David McCandless talks about how we can use visualizations to make data more meaningful. Have your students watch for homework and then discuss during class.

1. The beauty of
data visualization
David McCandless:
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandl
ess_the_beauty_of_data_visualization

2. What is it about?
• David McCandless turns complex data sets
(like worldwide military spending, media buzz,
Facebook status updates) into beautiful,
simple diagrams that tease out unseen
patterns and connections. Good design, he
suggests, is the best way to navigate
information glut -- and it may just change the
way we see the world.
A
B
CD
E

3. David McCandless
• Programmer, writer, designer
• David McCandless draws beautiful conclusions
from complex datasets -- thus revealing
unexpected insights into our world.
• David McCandless makes infographics --
simple, elegant ways to see information that
might be too complex or too big, small,
abstract or scattered to otherwise be grasped.

4. Comprehension / Vocabulary
• Information overload
• Billion dollar o gram
• Fear chart
• Data is the new oil -> data is the new soil
• Bandwidth of senses
• 2 languages at same time – absolute data vs
relative data
• Let data set change your mind set
OIL SOIL
DATA
DATA
VISUALIZATION

6. Billion dollar-0-gram
• What does the size of the box
represent? The color?
• What is the most interesting
number for you?
• Why is a chart like this useful?
• How do you normally understand
figures in the millions, billions, and
trillions of dollars?

8. Facebook break-ups
• What does the chart so?
• This is fun but why might this be useful?
• What other things would you liked to see
charted from facebook?

10. Supplements and Research
• What does this chart show?
• What does the size of the circle represent?
• What does the location on the chart
represent?
• Do you take supplements? Why or why not?

12. Data input
• What does this chart show?
• What is the tiny box on the bottom right
represent?
• What do you think is your strongest sense?

14. Political Map Discussion
• Holding two conflicting viewpoints at same
time – Political viewpoint
• Something unthreatening about seeing
different viewpoints

15. Summary
• Examples of data visualization that you like?
• Don’t like?
• Do you think David was sincere or is just trying
to sell a book

16. Discussion / Follow up
• What other data sets would you like to see
visualized?
– Government spending?
– Your eating habits?
– Your facebook habits?
– Your friends’ facebook habits?
– Poverty in your city?
– What else??