How to present lots of information on a screen
cacaphony of pictures here
Nuclear launch detected
Like this?
Simplicity
It takes work to simplify
Plan time to simplify your designs
"Looks good, how can we make it simpler?"
Reduce
The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction. - John Maeda
What features can we hide?
What can we remove?
What would Tufte do?
"There are a lot of terrible graphs out there!"- things Tufte probably said
Professor Tufte studies how to present various kinds of information.
1975
Data to Ink Ratio
Which means Fewer Lines
In action at Google
"A lot of use of white space, not a lot of artificial, surface-like divisions. We’re really counting on bold typography, white space, and big images to give emphasis, give character and give hierarchy to the cards that we give you."
-Matias Duarte, senior director, Android user experience
No Crazy Effects
Fun for a slideshow but bad for comparing data. Imagine a few of these on a screen.
A good 3D chart
Thanks
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enso.jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Highway_Chart_Data.pdfhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gantt_it.pnghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BTW05_VAE_CDU_CSU_Stapel.jpghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Switches_domain.svg
Wheelbarrow photo - By U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dustin Kelling [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons