How data changes the design process at every stage

On Multiple Views, the Interactions Lab talks about their experience as a design studio and how quickly implementations can change when you introduce real data into the system:

It’s easy to assume that the tools and approaches used for general software design apply equally to data visualization design. But data visualization design and interface design are often deeply and fundamentally distinct from one another. We learned this the hard way when we turned our research lab into a collaborative data visualization design studio for a few years. Data permeates visualization interfaces in ways that pose challenges at every stage of the design process. These challenges are even greater within large visualization teams. By reflecting on and articulating these challenges, we hope to inspire new, powerful data visualization design tools and communication processes.

Always start with real data. You’re wasting your time otherwise.

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Guide for dealing with bad data

Enter the real world of data and statistics, and you find that files aren't always neatly wrapped with a bow and delimited fields. Christopher Groskopf, who recently joined Quartz, provides an “exhaustive reference” to deal with the real stuff.

Most of these problems can be solved. Some of them can't be solved and that means you should not use the data. Others can't be solved, but with precautions you can continue using the data. In order to allow for these ambiguities, this guide is organized by who is best equipped to solve the problem: you, your source, an expert, etc. In the description of each problem you may also find suggestions for what to do if that person can't help you.

The guide is aimed at journalists but easily applies to general data meanderings. I think we can all easily relate to problems such as missing data (“Where did the rest go?”), sample bias (“The population is who?”), and data in a difficult-to-manage format (“They gave you how many PDF files?”).

Bookmark it, read it, and keep it in your digital pocket.

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