions Note: UMD’s Human Computer Interface Lab will explain new “lifelines” research at a symposium May 30, 2008
Info.Design © Time Chunk #5: Use Text and Visuals to Tell a Story
Info.Design © Help people visualize: Ask “what is the story”
Info.Design © What we do when we tell stories We convert knowledge Specifically, we convert Tacit knowledge (that which is known internally) INTO Explicit knowledge (that which can become known by others)
Info.Design © Visual “stories” Show what something is (different points of view) Show what’s inside Show where something is Show when something happens Show how something works Show motion
Info.Design © Map Your Story One strategy for envisioning a story is to envision events that happen in sequence We can easily “map” that sequence by drawing a line showing “beginning” “middle” and “end” Incorporating a curve to show “tension” in the story (rising curve leads to story climax) Charting the story event-to-event using a circular framework
Info.Design © Final Thoughts Showing complexity is hard work. –Edward Tufte
Info.Design © Apply Knowledge Exercise: What lessons from today’s presentation can support you in changing/improving the example you brought to class?
Info.Design © Attend to Your Words & Images: You can help your readers We can structure information so people can find it and use it (and appreciate the experience)