The Role of Data Visualization in Communicating Information
Data visualization and infographics are important tools for effectively communicating information to viewers. According to Alberto Cairo, these disciplines involve shaping data in a way that engages the human eye and stimulates the brain’s primary visual cortex. Data itself is a symbolic representation of the properties of objects, events, and their environment, and vision is a critical aspect of our ability to interpret and understand this information.
Through our eyes we retain extra information, sense emotional spectrums, train our subconscious mind, and adapt to new experiences. Your visual capacity is an evolutionary advantage and a sight privilege. Cairo thinks:
We are visual species. We are also a symbolic species.
In the modified Data Information Knowledge Wisdom Hierarchy, data is synthesized and structured in a way that allows viewers to gain knowledge and understanding. By presenting data in a structured manner, viewers can decode and encode information and create languages and hierarchies. This structured data plays a functional role in enabling deeper insights and acting as a key communication bridge.
Data visualization professionals serve as special communicators, translating abstract data into knowledge and potentially influencing behaviour change through their designs. Examples of notable data visualization and infographic projects include Information is Beautiful by David McCandless and Visual Cinnamon by Nadieh Bremer, as well as media collectives like Vox and The Pudding, which strive to keep viewers informed about global events and trends.
Data structures are designed to improve the user experience by allowing for easier interpretation and ideation using intentional shapes and symbols. The purpose of data visualization and information architecture is to create effective designs that produce tangible results and help with foresight, rather than simply presenting raw data sets.
According to Cairo, the goal of any data visualization or infographic is to be both understandable and beautiful, creating a sense of “exquisite functionality.”
Summary
Structured data visualizations and infographics are effective because they engage our senses and cognitive processing abilities, allowing us to better understand and analyze information. By presenting data in a structured way, these tools can help to simplify complex information and uncover related pieces of data, leading to improved solutions and strategies.
Outlook
Advancing artificial intelligence and expansion of digital information both emphasize the critical role that data visualization plays in making sense of all this data. It is necessary to assess how data dissemination methods affect diversity and inclusion because there are still ethical issues in this area. The intent behind shaping data in the engineering process must not be overlooked. Data visualization, in my opinion, should aim to lead us towards a reality of truth and transformation in the future.
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References:
Cairo, A. (2012). The Functional Art. An introduction to information graphics and visualization. United States: New Riders.
Liew, A. (2013). DIKIW: Data, Information, Knowledge, Intelligence, Wisdom and their Interrelationships. Business Management Dynamics, 2(10), 49–62.
Murray, J. (2017). Big Data, the Internet of Things, and the Revised Knowledge Pyramid. ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems, 48, 69–79.
