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ted.com

15

Jan

2010

Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization

By Maria Popova

Data-washing, why designers are not to be messed with, and how seeing really is believing.

It’s no secret we’re big proponents of data visualization as an effective and intuitive tool for making sense of the increasing amount of information we’re being bombarded with. But beyond its clarifying, sense-making powers, data viz also has the incredible capacity to frame concepts and package ideas in very controlled ways — which can be a good thing when trying to succinctly communicate overwhelming information about, say, the housing crisis, but it can also be rather questionable when used to manipulate people’s understanding of an issue.

This excellent short talk by TargetPoint’s VP and Director of Research, Alex Lundry, at Ignite DC explains why we naturally gravitate to visual communication channels and what power data viz holds as a vehicle for subjective messaging in political communication.

Vision is our most dominant sense. It takes up 50% of our brain’s resources. And despite the visual nature of text, pictures are actually a superior and more efficient delivery mechanism for information. In neurology, this is called the ‘pictorial superiority effect’ [...] If I present information to you orally, you’ll probably only remember about 10% 72 hours after exposure, but if I add a picture, recall soars to 65%. So we are hard-wired to find visualization more compelling than a spreadsheet, a speech of a memo.

So if there’s one takeaway for your day-to-day here, be wary of what we like to call data-washing — the selective and manipulated framing of information aimed at steering your understanding of it in a specific direction. When things are this visual, it’s all the harder to look for the “fine print” — but more often than not, there is one.

via Information Aesthetics

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 6:40 am in culture, politics, psychology and was tagged , , , , .

34 Responses

  1. [GReader] Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization http://bit.ly/5FsavN

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    TheRoel on January 15th, 2010 at 12:34 pm

  2. Chart Wars – political data-washing & the steering power of data visualization http://ow.ly/WwCk

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    brainpicker on January 15th, 2010 at 1:10 pm

  3. .@brainpicker adds some great commentary & context to my Chart Wars presentation: http://bit.ly/5vUyL2

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    alexlundry on January 15th, 2010 at 1:30 pm

  4. Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization http://bit.ly/8WiakU

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    aymanvanbregt on January 15th, 2010 at 2:14 pm

  5. Brain Pickings: Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization. http://tinyurl.com/ydn84y4

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    steely_den on January 15th, 2010 at 6:54 pm

  6. If you missed it earlier – @alexlundry’s excellent Chart Wars talk on the steering power of data visualization http://ow.ly/WwCk

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    brainpicker on January 15th, 2010 at 8:28 pm

  7. RT @brainpicker: If you missed it – @alexlundry’s excellent Chart Wars talk on the steering power of data visualization http://ow.ly/WwCk

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    macloo on January 15th, 2010 at 9:10 pm

  8. ” If I present info..orally, you..remember about 10% 72 hr after..if I add a picture, recall soars to 65%” http://bit.ly/8Z6mhg via @macloo

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    marcusod on January 15th, 2010 at 11:42 pm

  9. RT @marcusod: ” If I present info..orally you..remember about 10% 72 hr after..if I add a picture, recall soars to 65%” http://bit.ly/8Z6mhg

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    niklasf on January 16th, 2010 at 4:22 am

  10. RT @brainpicker: If you missed~ @alexlundry’s excellent Chart Wars talk on the steering power of data visualization http://ow.ly/WwCk

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    milagro88 on January 16th, 2010 at 4:22 am

  11. The power of data visualisation and infographics – video – RT @brainpicker http://ow.ly/1n4Inz

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    3szt3r on January 16th, 2010 at 5:31 am

  12. Chart Wars – why pictures are more powerful than words http://bit.ly/4V1acQ (via @brainpicker)

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    DomBoyd on January 16th, 2010 at 9:21 am

  13. http://tinyurl.com/yeusade
    Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization | Brain Pickings

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    cube_ice on January 17th, 2010 at 1:32 am

  14. http://bit.ly/8kQffq Data Visualization is interesting – “Pie charts suck, so be wary”

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    RohanSix on January 17th, 2010 at 8:38 am

  15. Chart Wars – political data-washing & the steering power of data visualization http://ow.ly/WwCk ( via @brainpicker ) #datavis

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    edwardharran on January 17th, 2010 at 9:57 am

  16. Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization | http://tinyurl.com/yeusade

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    Zmija on January 17th, 2010 at 1:48 pm

  17. Why we naturally gravitate to visual communication + the political power of data visualization http://bit.ly/7sZQAz

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    ettagirl on January 17th, 2010 at 3:26 pm

  18. RT @ettagirl: Why we naturally gravitate to visual communication + the political power of data visualization http://bit.ly/7sZQAz

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    CliftonWiens on January 17th, 2010 at 3:32 pm

  19. RT @brainpicker Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization http://ow.ly/1n4Inz

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    pete_buckley on January 17th, 2010 at 3:44 pm

  20. RT @edwardharran: Chart Wars – political data-washing & the steering power of data visualization http://ow.ly/WwCk ( via @brainpicker ) …

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    bobharrell on January 17th, 2010 at 3:57 pm

  21. RT @brainpicker Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization http://ow.ly/1n4Inz

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    kfedukowski on January 17th, 2010 at 6:06 pm

  22. RT @steely_den: Brain Pickings: Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization. http://tinyurl.com/ydn84y4

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    ernieschell on January 17th, 2010 at 11:13 pm

  23. Love this data viz post from @brainpicker. http://bit.ly/72DxlA “seeing really is believing”

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    hoogs on January 18th, 2010 at 1:48 am

  24. CHARt WARS! @brainpicker http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2010/01/15/alex-lundry-chart-wars/

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    VisRevolution on January 18th, 2010 at 11:24 pm

  25. The power of data visualization ~ pictorial superiority effect http://bit.ly/7HNOF7 Great post on @brainpicker

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    ahier on January 18th, 2010 at 11:33 pm

  26. RT @ahier: The power of data visualization ~ pictorial superiority effect http://bit.ly/7HNOF7 Great post on @brainpicker

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    nahumg on January 18th, 2010 at 11:48 pm

  27. RT @nahumg: RT @ahier: The power of data visualization ~ pictorial superiority effect http://bit.ly/7HNOF7 Great post on @brainpicker

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    PhilMcCreight on January 18th, 2010 at 11:51 pm

  28. RT @ahier: The power of data visualization ~ pictorial superiority effect http://bit.ly/7HNOF7 Great post on @brainpicker

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    kdwinnell on January 19th, 2010 at 12:19 am

  29. RT @PhilMcCreight: The power of data visualization ~ pictorial superiority effect http://bit.ly/7HNOF7 Great post on @brainpicker #dataviz

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    socialadvoc8 on January 19th, 2010 at 12:33 am

  30. RT @brainpicker Chart Wars: The Steering Power of Data Visualization http://ow.ly/1n4Inz

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    diG1tY on January 19th, 2010 at 11:09 am

  31. The power of data visualization ~ pictorial superiority effect http://bit.ly/7HNOF7 Great post on @brainpicker

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    paul_twt on January 19th, 2010 at 2:09 pm

  32. The power of data visualization ~ pictorial superiority effect http://bit.ly/7HNOF7 Great post on @brainpicker via @paul_twt

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    ctricot on January 20th, 2010 at 12:12 am

  33. RT @paul_twt: The power of data visualization ~ pictorial superiority effect http://bit.ly/7HNOF7 Great post on @brainpicker

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    digimindci on January 20th, 2010 at 2:00 am

  34. Data Visualization has the capacity to frame concepts in controlled ways helping communicate overwhelming information: http://bit.ly/82p8Ud

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    earth2travis on January 20th, 2010 at 8:34 am

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