History of Viz

Pechakucha Presentation, 2018

At the annual Autodesk conference, I gave a pechakucha presentation on the history of visualization--from how the memory works to complex visual systems. This presentation is both a representation of my love for storytelling as well as my dedication to data visualization.

working on recreating video presentation

but feel free to click through some of my favorite slides (annotated)

Fact one: Human visual perception is selective. We just can’t attend to everything we see—it would be too overwhelming. The classic game of ‘Where’s Waldo’ takes advantage of this fact & purposefuly disobeys visual principles to make patterns invisible. You can see the importance of using resources outside our mind to enhance the cognitive abilities of the mind

Here we’re visualizing the same data in 3 different ways. We already know that text files are too huge a cognitive load. Using shading, Researching Products pops out as most discussed. But by how much compared to Training? By twice the intensity of red? Only with position can we make such granular comparisons.

When we combine fact number one (that visual perception is selective) and fact two (that our working memory is limited), we see how text-based files cause a huge cognitive load—we have to scan the numbers, memorize them & organize. Use of visual rules must serve as an external aid to augment our very limited working memory.

Of course, there does exist a happy medium between emotion and utility. Famous designer Donald Norman writes: I addressed utility and usability, function and form, all in a logical, dispassionate way. But now I’ve changed. Sure utility and usability are important, but without fun and pleasure, joy and excitement, and yes, anxiety and anger, fear and rage, our lives would be incomplete.

We have guidelines for the human interface at Autodesk. I say we also need guidelines for human visualization. I hope I’ve expressed today the nuances of the human mind & the complexities of visual systems. If I were to create a first maxim for the viz guildines it would be: Let’s all embrace visualization readers. And lets use them wisely to inform our colleagues and customers, and not to mislead them.