Comments on: Test Pattern Retuned

By: viveka

viveka — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 05:20:48 +0000

OK, I’ve redrawn again as suggested. I also realised that my version above is not accessible to the colour-blind, so I’ve added somee more distinguishing cues to the data points. I agree, this is more readable.

By: viveka

viveka — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 22:14:36 +0000

Thanks Andrea, and welcome! I’m honoured to have such an accomplished designer visit my little blog.
I like your point about the use of narrative in information design. I’m a little concerned it would tell a false story - from the article it sounds like we’re dealing with four groups of children, measured all at once; not a single group measured over time as their conditions change. However I think that since there’s no explicit time sequence, it wouldn’t do any harm and would at least simplify the reading.

By: andrea steinfl

andrea steinfl — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 08:47:15 +0000

karmanaut, I would add just a few words, without a drawing, at the moment. If I find time I’ll post one in the next days. Nevertheless, i believe it is possible (and necessary and important), to see the information design issue you present, also under a different point of view. A dramaturgic point of view, that comes out of the relation between the data and the text. If I look at things this narrative way, the data tells: The best students are the ones that do not have TV in their bedroom. The survey in itself is not brillant, because it is highly imprecise and doesn’t tell anything really (ok, I don’t have a TV in my bedroom but I have a computer, and then?), but nevertheless, let’s play the game. The main question is (in this case): Who are the best students? And the graph should first of all answer this question, without esitation. So, (starting from your redesign) first of all, I would change the order on the X-axis and put them in ascending order of results. This way the order would be: a) no computer, b) bedroom TV, c) computer and d) no bedroom tv. this way, the impact of the graph will immediately tell the story. This would be just the first of a series of small redesign issues that take into account the precision of visual representation of the data and the need to comunicate effectively. I believe information design is first of all building conversations, between data, information and human beings. And we like stories that are well told and learn faster through them. I apologize for my poor english. All the best from rome.