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Big Data Implementation

– Data Visualization
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What is Visualization?

Definition (www.oed.com)
1. The action or fact of visualizing; the power or
process of forming a mental picture or vision of
something not actually present to the sight; a picture
thus formed.
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More Definitions

• “Transformation of the symbolic into the geometric”

[McCormick et al. 1987]

•“... finding the artificial memory that best supports our

natural means of perception.” [Bertin 1967]

•“The use of computer-generated, interactive, visual

representations of data to amplify cognition.”
[Card, Mackinlay, & Shneiderman 1999]
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What is Data Visualization?
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What is Data Visualization?

 Data visualization is the graphical representation of

information and data. By using visual elements like
charts, graphs, and maps, data visualization tools
provide an accessible way to see and understand
trends, outliers, and patterns in data.
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Why Data Viz is important for
Big Data?
 As the “age of Big Data” kicks into high-gear,
visualization is an increasingly key tool to make sense
of the trillions of rows of data generated every day.
 Data visualization helps to tell stories by curating data
into a form easier to understand, highlighting the
trends and outliers. A good visualization tells a story,
removing the noise from data and highlighting the
useful information.
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Why Data Viz is important for
Big Data?
 Data visualization provides a quick and effective way to
communicate information in a universal manner using
visual information.
 The practice can also help businesses identify which
factors affect customer behavior; pinpoint areas that
need to be improved or need more attention; make
data more memorable for stakeholders; understand
when and where to place specific products; and predict
sales volumes.
 Charles Joseph Minard
1869 Napoleon’s
March

According to Tufte: “It may well be the best statistical graphic ever drawn.”
5 variables: Army Size, location, dates, direction, temperature during retreat
 More Examples

• The famous Gapminder Video, Hans Rosling:

200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jbkSRLYSojo

• NY Times Interactive Visualizations (e.g., 2013 Federal Budget)

• http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/02/13/us/politics/2013-budget-proposal-graphic.html

• Also, Map-based visualizations, such as CrimeMapping

• http://www.crimemapping.com/map.aspx?aid=3f1738a8-6160-4c68-998a-ae00f597613a
Visualization to Educate?
Another Interesting One
Pie in the Sky?

from wtfviz.net
Needs Fixing
Unsafe at Any Speed?
Okay, so that’s how not to do it!

Let’s talk about how to do it well:

• Some principles
• Best practices for static visualization
• Emerging principles and tools for interactive
visualization
 Uses for Data Viz
A: Support reasoning about information (analysis)
• Finding relationships
• Discover structure
• Quantifying values and influences
• Should be part of a query/analyze cycle

B: Inform and persuade others (communication)

• Capture attention, engage
• Tell a story visually
• Focus on certain aspects, and omit others
 Data Presentation

• Designer-Reader-Data Trinity

From “Designing Data Visualizations”,

Iliinsky and Steele, O’Reilly, 2011
17
Uses for Data Viz
Uses for Data
Viz
Uses for Data
Viz
 A case for Ugly visualizations
People instinctively gravitate to attractive visualizations, and
they have a better chance of getting on the cover of a journal.
But does this conflict with the goals of visualization?:
• Rapid exploration
• Focus on most important details
• Easy and fast to develop and
customize

Powerpoint vs Keynote vs
InDesign
 A case for Ugly visualizations
But you can go too far:

Ugliness does correlate with hard-to-interpret, but they’re not

the same thing.
 Data Scientist’s Workflow
Sandbox
Production

Hypothesize Large Scale

Digging Around Model Exploitation
in Data

Evaluate
Interpret
 A case for Interactivity

i.e. visualizations usually aren’t an end in themselves,

but part of a query/interpret cycle.

Interactivity can speed up the query/interpret cycle.

 INFORMATION IS BEAUTIFUL
(2020)
https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/covid-
19-coronavirus-infographic-datapack/#activities
 CODEX ANTLTATICUS

https://www.codex-atlanticus.it/#/Overview
Chart Selection – Andrew
Abela
Chart Selection – Juice Analytics
 Design Considerations 30

• Tables and charts

• Reduce chartjunk/tablejunk; increase data-ink ratio
• Lessons from perception: Limit the number of objects
displayed at once
• Typography: capitalization, serif/non-serif; use what
your
company uses!
• Colors
• Color scheme
• Contrast, emphasis
• Use what your company uses!
• 6 Gestalt Psychology principles (1912):
• For groups of objects: proximity, similarity, enclosure,
connection
• Visual representation: closure, continuity
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Chart Design
• Example from Tim Bray
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Chart Design
• Example from Tim Bray
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Chart Design
• Example from Tim Bray
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Chart Design
• Example from Tim Bray
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Chart Design
• Example from Tim Bray
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Chart Design
• Example from Tim Bray
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Design Considerations

• Color
• By default, use your organization’s palette
• Choose colors based on the information you want to
convey
• Sequential
• Diverging
• Categorical
• Use online resources to discover and record your color
schemes
• Color Brewer
• Kuler
• Colour Lovers
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Design Considerations

• Color
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Design Considerations

• Color
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Design Considerations

• Color
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Design Considerations
• Color
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Design Considerations

• Color
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Design Considerations

• Color
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Types of Data Visualization

 Temporal
 Data visualizations belong in the temporal category if they
satisfy two conditions: that they are linear, and that they
are one-dimensional. Temporal visualizations normally
feature lines that either stand alone or overlap with each
other, with a start and finish time.
 Examples of temporal data visualization include:
 Scatter plots
 Polar area diagrams
 Time series sequences
 Timelines
 Line graphs
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Types of Data Visualization

 Hierarchical
 Data visualizations that belong in the hierarchical
category are those that order groups within larger
groups. Hierarchical visualizations are best suited if
you’re looking to display clusters of information,
especially if they flow from a single origin point.
 The downside to these graphs is that they tend to be
more complex and difficult to read, which is why the
tree diagram is used most often. It is the simplest to
follow due to its linear path.
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Types of Data Visualization

 Hierarchical
 Examples of hierarchical data visualizations include:

 Tree diagrams
 Ring charts
 Sunburst diagrams
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Types of Data Visualization

 Network
 Datasets connect deeply with other datasets. Network
data visualizations show how they relate to one
another within a network. In other words,
demonstrating relationships between datasets without
wordy explanations.
 Examples of network data visualizations include:
 Matrix charts
 Node-link diagrams
 Word clouds
 Alluvial diagrams
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Types of Data Visualization

 Multidimensional
 Just like the name, multidimensional data visualizations have
multiple dimensions. This means that there are always 2 or
more variables in the mix to create a 3D data visualization.
Because of the many concurrent layers and datasets, these
types of visualizations tend to be the most vibrant or eye-
catching visuals.
 Examples of multidimensional data visualizations include:
 Scatter plots
 Pie charts
 Venn diagrams
 Stacked bar graphs
 Histograms
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Types of Data Visualization

 Multidimensional
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Types of Data Visualization

 Geospatial
 Geospatial or spatial data visualizations relate to real life
physical locations, overlaying familiar maps with different
data points.
 These types of data visualizations are commonly used to
display sales or acquisitions over time, and can be most
recognizable for their use in political campaigns or to display
market penetration in multinational corporations.
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Types of Data Visualization

 Geospatial