Visualizing Data and Information Holly Nielsen Jason Pasinetti.

Visualizing Data and Information

Holly NielsenJason Pasinetti

Content - Do I have the right information to think about this issue?

Credibility – Can I trust this information?

Design – Am I seeing the data or the design?

Content Counts Most of All

How can I help someone think about this issue?

Are coal mines safer today than in the past?

Mine Safety and Health Administration: www.msha.gov/s tats/centurystats/coalstats.asp

http://www.msha.gov/s%20tats/centurystats/coalstats.asp

Be Credible

Include units and scale.

Financial data should be in consistent currency and deflated. Use the Higher Education Price Index.

Put you name on your work so people can judge your credibility and ask questions if you are not available when they read your analysis.

Use large data sets.

Source your data. Provide the whole data set.

Graphical elements that represent data should change at the same rate as the data.

Teach, don’t pitch.Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Tufte, 1983

Design Counts

In order to take advantage of visual understanding, the content needs to be arranged in space instead of time.

If we are using paper or an electronic screen to display the information, we are now limited to two dimensions. Every drop of ink or pixel counts.

Design is about making choices. Every element we add to the display interacts with and competes with every other element. The choices we make about how we display our content directly affects the clarity and accessibility of that content.

Design CountsAm I going to make it?

From Tufte’s website, www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ Original Data , Hermann Brenner, "Long-term survival rates of cancer patients achieved by the end of the 20th century: a period analysis," The Lancet, 360 (October 12, 2002), 1131-1135.

Design Counts

From Tufte’s website, www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ Original Data , Hermann Brenner, "Long-term survival rates of cancer patients achieved by the end of the 20th century: a period analysis," The Lancet, 360 (October 12, 2002), 1131-1135.

Support Analytical ThinkingCompared to what?Show comparisonsShow causalityShow multi-variant information (more than 1 or 2 variables)Add detail to clarify

# of Coal Mining Fatalities by State1996 - 2007


Mine Safety and Health Administration: www.msha.gov/stats/charts/coalbystate.asp

StateState Total

West Virginia 120Kentucky 107Virginia 34Alabama 33Pennsylvania 26Utah 23Indiana 11Illinois 10Wyoming 8Colorado 6Ohio 6Maryland 5Texas 4Arizona 3New Mexico 2Oklahoma 2Tennessee 2Arkansas 1Montana 1North Dakota 1Yearly Total 405

State 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996State Total

West Virginia 9 23 3 12 10 6 13 9 9 7 7 12 120Kentucky 1 2 16 8 6 9 9 5 13 9 12 5 12 107Virginia 1 3 3 4 2 4 5 5 5 2 34Alabama 1 2 2 4 2 1 1 14 2 1 1 2 33Pennsylvania 2 1 1 4 1 1 3 1 2 2 1 4 3 26Utah 10 1 2 1 4 3 2 23Indiana 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 11Illinois 3 1 2 1 1 2 10Wyoming 1 2 1 2 1 1 8Colorado 1 1 1 2 1 6Ohio 1 2 2 1 6Maryland 2 1 1 1 5Texas 1 1 1 1 4Arizona 1 1 1 3New Mexico 1 1 2Oklahoma 1 1 2Tennessee 1 1 2Arkansas 1 1Montana 1 1North Dakota 1 1Yearly Total 5 33 47 23 28 30 27 42 38 35 29 30 38 405

Do I need a graph?

If the data set is small, use text or a well organized table.

Sort tables by some meaningful field.

Performance data should be presented in a table like the sports page or the financial page of most newspapers.

Percent of Top 10 Fatal Coal Mining Incident Causes by Location 1995 - 2007

Cause Surface Underground Both Locations

Powered Haulage 47% 28% 35%

Machinery 27% 16% 21%

Roof Fall 0% 27% 17%

Electrical 7% 10% 9%

Fall of Roof 0% 8% 5%

Fall of Roof or Back 0% 7% 4%

Fall of Highwall 7% 1% 3%

Fall of Person 6% 0% 2%

Slip/Fall of Person 5% 1% 2%

Rib Fall 0% 3% 2%

Mine Safety and Health Administration: www.msha.gov/fatals/fabc.htm

Time for a Graph

Date Location Cause # of Fatalities State Company Mine12/12/07 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Utah C. W. Mining Co. Bear Canyon #4 12/04/07 Surface at Underground Slip or Fall of Person 1 West Virginia Mammoth Coal Company No 130 Mine 11/16/07 Surface Powered Haulage 1 Oklahoma Farrell-Cooper Mining Company Rock Island Mine 11/12/07 Underground Machinery 1 New Mexico San Juan Coal Company San Juan Mine 1 11/05/07 Surface Machinery 1 Texas The North American Coal Corp. San Miguel Lignite Mine 11/04/07 Facility Slip or Fall of Person 1 West Virginia Weatherby Processing Corp Remington Preparation Plant 10/28/07 Underground Falling, Rolling, Sliding Rock/Material 1 West Virginia Long Branch Energy Mine No. 23 10/20/07 Underground Powered Haulage 1 West Virginia Carter Roag Coal Company Pleasant Hill Mine 09/16/07 Surface at Underground Slip or Fall of Person 1 West Virginia Mingo Logan Coal Company Mountaineer II Mine 09/03/07 Underground Fall of Roof 1 West Virginia Consol of KY Inc Bronzite 08/16/07 Underground Fall of Face or Rib 3 Utah Genwal Resources Inc. Crandall Canyon Mine 08/10/07 Underground Slip or Fall of Persons 3 Indiana Gibson County Coal, LLC Gibson Mine 08/06/07 Underground Fall of Face or Rib 6 Utah Genwal Resources Inc. Crandall Canyon Mine 08/04/07 Underground Machinery 1 West Virginia Rockhouse Creek Development, LLC No. 8 07/30/07 Other Slip or Fall of Person 1 Alabama Jim Walter Resources, Inc. No. 3 Mine 07/16/07 Surface Explosives and Breaking Agents 1 Kentucky CAM Mining LLC Three Mile Mine #1 07/02/07 Surface Powered Haulage 1 Alabama Twin Pines Coal Company Inc Mine #2 04/17/07 Surface Fall of Highwall 2 Maryland Tri-Star Mining Inc Job #3 04/05/07 Underground Stepping or Kneeling on Object 1 Pennsylvania Eighty Four Mining Company Mine 84 03/12/07 Surface Machinery 1 Kentucky Double E Augering Inc No. 3 01/13/07 Underground Fall of Roof 2 West Virginia Brooks Run Mining Company LLC Cucumber Mine 01/06/07 Underground Handling Material 1 Colorado Oxbow Mining, LLC Elk Creek Mine 12/17/06 Underground Fall of Roof 1 West Virginia Dana Mining Company Inc. Prime No. 1 11/28/06 Surface Powered Haulage 1 Montana Spring Creek Coal Company Spring Creek Coal Company 11/05/06 Surface Electrical 1 Arizona Peabody Western Coal Company Kayenta Mine 11/04/06 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Kentucky McCoy Elkhorn Coal Corp Mine #23 10/30/06 Underground Powered Haulage 1 West Virginia Double Bonus Coal Company Bluestone Industries Inc 10/23/06 Underground Ignition or Explosion of Gas or Dust 1 Pennsylvania R & D Coal Co Inc R & D Coal Co. Inc 10/20/06 Underground Fall of Face/ Rib/Highwall 1 West Virginia Kingwood Mining Company LLC Whitetail Kittanning Mine 10/12/06 Underground Fall of Roof 1 Alabama Jim Walter Resources Inc No 7 Mine 10/06/06 Underground Fall of Roof 1 Kentucky D & R Coal Co., Inc. Mine No. 2 07/30/06 Facility Exploding Vessels Under Pressure 1 West Virginia Carter Roag Coal Company Star Bridge Preparation Plant - Rail Load07/20/06 Surface Machinery 1 Kentucky CAM Mining LLC Slate Branch 07/18/06 Surface Fall of Face/Rib/Highwall 1 Kentucky Hendrickson Equipment Inc Smith Branch No. 1 07/07/06 Facility Machinery 1 Kentucky Hopkins County Coal LLC East Volunteer 05/24/06 Underground Powered Haulage 1 West Virginia Wolf Run Mining Company Sycamore Mine No. 2 05/23/06 Open Pit Powered Haulage 1 Kentucky Miller Bros Coal LLC Risner Branch #1 05/20/06 Underground Ignition/Explosion of Gas/Dust 5 Kentucky Kentucky Darby LLC Darby Mine No. 1 05/04/06 Surface Electrical 1 Virginia Consolidation Coal Company Buchanan Mine #1 04/21/06 Underground Machinery 1 Kentucky Lone Mountain Processing Inc. Huff Creek No 1 04/20/06 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 Kentucky Tri Star Coal L.L.C. No. 1 04/07/06 Underground Powered Haulage 1 West Virginia Jacob Mining Co., LLC No. 1 Mine 04/07/06 Underground Powered Haulage 1 West Virginia Mystic LLC Candice #2 03/29/06 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 Alabama Jim Walter Resources Inc. No. 4 Mine 02/17/06 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Maryland Mettiki Coal LLC Mettiki Mine 02/16/06 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 Kentucky Perry County Coal Corp. HZ4 - 102/01/06 Underground Fall of Face, Rib, Pillar or Highwall 1 West Virginia Long Branch Energy #18 Tunnel Mine 02/01/06 Surface Fire 1 West Virginia Elk Run Coal company Inc. Black Castle Mine 01/29/06 Underground Fall of Face, Rib, Pillar or Highwall 1 Utah Andalex Resources Inc Aberdeen Mine 01/23/06 Surface Powered Haulage 1 Kentucky Sassy Coal Co., Inc. No. 4 Mine 01/19/06 Underground Fire 2 West Virginia Aracoma Coal Company Inc Aracoma Alma Mine #1 01/10/06 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 Kentucky Maverick Mining Company, LLC Mine #1 01/02/06 Underground Ignition/Explosion of Gas/Dust 12 West Virginia Anker West Virginia Mining Company Inc Sago Mine 12/30/05 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Kentucky H & D Mining Inc Mine No 3 12/15/05 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 West Virginia Arjay Mining Inc Adkins Branch Mine No 1A 12/12/05 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 Pennsylvania Rosebud Mining Company Logansport Mine 12/09/05 Underground Slip or Fall of Person 1 Wyoming Pacific Minerals Bridger Underground Coal Mine 12/06/05 Surface Powered Haulage 1 Pennsylvania Reading Anthracite Company Wadesville P-33 11/08/05 Surface Powered Haulage 1 Maryland Mettiki Coal, L.L.C. Mountain View Mine #1 11/04/05 Surface Electrical 1 Kentucky Enterprise Mining Company, L. L. C. Mine #1 08/19/05 Surface Powered Haulage 2 Kentucky Bell County Coal Corporation Preparation Plant 08/18/05 Surface Machinery 1 Pennsylvania Thomas J. Smith, Inc. Smith No. 1 Mine 08/10/05 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 Alabama Drummond Company, Inc. Shoal Creek Mine 08/03/05 Underground Fall of Roof 2 Kentucky Stillhouse Mining LLC Mine No 1 07/12/05 Underground Fall of Roof 1 Alabama Sunrise Coal Co., LLC NEWCO #1 06/10/05 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Ohio Tusky Coal LLC Tusky #1 Mine 06/10/05 Underground Fall of Roof 1 Pennsylvania Rosebud Mining Co. Tracy Lynne Mine 06/06/05 Underground Fall of Roof 1 Oklahoma South Central Coal Company, Inc. South Central Mine 06/01/05 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Alabama The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company North River # 1 Underground Mine 05/11/05 Underground Powered Haulage 1 West Virginia Consolidation Coal Company Shoemaker Mine 04/21/05 Facility Powered Haulage 1 Kentucky Central Appalachia Mining, LLC Point Rock Plant 03/31/05 Underground Roof Fall 1 West Virginia Coal River Mining LLC Tiny Creek No. 2 03/29/05 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Kentucky Rockhouse Energy Mining Company (Massey) Mine #1 02/16/05 Mill/Prep Plant Slip or Fall of Person 1 Alabama Greenfuels Processing Inc., LLC Kellerman Prep Plant 12/28/04 Surface Machinery 1 Kentucky ICG Knott County LLC Supreme Energy Prep Plant 12/21/04 Underground Machinery 1 Tennesse Tennco Inc Valley Creek Mine No. 2 12/02/04 Surface Machinery 1 West Virginia Catenary Coal Company Samples Mine 11/20/04 Bituminous Fall of Face/Rib/Highwall 1 West Virginia Endurance Mining Co. Red Cedar Surface Mine 11/09/04 Bituminous Powered Haulage 1 Kentucky J R Mining Grays Fork 10/23/04 Bituminous Electrical 1 Virginia Omega Mining, Inc. Southern Crescent Mine 10/01/04 Anthracite Powered Haulage 1 Pennsylvania Jeddo Coal Company Jeddo No 8 Preparation Plant 09/26/04 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Virginia Consolidation Coal Co. Buchanan #1 Mine 09/24/04 Underground Electrical 1 Virginia Cumberland River Coal Co. Fork Ridge Mine 09/24/04 Other Machinery 1 West Virginia Wilson & Wilson Barrackville Refuse Pile 08/29/04 Open Pit Electrical 1 West Virginia Hobet Mining Inc. Hobet 21 Surface Mine 08/17/04 Underground Fall of Face, Rib, Pillar or Highwall 1 West Virginia McElroy Coal Company McElroy Mine 08/02/04 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 Kentucky Reedy Coal Co. Inc. Mine No. 25 06/17/04 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 Kentucky Dags Branch Coal Company, Inc. No. 6 06/16/04 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Alabama Jim Walter Resources, Inc. No. 7 Mine 06/16/04 Underground Fall of Roof or Back 1 Kentucky Bell County Coal Corporation Coal Creek 06/10/04 Office Powered Haulage 1 West Virginia Tug Valley Coal Processing Company Tug Valley Coal Processing Company 05/18/04 Underground Machinery 1 Indiana Black Beauty Coal Company Air Quality #1 Mine 04/22/04 Underground Powered Haulage 1 Alabama Jim Walter Resources, Inc. No. 7 Mine 04/03/04 Underground Machinery 1 West Virginia Brooks Run Mining Company LLC Mercer Deep Mine 03/12/04 Surface Machinery 1 West Virginia Simmons Fork Mining, Inc. Paynter Branch Surface Mine 03/02/04 Surface Falling/Sliding/Rolling Material 1 West Virginia Brooks Run Mining Company LLC Brooks Run Processing Plant No. 1 02/10/04 Surface Powered Haulage 1 West Virginia Colony Bay Coal Company Colony Bay Surface Mine 02/10/04 Underground Powered Haulage 1 West Virginia Raw Coal Mining Company, Inc. Cucumber Mine

Many people’s design solution for large multi-variant data sets is to remove data.

But what if we need the detail to think about the problem?

Fatal Coal Mining Incidents 1995 - 2007

Mine Safety and Health Administration: www.msha.gov/fatals/fabc.htm

Time for a Graph

Minimize Non-data Ink, Maximize Data Density

West Virginia Coal Mine Fatalities1900 - 2007 (YTD - 12-17-07)

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700 686 Fatalities - 1925

2007 Fatal Coal mine Accident Alert #32, Author Unknown

Minimize Non-data Ink, Maximize Data Density

8

13

22

18

1310

16

12

7 69 9

13

69

12

3

23

8

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

0

4

8

12

16

20

24


Total = 21719 Year Period

2007 Fatal Coal mine Accident Alert #32, Author Unknown

Minimize Non-data Ink to Maximize Data Density

# of Coal Mining Fatalities

# of Coal Miners in Thousands

Coal Mining Fatality Rate per

200,000 FTEs

1900 - 2007 1995 - 2007

Mine Safety and Health Administration: www.msha.gov/stats/centurystats/coalstats.asp

Minimize Non-data Ink to Maximize Data Density

1+1=3. Closely spaced lines activate the space between them. This causes a visual vibration that attracts the eye. Avoid hatching and grids. A point is formed anywhere two lines cross.

All guide lines should be minimized if not eliminated.

Avoid keys and legends. Do not make people decipher the graph. Label data directly. Labels in English should usually read horizontally regardless of the axis.








Aspect Ratio: Spiky vs. Lumpy DataGenerally use an aspect ration of 1 height to 1.5 width.

Adjusting the aspect ratio can help expose cycles in time series data.

Ideally, the average slop of the lines should average 45 degrees.

Practically, make the data look more lumpy than spiky.

Cleveland, W.S., 1994. The Elements of Graphing Data, revised edition. Murray Hill, NJ: AT&T Bell Laboratories, pp. 66–79.

Using ColorColors are a very strong visual element use them sparingly and with care. Be cognizant of contrast and color interaction.

Use colors found in nature. Especially light blues, yellows, grays, greens and tans.

Use saturation to show increase in value. The increase in saturation should match the increase in the data.

Use a very light border to separate interacting zones of colors.

Avoid strong colors close to one another with white space. Avoid rainbow encoding.

Layering and Separation

Clinton Administration

Bush Administration

Year of Sago Mine Disaster

Annotate, but use light guidelines.

Show data and information in parallel to invite comparison.

Coal Mining Fatality Rate per 200,000 FTEs

Mine Safety and Health Administration: www.msha.gov/stats/centurystats/coalstats.asp

Use Area and Volume Cautiously

Do not depict more dimensions than there are variables in your data.

Avoid shading and 3-D effects. Do not hide one data behind another’s 3-D effect.

We have a hard time estimating area, especially radial area in circles, cones, and spheres. Make sure the area changes at the proportion as the data it depicts.

What do you do when a bound area defines a region relates to but is not changed by another variable?


Was this the American political landscape in 2004?


But now we loose the political and geographic boundaries.

Visualizing Data for the Masses: Information Graphics at The New York TimesMatthew Ericson , Deputy Graphics Director, The New York Times

Use Area and Volume CautiouslyThis map shows population density much better.

But what about political reality?

This map show how that translates to our political system.

Visualizing Data for the Masses: Information Graphics at The New York TimesMatthew Ericson , Deputy Graphics Director, The New York Times

Macro/Micro Readings

Use Small Multiples

Well designed data graphs can be shrunk way down.

This allows us to show change using space instead of time.

Do not use frames. The scales become the frames. Show the change in data, not the design.

Coal mining Fatalities for Top 6 States1996 - 2007


Integrate Word, Number, and Image

Do not segregate content by means of production.

Avoid referencing figures far away from text analysis. Put the visual close to the text.

Use a simple, intense, word-sized graphic like a sparkline.

From Tufte’s website, www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/

From Bissantz’s website, www.bissantz.de/

Mapping Relationships

When mapping networks, project , or workflows, think about the nature of the relationships.

Avoid shapes. Label directly and annotate, especially the relationships.

Mark Lombardi george w. bush, harken energy, and jackson stevens c.1979-90, 5th version, 1999

Mapping Relationships

Prophets, Practitioners, and Toolmakers The long shadow: Tufte

The new kids on the block: Few, Many Eyes, Bissantz, NYT Graphics Department

Do not forfeit your design to software or templates

Excel: hammering a samurai sword out of a butter knife

Look for design inspiration. Talent imitates, but genius steals

Steal Avoid

Elite NewspapersNew York TimesWall Street

JournalElite Science Journals

NatureScience

TVLawyersMarketing/PRPoliticians

Seeing the Trees in the ForestA rage to conclude: trends, averages, forecasts, overreaching, and recency bias

Graphs are powerful but not magic. Aid decision making don’t short cut it.

The Oracle only has answers. You have to ask the right questions.

Fatalities are people

Seeing the Trees in the Forest

Questions?

Aesthetics

“When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”

Buckminster Fuller

8

13

22

18

1310

16

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7 69 9

13

69

12

3

23

8

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

0

4

8

12

16

20

24


Total = 21719 Year Period

Table Exercises

1. Think about the situation. Read the background material (it is only background; it will not contain all the detail you want to think about).

2. What questions need to be asked to understand the issues?

3. After you decide what info you need, what would be some good ways to show it? (show as different visualizations)

4. You have 30 minutes to discuss. At the end of the 30 minutes, one person per table needs to give a one minute report out to the group.

Visualizing Data and Information Holly Nielsen Jason Pasinetti.

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