Data Viz in the Upside Down
Armand Emamdjomeh | Washington Post | @emamd |
Daniele Palumbo | BBC News | @danict89 |
Kennedy Elliott | National Geographic | @kennelliott |
Martin Stabe | Financial Times | @martinstabe |
bit.ly/data-upside-down
Source: Financial Times
Why are we talking about this?
Source: New York Times
Source: FT
Source: TfL via�Time Out London
Source: BBC News
Where the sun rises in the South
Source: JohoMaps
Where the Sun Rises in the South
“For the duration of your visit to Montréal, you’ll need to accept local directional conventions, strange as they may seem. … [A]s far as locals are concerned, the river is south, with the U.S. not far off on the other side. Never mind that the river, in fact, runs almost north and south at this section. Don’t fight it: Face the river. That’s south. Turn around. That’s north. Because of this convention, Montréal is the only city in the world where the sun rises in the south.”
Source: Frommers
Why do we make
“weird” maps?
Allow for more area to explore and display information
Source: The Washington Post
Source: The Washington Post
The rotation allows for a bigger map, and more labelling
Desktop
Mobile
Source: New York Times
Same-width comparison
This is not new or unusual
Source: Library of Congress
Responding to geography
West Bank
Downtown
Uptown
Source: The Washington Post
Source: The Washington Post
North!
North is down
North is every direction
Uncommon projections
To accentuate a place or geographic feature
Source: Deutsche Welle
Source: New York Times
Or let the user decide how they want to see the world
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Mapping with a Z-axis
Source: Los Angeles Times
Risk of confusing or even offending readers
How to address xenographphobia
(The fear of unusual graphics / foreign chart types.)
Source: The Washington Post
Source: New York Times
Source: ProPublica
Ask yourself:
What’s the most important information you’re trying to show?
Adjust your visualization to match
2. Graphics
In the past we have more examples of data visualisations with a different perception of direction
Tableau de l’Histoire Universelle
Eugene Pick - 1858
Picture of Nations, Emma Willard, 1836
Chronographer of Ancient History, Emma Willard, 1851 - Source: Slate
When (and why)
we rotate today?
Source: Swiss Info
Timelines
Source: South China Morning Post
Source: Bloomberg
Visualising dispersion and flux
Source: South China Morning Post
Source: Reuters
Rotating charts: a case study
Source: The Economist
‘Houston, we have a (many) problem’
* Point out the value of experimentation
• Challenge assumption of lack of understanding.
• More information possible
• Experience native to new devices and notion that people won't scroll.
• Role in improving visual literacy levels
NASDAQ rollercoaster
Source: Wall Street Journal
Re-oriented story forms
Source: The Washington Post
Source: National Geographic
Source: New York Times
What do these have in common?
Scroll is a metaphor for physical space
Source: Penguin
Source: If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel
Orientation as point-of-view
Source: Fortune Magazine (via Jules Grandin), Teehan+Lax, New York Times
Source: New York Times
Source: New York Times
When is it best to depart from established and familiar convention?
How can we help our readers
navigate these pieces?
Some takeaways
Data Viz in the Upside Down
bit.ly/data-upside-down
4. Discussion and take-aways