Reading response #2 – bruce

Effectively Communicating Numbers

The opening example was a appropriate for setting the tone of the whitepaper. The paper establishes the fact that the main purpose for creating information graphics is to communicate the data in the clearest possible manner. Choosing the correct method to represent the data is key. The paper describes various charts and graphs and what situations they can be used in. It goes further to describe a step-by-step graph selection and design process. All-in-all this seems like a great resource to keep coming back to for reference.

Showing Complex Data

This reading talks about what informational graphics are and how to go about creating them, from the users perspective. How is the data organized? The reading talks about preattentive variables like size, shape, color, etc. that convey the information before a viewer pays conscious attention. The paper also describes how the data can be made more participative as opposed to a static visualization. User can interact with the data in many ways and analyze the data in the way that they. A majority of the patterns described here can be found in most modern day software, which we are familiar with. This paper provides a great description of these patterns and when, why they should be used.