Stephen Few has written another strong criticism of a lot of contemporary data visualization (and David McCandless) with regard to some new GE data visualizations. I think many of his points are valid, and his post is well worth a read.
I particularly appreciate Few’s perspective on users who needs data and data visualizations to actually make decisions. As he explains, he works mostly with people who depend on understanding data correctly and efficiently to do their jobs. I think the actual practicality of data visualization is often forgotten in the face of the pretty factor.
Almost always, data visualization should make things easier and quicker for the user to understand the material, not more difficult.
Thoughts?
