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Day 21: BigDataMN

Brian and I went to an analytics conference put on by MinneAnalytics at the Carlson School of Business today. While I work as a copywriter, I am drawn to information about big data and analytics. It is the future. My photo of the day is from my favorite of the talks:


The picture is of Dave Fowler, CEO of Chartio. He presented on charting best practices. While many of the things he pointed out were intuitive, it was great to have someone outline the things to avoid when making a chart such as a line graph or bar graph. Some examples:

  • Avoid using unnecessary gradients. They just confuse people and make it appear that there is an added level of meaning. 
  • Avoid extra colors that are not necessary.
  • Avoid using textures.
  • Avoid using dimensions  By showing a chart in 3-d or at an angle, you can make it more difficult for the user to interpret the information. 
Overall, he championed the idea that we should think of charts as text, and we should ask ourselves if the chart we are creating displays the data as clearly as possible. He sold me on this idea, and I plan to use his advice the next time I have to make a chart. Yes, even as a copywriter, I occasionally have to make charts.  

He recommended Stephen Few's book, Information Dashboard Design, for further reading. I am going to have to go find myself a copy of that book.

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