anIDEA

10 Fresh Ways to Visualize Data

Don’t just say it, show it.

Infographics, interactive charts and data visualizers make for a more visceral and engaging experience for users.  The result is much coveted longer page view times and social advocacy as users take time to explore, interact with, and share data.  Though these methods of presenting information might take some extra work, the pay-off is worth it as they allow the designer to create an emotional and logical connection with what would otherwise be some very dry data.

Below are some fresh examples to inspire you.

1. How Americans Spend their Day
   

   How Americans Spend Their Day

   The New York Times published an interactive survey asking thousands of American residents to recall every minute of a day. Take a look at how different demographics of people over age 15 spent their time in 2008.

2. How The  U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck
   

   How Americans Spend Their Money

   Visual Economics posted a really colorful and engaging example of illustrated infographics showing what the average U.S. Consumer spends their money on.  Although the graph is not interactive, it shows just how much more time you will spend looking at a page if there are visuals to sum up a lot of numbers.

3. The Diseasome Website
   

   The Diseasome Website

   The diseasome website is a disease/disorder relationships explorer and a sample of an innovative map-oriented scientific work. Built by a team of researchers and engineers, it uses the Human Disease Network dataset and allows for intuitive knowledge discovery by mapping its complexity.

4. Hellman’s: Infographic Video
   
   

   Motion graphics are another great method to add dimension to data. It may not be interactive, but it sure is a powerful way to deliver a data-driven message. This is  Hellmann’s – It’s Time for Real from CRUSH on Vimeo.

5. Turning a Corner?
   

   Turning A Corner?

   This is another intelligent interactive chart from The New York Times. Their display of industrial production output suggests that the economy may be poised to turn around based on past economic cycles.

6. Congress Speaks
   

   Congress Speaks

   This entertaining visualization allows you to compare how many words were spoken by members of the 110th Congress. This tool was created as a public service by Periscopic.

7. Texting While Driving
   

   Tetxing While Driving

   This game was published by The New York Times showing that drivers overestimate their ability to multitask behind the wheel. This game measures how your reaction time is affected by external distractions. Regardless of your results, experts say, you should not attempt to text when driving.

8. Lethal Beauty :  Golden Gate Bridge Suicides
   

   The Sad Tally

   ” The Golden Gate Bridge is the world’s No. 1 suicide magnet, in part because it makes suicide so easy. People jump and kill themselves there, an average of 19 a year.” [source]

   This chart shows the sad tally of suicides that have occurred on the Golden Gate Bridge by location.

9. The Human’s Development
   

   Human's Development Chart

   To make the dimensions readable for everyone the application translates the three dimensions of the Human Development Report; a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.

10. visual i/zer
    

    visual i/zer

    This visualization does not represent aggregates of numbers, but rather, helps reveal connections between different data sets.  Users search for a song, an artist or a lyric and discover how different lyrics intersect with each other. The stickiness and bounciness of the connections is addicting.
    

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