Designing Data Visualizations

I am very pleased to have Noah Iliinsky present to our group. He is co-author of Designing Data Visualizations with Julie Steele.

About the talk

This talk is about the process of visualization design; how to get from a blank page and a pile of data to a useful data visualization. We will focus on the design process, not specific tools. We will discuss how to figure out what story to tell, select the right data, and pick appropriate graph type, as well as visual encodings (symbols, shapes, colors, etc.). The goal is to learn how to create a visualization that conveys appropriate knowledge to a specific audience (which may include the designer).

About the Speaker

Noah Iliinsky is the co-author of Designing Data Visualizations and technical editor of, and a contributor to, Beautiful Visualization, published By O’Reilly Media.

He has spent the last several years thinking, writing, and speaking about best practices for designing information visualizations. He also works in interface and interaction design, all from a functional and user-centered perspective.

He has a master’s in Technical Communication from the University of Washington, and a bachelor’s in Physics from Reed College.

About the Meetup

We'll start at 6:15pm with time for refreshments, introductions and networking. The formal presentation will begin at 6:45. There will be time for questions and answers afterward.