Information Design and Data Visualization - Articles Archive
from June 24, 2004 to March 30, 2004

"Ergonomics is sometimes described as "fitting the system to the human," meaning that through informed decisions; equipment, tools, environments and tasks can be selected and designed to fit unique human abilities and limitations. Typical examples in the "physical ergonomics" arena include designing a lifting job to ... read more

If you are into data visualization and appreciate the value of information design, you may want to explore this new experimental work in providing more effective access to news via a visual interface. In The News, a newsdata visualization experiment carried out by Michal Migurski of ... read more

Two very good examples of effective information design applied to newsmaking, are the recipients of last year Best Of New Media Design Competition organized by the Society for News Design (http://snd.org/). One is El Calamar Gigante, produced by Elmundo with information from the Smithsonian Institute and ... read more

"Timely, focused online newsletter a valuable relationship builder. Just two years ago, the average e-mail user was confused and frustrated when differentiating between spam and the then-emerging category of marketing newsletters. Today, average users are better able to make the differentiation. As a result, publishing an ... read more

I fully endorse Dave Pollard's list of essential links and free tools he has nicely put together with some good inspiration from the excellent job done by Jason Lefkowitz in his Quality Software List. I have added a few suggestions in the Comments area where you ... read more

Five ideas to help you incorporate design principles in your work -- and to better connect with customers and colleagues: 1. Design is the Differentiator 2. Those Who Write the Rules, Rule 3. Confront the Unfamiliar 4. Make It Real 5. Get Emotional. Peak Performers, Impact Players, Game Changers, Collaborators and the ... read more

A great small collection of quality tips for online publishers using (X)HTML code in their pages. These are absolute "must-follow" rules if you want your site to be accessible, compatible and reliably "validated". The idea here is to educate people that build the Web by using the ... read more

Edward Tuftes takes his original essay on word-sized graphics much further in this new extended and revised version for his future book Beautiful Evidence. The concept of Sparklines is a timely and fascinating one, and though Galileo was already using them in 1613, its understanding and ... read more

Ben Hunt has just released a new interesting online resource devoted to Web design. Called 'Web Design from Scratch', the site gives a refreshing look at designing Web sites with the end user in mind and it provides a great set of simple-to-use resources as basic ... read more

With all the discussion about separating presentation from content (and structure), it's easy to lose track of the goal. So let's step back, define our terms, and take a look at why it matters. The major reason to separate presentation from the rest of the page ... read more

BML Walker is an interactive animated visualization of walking humans. The interactive visualization data sets have been produced by digitizing the actual movement of over 40 different testers to which special light sensors were attached to their bodies. It is fascinating to see how complex ... read more

"A few companies control much of the economy and oligopolies exert control in nearly every sector of the economy. The people who head up these companies swap on and off the boards from one company to another, and in and out of government committees and positions. ... read more

Who controls what we watch, read and listen to? Though four years old, here is a great map that visualizes the world largest six media moguls and their specific properties in television, book publishing, entertainment, movies and music. The map is complemented by a great referenced ... read more

"There is a great deal of philosophy involved in working with Topic Maps. Not in the sense of arguing for extentionalism or purport a theory of when cats die in boxes, but in the sense of epistemology, the philosophy of learning. It is about how we ... read more

Ujiko is a new visual search engine that will be available tomorrow. Strictly related to Kartoo, Ujiko allows the user to select, comment and annotate all of the preferred results with maximum ease of use. By clicking on a heart rather than a trash can the ... read more

A short summary of new media strategies and their importance beyond the level of simple design analysis, for any organization. Information architecture and information design are also presented in context and with a simple explanation of their role and function. "The world of Web design has ... read more

"Use cases are widely used in large projects to capture the functional requirements of software systems. In the hands of interaction designers, use cases can serve as a powerful tool for brainstorming workflows and bridging the gaps between design and development." ... read more

"Newsmap is an application that visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Google News news aggregator. A treemap visualization algorithm helps display the enormous amount of information gathered by the aggregator. Treemaps are traditionally space-constrained visualizations of information. Newsmap's objective takes that goal a step ... read more

What does one of the world's leading authorities on usability say about PowerPoint? As cofounder of the Nielsen Norman Group and author of the classic The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman is a strong advocate of user-centered design and simplicity. Surprisingly, Norman disagrees with PowerPoint's ... read more

A great glossary of new design disciplines: Information Design, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Experience Design. What are they? Find out from one of the pioneering experience designers and virtual interaction scholars of our time: Nathan Shedroff. ... read more