Infographicsby Monica Anderson

Presented to Becker LibraryWashington University, St. Louis, MOOctober 9, 2013

Courtesy of staff at the Research Medical Library at MD Anderson Cancer Center

Courtesy of Meggan Frost, Paul Smith’s College

• Author: Florence Nightingale. Published in Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency, and Hospital Administration of the British Army , 1858 Source:http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page3943.asp

-Visual -Content -Knowledge

Author: Charles Minard, published 1869.Source: www.edwardtufte.com /

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Minard.png

“best statistical graphic ever drawn” Edward Tufte

“… complex ideas communicated with clarity, precision, and efficiency …”

“ … gives to the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space …”

Tufte, Edward. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd ed. 2004

Principles of Graphical Excellence

“ … is nearly always multivariate …”

“ … requires telling the truth about the data.”

Tufte, Edward. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd ed. 2004

Graphical excellence

Eyes of Arundhati Roy byTW Collins, taken January 11, 2007. http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

Vision is our most dominant sense

The yellow.

ball is

Photo by Anthony Easton, 2010.

Photo by Sandy Schultz; 2010.

Graphics enhance our visual system’s ability to see patterns and trends

Appeal ∙ Comprehension ∙ Retention

Comprehension ∙ Retention ∙ Appeal

Appeal ∙ Retention ∙ Comprehension

Comprehension Retentio

nAppeal

Comprehension

Retention

Appeal

Source: http://videohive.net/item/animated-infographic-promo-template/954010

Comprehension Retentio

n

Appeal

Source: http://www.sailpoint.com/news/img/USA-Today20100913.jpg

Embellish or not to embellish

Nigel Holmes, http://nigelholmes.com/graphic/two-mindsets-stanford-magazine/

Nigel Holmes, http://nigelholmes.com/graphic/us-cross-sections-navigator-magazine/

Embellishment:

Power of picture for appeal and retention

University of Saskatchewan 2010 study

Standing Guideline: reduce visual embellishments not essential to understanding the data.

Is the use of elaborate imagery detrimental to understanding, as has been proposed?

Does it have other benefits?

Embellish or not to embellish

University of Saskatchewan 2010 study

compared embellished charts with plain ones

measured both interpretation accuracy and long-term recall

Created by Nigel Holmes

Nigel Holmes graph vs. plain graph

-Accuracy in describing embellished charts no worse than for plain

-Recall after a two-to-three-week gap was significantly better

Cautious to recommend embellishment, but results question some of the premises of the minimalist approach to chart designBateman, S., Mandryk, R.L., Gutwin, C., Genest, A.M., McDine, D., Brooks, C. 2010. Useful Junk? The Effects of Visual Embellishment on

Comprehension and Memorability of Charts. In ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2010), Atlanta, GA, USA. 2573-2582. Best paper award. DOI=10.1145/1753326.1753716.

Charles Minard, 1869

Embellish or not?

Verdict is still out

Courtesy of staff at the Research Medical Library at MD Anderson Cancer Center

Infographics can be a very compelling method for presenting complex data.

Thank you.

Bibliography

Publications:

Smiciklas, M. (2012). The power of infographics: Using pictures to communicate and connect with your audience. Indianapolis, Ind: Que Pub.

Tufte, E. R. (2001). The visual display of quantitative information. Cheshire, Conn: Graphics Press.

Tufte, E. R. (1997). Visual explanations: Images and quantities, evidence and narrative. Cheshire, Conn: Graphics Press.

Bateman, S., Mandryk, R.L., Gutwin, C., Genest, A.M., McDine, D., Brooks, C. 2010. Useful Junk? The Effects of Visual Embellishment on Comprehension and Memorability of Charts. In ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2010), Atlanta, GA, USA. 2573-2582. Best paper award. DOI=10.1145/1753326.1753716.

Websites:

http://spyrestudios.com/the-anatomy-of-an-infographic-5-steps-to-create-a-powerful-visual/

http://blog.visual.ly/source-code-the-5-rules-of-researching-and-sourcing-infographics/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infographic#Data_visualization

http://librariandesignshare.org/2012/12/12/infographic-how-our-library-helps-faculty-publish/

Further Reading

Publications:

Holmes, N. (1984). Designer's guide to creating charts & diagrams. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.

Holmes, N., & DeNeve, R. (1985). Designing pictorial symbols. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.

Holmes, N. (1991). Pictorial maps. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.

Holmes, N. (1984). Designer's guide to creating charts & diagrams. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.

Holmes, N. (2005). Wordless diagrams. New York: Bloomsbury.

Tufte, E. R. (2003). The cognitive style of PowerPoint. Cheshire, Conn: Graphics Press.

Tufte, E. R. (2006). Beautiful evidence. Cheshire, Conn: Graphics Press.

Further Reading

Websites:

http://blog.visual.ly/source-code-the-5-rules-of-researching-and-sourcing-infographics/

http://www.mastermindblogger.com/2012/17-resources-to-help-you-create-killer-infographics/

http://djdesignerlab.com/2012/05/02/25-awesome-infographic-designs/

http://www.behance.net/gallery/-Resume-Self-Promotion/3650343

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index

http://infographiclabs.com/infographic/what-is-an-infographic/

http://www.apma.org/files/images/kyso12_infographic_800.jpg

http://eagereyes.org/criticism/chart-junk-considered-useful-after-all

http://ibreakfast.blogspot.com/2012_10_01_archive.html

http://www.carlislerainey.com/2011/09/24/chart-junk-and-clear-comparisons-of-data/

http://idratherbewriting.com/2010/11/01/what-is-chartjunk-visual-imagination-2/