This document discusses the importance and advantages of data visualization. It notes that we are suffering from information overload and that visualizing data can help filter it. Visualizing data turns it into an "information map" that we can explore with our eyes, allowing us to focus only on important patterns and relationships that may not be obvious otherwise. The document provides examples of how visualization clarifies information quickly and elegantly solves problems. It also discusses how the eyes are highly sensitive to visual patterns and that visualization can be used to depict not just numbers but also ideas and concepts.

1. DATA VISUALISATION
LANGUAGE OF THE EYE
By: David McCandless

2. WE’RE SUFFERING FROM
INFORMATION
OVERLOAD/DATA GLUT
SOLUTION: USE THE EYES MORE!

3. EXAMPLE: McCandless made this
Billion Dollar o-Gram which
had specifc amounts of
billion dollars among press.
These may be meaningless
without visualisation and
look like just another set of
data. But, instead, he
reported data in figure boxes
according to the amounts.
Purple: stands for fighting
Red: stands for giving money
away
Green: profiteering.
Hence, one can see patterns
and data that would just look
scattered across news
reports.

4. WHEN WE VISUALISE DATA,
WE TURN IT INTO A
LANDSCAPE THAT YOU
EXPLORE WITH YOUR EYES.
IT BECOMES A KIND OF
MAP, AN INFORMATION
MAP.
WHEN WE GET LOST IN
TOO MUCH INFORMATION,
THESE INFORMATION MAPS
HELP US FILTER DATA.

5. HOW DOES
VISUALISATION HELP?

6. • IT ALLOWS US TO FOCUS ONLY ON THE INFORMATION
THAT’S IMPORTANT.

7. • THERE ARE VERY
INTERESTING AND
ODD PATTERNS
HIDDEN IN DATA
THAT YOU CAN
ONLY SEE WHEN
YOU VISUALISE IT

8. • IT SOLVES PROBLEMS AND
PROVIDES ELEGANT SOLUTIONS

9. • WE NEED THESE RELATIVE FIGURES THAT ARE CONNECTED TO
OTHER DATA BECAUSE ABSOLUTE FIGURES DON’T GIVE US
THE WHOLE PICTURE

10. • CLARITY CAN BE GAINED
VERY QUICKLY

11. • DATA IS THE NEW SOIL WHERE VISUALISATIONS ACT AS
BLOOMING FLOWERS

12. • TODAY, WE ARE ALL
DEMANDING A
VISUAL ASPECT TO
OUT INFORMATION

13. EXAMPLE: DANISH PHYSICIST TOR NORRETRANDER
CONVERTED BANDWIDTH OF THE SENSES TO COMPUTER
TERMS.
• THE FASTEST WAS SIGHT: SAME AS THE BANDWIDTH OF
COMPUTER NETWORK
• TOUCH: SAME AS THE SPEED OF A USB KEY
• HEARING AND SMELLING: SAME AS THE THROUGHPUT OF A
HARD DISK
• AND A VERY LOW OF 0.7% CONSISTED TO THE THINGS WE ARE
AWARE OF: SAME AS OF POCKET CALCULATORS

14. EYES ARE EXQUISITELY
SENSITIVE TO PATTERNS IN
VARIATIONS IN COLOR, SHAPE
AND PATTERN

15. DATA VISUALISATIONS
WORKS NOT ONLY ON
NUMBERS AND DATA
BUT ALSO ON IDEAS AND
CONCEPTS

16. • IT IS ABLE TO HOLD CONFLICTING VIEWS TOGETHER
• IT IS FUN TO ENGAGE IN. IT MEANS THAT BY VISUALISING
DATA, IT SEEMS BEAUTIFUL EVEN WHEN IT’S TERRIBLE.
• IT AN CAPABILITY TO CHANGE PERSPECTIVE OF A PERSON
ADVANTAGES ARE:

17. COMBINE THE LANGUAGE OF THE EYE AND THE LANGUAGE OF THE MIND
AND THEN YOU UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE PICTURE
By: Harshit Sahni