This week we took a look at data and how it varies in its presentation.
We have discussed the relevance of hieroglyphics and the likes many times already during the course, but never in regards to data. All that we know for sure is purely because of information being recorded, data being recorded, often in the forms of charts and diagrams. These charts and diagrams tell stories, often times better than words ever could. Below you can see two of the most famous early examples of charts, one displaying the loss that Napoleans army suffered against the Russians, and another tracking the price of a quarter of wheat. Whilst these two subjects are wildly different they are presented in a similar manner, which to me offers insight in to how the human mind processes information.
We took a look at the London Underground Map, designed by Harry Beck who was not a designer but rather an electrical engineer. I think this is shown greatly within the design of the map as it resembles a circuit board. This map offers an insight into the advantage of approaching a design project with your own perspective. Becks unique experience as an electrical engineer demonstrates how beneficial it can be to put your best foot forward, even if it isn’t the most relevant way to approach the task. In doing so he created a map that prioritises the data regardless of its real world accuracy because it simply didn’t matter to users. So whilst approaching it from an engineering perspective isn’t always going to be the best approach for a design project, keeping in mind the needs of the users can help guide us to a more appropriate approach.
We took a look at a more contemporary approach to data visualisation. Here we can see the amount of fresh water available globally, as well as how the supply is doing at the moment, whilst these two screenshots are presented on the same webpage providing similar information they are shown in very different ways. For example the current threat to the global water supply is 18%, below threat level, and this is shown through a nice visualisation of earth with a heatmap showing the concentration of the threat. Alternatively, on the right we can see a much more stripped down approach focusing purely on the figures, doing so utilising scale due to the figures being so different to create an emphasis on the disparity. It is interesting that they have chosen to approach the data so differently perhaps to want to invoke a different feeling to users in order to allow them to consider their own water usage.
This was a cool class, I always enjoy when public transport maps such as the London underground one are brought up as they are always so well designed, every city I visit I make it my mission to use the metro if possible. With this in mind I’d like to say I appreciate that non representational approach, choosing to prioritise the users experience and to simplify things, keeping the map contained within its own world. It is something to consider for future designs, perhaps it would implement well into the dashboard project.