Humans make sense of visual information by perceiving patterns, and we are all highly attuned to pattern detection. To visualize data effectively, it is necessary to encode information in a form that a user, or viewer, can decode to see useful patterns and gain insights. This section covers what makes visualizations effective, or not.

Participants learn various techniques for encoding information, with a particular focus on how to use color effectively.

Topics:

• Pattern
• Color
• Representation

People find data actionable when it helps them solve problems, make decisions and accomplish occasionally complex tasks. Producing an effective data experience requires an understanding of the users you are trying to serve with your product, and what you are hoping to help them accomplish.

Historically, people have gained insights through narrative and storytelling, often using metaphor to compare new information to what they already know. DVUX looks closely at the fundamentals of human intelligence and reasoning, and what contemporary neuroscience can tell us about how to organize information for effective cognition.

Participants will learn useful techniques to discover and document what their users are trying to accomplish with their product. Using principles of metaphor, context, and narrative, participants will learn how to link visualizations to insights, and how data displays can be designed to answer user questions. Finally, participants will learn how to assemble user-experiences that are engaging and motivating for their users.

Topics:

• Metaphor
• Context
• Narrative
• Understanding user needs
• The grammar of graphics
• Engagement

• Assessing good (and bad) visualizations
• Developing reverse question boards
• Selecting visualizations to generate insights
• Encoding a visualization
• Creating data experiences