5 steps to design an information visualization:

• define the problem
• define data to be represented
• structure of the data
• interaction required by the visualization

Data visualization is putting information into a visual context, so that the human can understand it better and faster. Examples of data visualization are for instance world maps, line charts, city maps etc.

Techniques:

• Infographics (complex topics)
• Heat map Visualization (helps identify information with color)
• Fever Charts (shows changing data over a time)
• Area Chart (visualize relationship/popularity of product)
• Histogram (measuring frequencies)

The goal is to translate abstract data into visual representation which is easily and efficiently decoded. As a graphic designer I used to transform data manually into visuals for magazines. I remember that after an entire day of working with these charts I was exhausted. I used to do a lot of infographics.

So in New York there was this app who showed the crimes happening in your surroundings to help you avoid bad situations. There wasn't a single time I looked at the app and didn't see an incident near by. Every 5 minutes at least you had a fresh dot at your screen.

Interaction Design Methods 2021