Visualizing Data

  • Authors:
  • Ben Fry

  • Affiliations:
  • -

  • Venue:
  • Visualizing Data
  • Year:
  • 2008

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Visualization

Abstract

Enormous quantities of data go unused or underused today, simplybecause people can't visualize the quantities and relationships init. Using a downloadable programming environment developed by theauthor, Visualizing Data demonstrates methods for representing dataaccurately on the Web and elsewhere, complete with userinteraction, animation, and more. How do the 3.1 billion A, C, Gand T letters of the human genome compare to those of a chimp or amouse? What do the paths that millions of visitors take through aweb site look like? With Visualizing Data, you learn how to answercomplex questions like these with thoroughly interactive displays.We're not talking about cookie-cutter charts and graphs. This bookteaches you how to design entire interfaces around large, complexdata sets with the help of a powerful new design and prototypingtool called "Processing". Used by many researchers and companies toconvey specific data in a clear and understandable manner, theProcessing beta is available free. With this tool and VisualizingData as a guide, you'll learn basic visualization principles, howto choose the right kind of display for your purposes, and how toprovide interactive features that will bring users to your siteover and over. This book teaches you: The seven stages of visualizing data -- acquire, parse, filter,mine, represent, refine, and interactHow all data problems begin with a question and end with anarrative construct that provides a clear answer without extraneousdetailsSeveral example projects with the code to make them workPositive and negative points of each representation discussed.The focus is on customization so that each one best suits what youwant to convey about your data setThe book does not provide ready-made "visualizations" that can beplugged into any data set. Instead, with chapters divided by typesof data rather than types of display, you'll learn how eachvisualization conveys the unique properties of the data itrepresents -- why the data was collected, what's interesting aboutit, and what stories it can tell. Visualizing Data teaches you howto answer questions, not simply display information.