parseerror.com / vdqi
vdqi
bare information graphics
vdqi is a graphing library. its goal is to lay data bare.
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."-- Antoine de Saint-Exuper
Table of Contents
Gallery
gallery comparing original and vdqi-interpreted visualizations
Philosophy
a typical information graphic uses a tiny fraction of its ink to display the actual data; often the majority of is wasted on chartjunk.
the following graphics visualize the same data[1]:
which is most effective?
the first graphic may look more familiar to you, similar to those commonly seen in reports and presentations. step back and look at the graph as a whole — what we really see isn't the data; we see the style of the graph; gratuitious, heavy gridlines and 3D shadow. the grid lines convey little information; the bars' 3D effect convey absolutely none. when we begin to really think about it, the bars themselves are not strictly necessary.
vdqi contends the second is more effective, eliminating the chartjunk and displaying only the data. the relationship between the data is immediately clear; indeed, it is impossible to miss because there is very little else. closer inspection reveals that the points are rendered as their value, providing more specific information than the barchart, and using only a fraction of the ink.
Glossary
- chartjunk
- ink that contributes no information; the opposite of data ink.
- data ink
- ink used to convey information
- ink
- non-whitespace portion of an information graphic
- information graphic
- visual representation of information
- lie factor
- the ratio of the size of an effect shown in the graphic to the size of the effect in the data
Further Reading
- InfoVis Wiki
- Gallery of Data Visualization
- Statistical graphics
- PowerPoint Is Evil
- Pie chart
- Sunburst : a multi-level donut chart
- Ask E.T.: Pie Charts
- Boots on the Ground in Iraq : a Washington Post article and 2 pie charts exploring a statistical claim by the White House.
- Warning against using piecharts
- Save the pies for dessert
- Second base with charts: Understanding the Multi-level pie chart
- Stemplot
- NC State - Graphing Resources
References
- Wikipedia. "Anscombe's Quartet" 2009-09-20 <URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anscombe%27s_quartet
- Wikipedia. "Information Graphics" 2009-09-21 <URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Graphics>
- Wikipedia. "Information Visualization" 2009-09-21 <URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Visualization>
- Friendly, Michael. "The Lie Factor" 2009-09-23 <URL: http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/lie-factor.html>
- InfoVis Wiki. "Lie Factor" 2009-09-23 <URL: http://www.infovis-wiki.net/index.php/Lie_Factor>
- InfoVis Wiki. "Data-Ink Ratio" 2009-09-23 <URL: http://www.infovis-wiki.net/index.php/Data-Ink_Ratio>
- ? "Data Graphics" 2009-09-26 <URL: http://web.utk.edu/~glenn/DataGraphics.html>
- United States. War Dept. General Staff, Leonard Porter Ayres "The war with Germany: a statistical summary" p. 102
- Ayres, Leonard P."THE WAR WITH GERMANY A STATISTICAL SUMMARY" <URL: http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/memoir/docs/statistics/statstc.htm>