1.
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
The biggest missed opportunity
in data visualization

2.
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
The biggest missed opportunity
in data communication
visualization

3.
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
The biggest missed opportunity
in professional communication
data communication
visualization

4.
The main thing is to keep the
main thing the main thing

5.
Most of you suck.

6.
Most of you suck,
but you don’t have to.

7.
Who am I?
The biggest missed opportunity in data visualization
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
2001

8.
The main thing is to keep the
main thing the main thing

9.
Is this a good
graph?

10.
What’s the main
thing here?

11.
What’s the main
thing here?

12.
What’s the main
thing here?

13.
The biggest missed opportunity in
data visualization
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
Why most of you suck?
What do you usually do?
What should you do?

14.
Why most of you suck?

15.
Becoming a
data scientist
is
easy

16.
Becoming a
data engineer
is
easy

17.
Becoming a
data analyst
is
easy

18.
Becoming a
programmer
is
easy

19.
Becoming a
statistician
is
easy

20.
Becoming a
data scientist/programmer/statistician
is
easy

21.
“Your analyses are fascinating, although
I don’t understand 95% of them”
My co-worker in an anonymous feedback

22.
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is
around to hear it, does it make a sound?

23.
If you work hard and no one is around who
understands you, do you actually work?

24.
Communication?

25.
Most of you suck
(relatively)

26.
What’s the main
thing here?

27.
“Your analyses are fascinating, although
I don’t understand 95% of them”
My co-worker in an anonymous feedback

28.
“Storytelling isn’t a soft skill;
storytelling is fundamental”
Geoff Ralston, CEO Y-Combinator

29.
Most of you suck

30.
When running away, I don’t need to
outrun the lion, I need to outrun you

31.
Why most of you suck?
What do you usually do?
What should you do?
The biggest missed opportunity in
data visualization
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net

32.
What you usually do

33.
The typical workflow

34.
results = do_stuff()
visualize(results)

35.
results = do_stuff()
visualize_with_diagnostics(results)

36.
results = do_stuff()
visualize_with_diagnostics(
results, metrics=True
)

37.
for normalization in (
'none', 'minmax', 'to_mean', ...
):
for method in (
'LR', 'SVM', 'RNN', ...
):
results = do_stuff(
normalization=normalization, method=method
)
fig = visualize_with_diagnostics(
results, metrics=True,
title=f'{normalization} {method}.'
)
fig.savefig(f'figs/{normalization}_{method}.png')

38.
Where’s that
presentation?

39.
What’s the main
thing here?

40.
Why most of you suck?
What do you usually do?
What should you do?
The biggest missed opportunity in
data visualization
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net

41.
What should you do?

42.
Reading is easier
Thinking is hard

43.
Text

44.
Subvocalization

45.
Short

46.
‫טקסט‬
‫نص‬
⽂本

47.
“What”
vs.
“So what?”

48.
Data dynamics

49.
Our data is highly seasonal

50.
ECG

51.
No signs of arrhythmia or Q-T prolongation

52.
You’re OK

53.
Prediction performance

54.
Why writing conclusions?
• Convince
• Discipline
• Endanger

55.
Subvocalization

56.
I’ll tell you
what to think

57.
Boris Gorelik
is the best

58.
Why writing conclusions?
• Convince
• Discipline
• Endanger

59.
Discipline

60.
Does the graph say what I say that it says?

61.
Why writing conclusions?
• Convince
• Discipline
• Endanger

62.
Make claims that future observations
might show to be false
Karl Popper (not a citation)

63.
Why writing conclusions?
• Convince
• Discipline
• Endanger

64.
It’sFAST

65.
It’sFAST

66.
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
Why most of you suck?
What do you usually do?
What should you do?

67.
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
Why most of you suck?
What do you usually do?
What should you do?

68.
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
Why most of you suck?
What do you usually do?
What should you do?

69.
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
Why most of you suck?
What do you usually do?
What should you do?

70.
Boris Gorelik, Ph.D
Freelance consultant: data science & visualization | boris@gorelik.net
https://gorelik.net