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Last Monday, I attended my third Tufte class. You get the whole collection of his books with each class, so I’ve accumulated a mini-library, now. Last time I attended, I put together a supergraphic, a distillation of all my notes.

This time, though, I took my new LiveScribe Echo Smartpen and recorded the whole damned thing. You can view the result below:

Don’t think for one second that this replaces the experience of personal attendance. Among the reasons:

1. The audio is of varying quality (this was my first major outing with the smartpen).
2. You can’t appreciate the visual display elements, which feature prominently in these sessions.
3. You can pose your own questions to Edward (he’s quite friendly).
4. An additional book will probably be out by the time by the next time training rolls around again, which will expand the subjects covered.

By the third class, it’s easy to appreciate how the course contents have been refined. New angles find their way into the seminar. Groups of people can have pow-wows and hammer out ideas around the day’s class. Not that I’ve, you know, done that (I always fly solo at these things), but I do have ears. Plenty of other attendees do this in the spaces outside the main hall.

Most Important Takeaways

Please take a moment to appreciate the irony of a bullet-list of cool information from a class where purveyors of bullet-lists should be hung from the rafters.

• The symmetry between producing and consuming is strong. Both should involve the same questions.
• The map is the metaphor to shoot for. They are dense with data but quite understandable.
• To clarify points, add data. Don’t dumb it down.
• Al Gore’s iPad application includes… instructions on how to use an iPad? Uh, what?
• Graphics are not for special occasions. They belong in the narrative with the words.
• Don’t re-invent things; find and copy. Find and copy.
• Keep multivariate information together in the viewing space.
• Ditch PowerPoint. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has.

That last point was the most precious moment. We are certainly computer users when the CEO of The PowerPoint Company ditches it. Good dealers never use the product. Give that moment a listen (and apologies for the quality of the audio and edit).

Fly on the Wall Moments

As with the last time, I always seem to overhear one consistent complaint: That the class isn’t hands-on. There are hundreds of us in attendance, and the point isn’t to make the programs go or to fix my particular chart.

The class is about glossing lightly over the books, highlighting the general approach, getting focused on the essentials, then leaving us to apply these ideas to our own particular circumstances. These aren’t classes about software.

The class is meant to get us to think about design one level higher than we’re accustomed. When I learn about the importance of removing excess lines, we aren’t in Excel territory. Striving to see the data and a narrative, together, and undivided by the means of production, means we won’t be covering Office, either.

If you are interested in the application of these concepts to the particular problems you face, then it’s time to get our in-house education departments involved or DIY. Hell, pay me some money. I’ll whip something up.

Seriously, though. Attend a class when it comes near your area.

I spend a fair amount of time dealing with Reference Manager, so a recent XKCD really tickled me:

This about sums it up.

Those of us who work in basic science hear a lot about the pitfalls of misrepresenting data. The preceding stick-figure reminds us that that’s only one pitfall. Sometimes, the basic trappings of research can lull us into a false sense of acceptance. There’s always the risk that it’s yet another Chicken Chicken Chicken paper.

My family rents, so we have to get clearance to do anything major. However, my hope is that I’ll be able to purchase some Idea Paint because my blank walls need some love, and this stuff will change that particular game.

Basically, this is paint that you use to turn a wall into a whiteboard. If I had an office at work, I’d have already purchased some of this stuff. As it stands, my office at home will have to suffice. Anyway, check it out. If you are artistically inclined and have the wall space for some brainstorming, it’s worth your attention.

I’m always on the lookout for science education that can break through the wall of boredom that separates most technical arts from laymen. To that end, I offer the following embedded YouTube videos by ScienceGoddess. It’s immunology explained with cookies.

First, let’s begin with the basophil. Our blood contains the least of these cells (in relation to the quantity of other cells). It’s probably a good thing. When they break apart, they result in histamine responses – allergies.

Then there are eosinophils, the parasite-warriors of the immunological system. They seek out stuff that’s not “us” and eradicate them.

Lymphocytes are things that show up quite a lot in the literature I help prepare. There’s a lot of variety within this cell-group and, I won’t kid you, I don’t see how it all fits together. But, by watching, we can learn more about Natural Killer cells, and I’ve always wanted to insert the word Born in there.

Putting this – and the other videos that I’ve not linked to – into some kind of Cookie-Context™ requires a lot of baked goods, but it’s well worth it.

In addition to a kind of ad-hoc biology education, these videos illustrate a good principle of design: make it interesting. By simply including cookies and using a conversational tone, ScienceGoddess makes the subject matter just a bit more approachable.

Now, if we can mix this with video-game sprites, violent stickmans, and the LOL-cat meme, we can revolutionize education. Or wreck it.

It was odd to encounter a visualization article at Scientific American. Still, it’s worth sharing:

Purists, such as Stephen Few (founder and principal, Perceptual Edge) and John Grimwade (graphics director, Conde Nast Traveler) are wary of the functionality of circle-based charts. Indeed, the human brain is more adept at comparing lengths than areas. For example, the largest wedge in this pie chart is clearly identifiable (figure 1). But what is the second largest category? And the third? A bar chart–even without a background grid–is easier to read.

Others, such as Alberto Cairo (director for infographics and multimedia at Época-Editora Globo), worry that bar and line charts have become too familiar, and risk being overlooked or dismissed too quickly by the reader. These standard visualization formats are indisputably elegant solutions, but information-graphics professionals should not rest on their haunches and rely too heavily on a form established in the late 1700s. Instead, we should push the boundaries and explore new ways of presenting the data in an effort to better engage the reader. Perhaps it was in this spirit that the proportional circle chart was born.

It’s quick and breezy. If you’re interested, here’s Infographics: The great circle debate by Jen Christiansen.

This is just a quick post to direct you to this video by Nancy Duarte. She has taken the time to analyze the structure and content of MLK’s iconic speech.

Last year, I pointed readers toward his letter to Birmingham Jail because it, too, is an example of magically constructed prose. In both these examples, the conveyance of ideas is so sharp and focused that they easily stand the test of time. It strikes me as remarkable that, all these years later, I still get chills at its delivery.

My only New Year’s resolution this year was to pay more attention to this blog. In order to do that, I need to learn that lesson we’ve all learned at one time or another: keep it simple.

To that end, I’m going to pass along all the coolest visualization/science stuff I can find, minus any fluff. The first post for the new year features a cool site to use when trying to figure out each state’s health rankings.

My state is highlighted here. Click the graphic to explore it for yourself at America's Health Rankings.

Hat tip to Information is Beautiful.

Last week, we had our Immunology: Looking Forward symposium. With about 500 people in attendance, it was a huge success. The registration tables processed people smoothly. The poster session went off without a hitch. The food was great. By every measure we can think of, we proved that you can have a great scientific symposium on the cheap.

We’re a non-profit, so on the cheap was vitally important. Fortunately, when you’re hosting scientists, you can pull it off with ease. This is because scientists, as a general rule, lack the silver spoon impulse. They just care about science, and we had tons of that stuff.

My Part

My role in all of this was taking care of the downstairs poster session area from setup to breakdown. This is where over-preparing carries certain benefits because, like all the areas we were collectively managing, we kept waiting for something – anything – to go wrong.

But it didn’t. It was oddly anti-climactic. I want to extend my thanks to all the BRI volunteers that made this happen. I deeply appreciated their cooperation. It’s the reason our nervous tension didn’t require us to spring into action. Things just worked.

Along the way, I got to design another poster-timeline (I love those things) for ITN, help develop the registration website, and generally flex my creative muscles. Opportunities like that are one of the many reasons that I so love working for Benaroya Research Institute.

Click this graphic to open the larger version

All of us are encouraged to be creative, not just the science staff. We proved that on October 27-28. I hope that we get another opportunity to do this again; the attendees would certainly appreciate it.

I have to hand it to NPR. They feature some incredibly nice interactive graphics to accompany their articles. The most recent one to catch my eye is called Visualizing The U.S. Electrical Grid.

The U.S. electric grid is a complex network of independently owned and operated power plants and transmission lines. Aging infrastructure, combined with a rise in domestic electricity consumption, has forced experts to critically examine the status and health of the nation’s electrical systems. (NPR)

Just by clicking on the main tabs (beneath the summary text), you can quickly explore the data and wrap your head around the basics. This strikes me as a fantastic starting point for exploring the subject.

A recent Chaos publication makes it clear that our infrastructure is so aged and crumbling that terrorists would have a hard time effectively attacking it. Finally, a silver lining can be found for deep, persistent, institutional decay.

Aside

I feature this because (first) it’s cool and (second) I’m fishing for clean designs because I’m determined to take some of these practices and fine a home for them at BRI. We are a world-class research institution and, over time, we’ve ensured that our promotional materials reflect that. But we can do better. I hope to do my part.

And we’re just a few weeks away from our Immunology: Looking Forward symposium. I’m very excited to have a very different job for just two days. The arrangements are almost completely finalized and plenty of volunteers have stepped up. It should be great.

I love data pictures. This is why I justify Tufte seminars to my employer every other year. It never hurts to brush up on some basics. Among those basics are: a clean look, plain language, and no chartjunk.

I owe a tip of the hat to Boing Boing for this great pointer to an infographic depicting the history of scientific thought (a la tube-map). My first thought was that the data are useful seeds for growing an interest in critical thinking skills.

The summary is priceless:

500 years of modern science, reason & critical thinking via the medium of gross oversimplification, dodgy demarcation, glaring omission and a very tiny font.

Wry pseudo-apologies be damned; the thing is wonderful. Planting seeds is my thing, so I had to share it. Just staring at the work makes me appreciate the painstaking development of thoughts that I all too often take for granted. It’s worth remembering on the next occasion that I shake my fist at the world. I can be impatient, but change takes time. Dammit.

Click here to directly view the graphic.