Info.Design © 2008 National Academies Communicating Complex Information: Part II Thom Haller

Info.Design © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com National Academies Communicating Complex Information: Part II Thom Haller thom@thomhaller.com www.thomhaller.com Principal Info.Design, Inc. www.infodn.com

Info.Design © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com Humans Want Meaningful Data  Icons = Visual Representation Our Choices: Words Images Icons Information Graphics Animation Video Sound

Info.Design © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com Icons often present challenges  Without words, icons are often inadequate.  Arbitrary  Meanings change (telephone, swastika)  Not clear  Difficult to remember and learn

Info.Design © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com Pie chart Captures snapshot Displays relationships on a coordinate system Compares a component to the whole Types of Information Graphics Charts

Info.Design © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com  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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com Help people take action by:  Showing comparison  Presenting alternatives  Relating parts to the whole  Providing enough data for decision making

Info.Design © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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 © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com Apply Knowledge  Exercise:  What lessons from today’s presentation can support you in changing/improving the example you brought to class?

Info.Design © 2008 www.infodn.comdirect email: thom@thomhaller.com 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)

Info.Design © 2008 National Academies Communicating Complex Information: Part II Thom Haller

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Info.Design © 2008 National Academies Communicating Complex Information: Part II Thom Haller

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