This is truly a great read!
The Big Data boom has indeed brought about an exponential increase in data analysis. Designers and developers today have come up with several creative visualizations that are extremely engaging, informative and aesthetically pleasing at the same time. The true essence of data visualizations in big data comes when elements of the data tie together beautifully as tools in the visualizations.
When the data being analyzed is user related, it indeed can pique curiosity into human behavior and highlight subliminal traits that most people may not realize. As Ben Shneiderman rightly said, the purpose of data visualization is insight, not pictures!
The visualization about the Disney princesses is a complex one. The data for this visualization is based on eBay purchases of merchandise. While there is an evident racial bias in the data, the reason could be based on a multitude of other factors. For instance, the timeline of introduction of the characters and the popularity of the movie. These in turn can bring into question the reason for the movie not doing well. Movies like Frozen were heavily advertised by Disney, yet other movies like The Princess and The Frog were not heavily advertised. One may even question if this is the reason for the racial bias in the charts, and if the amount of advertising has evoked a racial bias over the years.
The next visualization which portrays the most searched word by state in the United States is not only eye opening but also intriguing as its interpretations are multifaceted. The use of animation not only engages the user but shines light on the way people reacted to the pandemic in 2020. Even though the world was going through a tough time, people were finding other topics to divert their attention to. It also illustrates a unanimous pool of knowledge and the speed with which a topic of conversation can span an entire country in a matter of days. This is truly amazing to think about!
Reuters Graphic’s visualization of the amount of plastic waste in the world is extremely powerful. From the second the visualization begins, the increasing number of plastic bottles enforces the need of attention to it. The onlooker may want to close the page but the sheer speed with which the number increases is alarming and evokes concern! The global warming in the world currently is increasing at an alarming rate, climate change is only one of its effects, yet it is something that it tough to miss. The objective of the visualization, to shed a light on the increasing amount of plastic waste in the world, is beautifully emphasized with the animation. It would be useful to shed light on the message the visualizations are trying to convey.
The visualizations mentioned in the article very clearly enforce its title, and it is very well worded. Some more examples could be used to portray the power of visualizations. Human behavioral trends can be captured from big data and depicted in simple visualizations, yet they provide a lot to think about. Using the visualizations at the same time to evoke emotions is just one of the many powers that they can have.
