Turn on your
data visualization brain
Anita Lillie
April 1, 2016
Who am I?
- Previously: Exploratorium, Practice Fusion, LinkedIn, Nokia, MIT Media Lab, Stanford
- Music, social networks, genetics, healthcare
- Now: Data/UX Lead at Vida Health
I design and develop data interfaces.
How to think about data stories
Where I find inspiration...
The bulk aisle
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/657742/whole-foods-bulk-aisle.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/657744/whole-foods-bulk-zoom.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/657743/whole-foods-spices.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/661800/whole-foods-spices.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/661800/whole-foods-spices.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/661828/whole-foods-spices_cropped.jpg)
Wear on doors
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/662266/Screen_Shot_2014-09-24_at_10.31.36_PM.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/662267/Screen_Shot_2014-09-24_at_10.31.47_PM.png)
Wear around buttons
Tennis
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/1748049/GRASS1-superJumbo.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/1748050/maxresdefault96.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/661882/SOM_Heatmap_Example_in_R_-_No_Legend.png)
Tans.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/660445/6eb96d6037f3baac87db4ed196462690.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/660447/3658386390_655dd0b062.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/660449/farmer-tan.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/660451/tan.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/660452/unnamed.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/1756407/trucker-damage-face_web.jpg)
Carnegie Mellon fence
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/660528/1.jpg)
Carnegie Mellon fence
Carnegie Mellon fence
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/660521/3_Fence4.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/660526/pasted-from-clipboard.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/anitalillie/images/661943/stacked_area-01.png)
Evidence of something interacting with something else
...leaving its mark.
All of these examples are
Why physical metaphors?
- Human cognition is built for these physical things. We see these kinds of patterns easily.
- Thinking in this way helps you choose visual mappings that make sense.
- Making something mimic the real world gives it meaning.
How can we inform our own visualizations?
Keep things in context
When you get data, don't forget where it came from.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/2043347/scuffs.png)
Keep things in context
When you get data, don't forget where it came from.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/2043460/scuffs2.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/2043347/scuffs.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/2043355/door.png)
Keep things in context
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/1748050/maxresdefault96.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/2043384/tennis.png)
Transitions are physical, too
Maintain object permanence as much as possible.
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/2043266/Screen_Shot_2015-12-07_at_9.13.07_PM.png)
Practice
backwards-engineering naturally-occurring visualizations.
- You will ask the right questions.
- You will come up with better data stories.
- You will tell them in a more intuitive way.
@anitalillie
anitalillie@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/alillie/
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/190753/images/2043136/Screen_Shot_2015-12-07_at_7.40.45_PM.png)
Copy of Data vis brain 2!
By Anita Lillie
Copy of Data vis brain 2!
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