Shan Carter, Interactive graphic editor at the The New York Times, talks about his work telling stories with data. The presentation entitled: “How I tried for years to find the perfect form for interactive graphics, how I failed, and why, whether a perfect form exists or not, I’ve stopped my desperate pursuit.”, walks through some of the best NYT’s examples of interactive data journalism.
Shan Carter at Data Vis Meetup from sha on Vimeo.
The essential question is how best to present data and tell stories using different levels of interactivity. As part of this, he discusses a number of New York Times visualizations with differing levels of user interaction:
- Telling stories video – How Mariano Rivera Dominates Hitters
- Combining interactivity with a linear narrative – How the Giants of Finance Shrank, Then Grew, Under the Financial Crisis
- Explaining time series data “Put a slider on it” – Twitter Chatter During the Super Bowl
- Telling stories through interactivity – Deadly rampage at Virginia Tech
- High levels of interactivity – Budget Puzzle: You Fix the Budget
Essentially, what he really wants is:
Something that does statistical analysis, has approachable storytelling and has useful and judicious interactivity
He goes on to say the questions we should ask about data visualizations are: ‘Is it surprising? Is it heartfelt? Does it make me laugh? Our goal is not to make great visualizations, but to communicate with human beings.’
(via FlowingData)
Infographics
One comment
Pingback: Slicing the 2012 US Federal Budget - [VISUALIZATION]