Information+ Conference Review

I've been meaning to upload this post for awhile now, and for awhile I mean five months... Alas, time has very much passed me by. 

In May, I made the decision to pack up and move to the opposite coast. Luckily and serendipitously, the inaugural Information+ Conference happened to be hosted in Vancouver at Emily Carr University on Granville Island a few weeks after my move.  

DAY 1

I was only able to attend the evening exhibit opening but it was fantastic. We were able to explore the different data art exhibits, including Moritz Stefaner's Project Ukko - a piece that visualizes future weather conditions. It was simultaneously haunting and majestic. I've been fascinated with data art for a while now and personally aspire to one day contribute to the field myself.

DAY 2

I was able to attend for the full day and I will quickly summarize my favourite talks:

Colin Ware - Visual Thinking about Data: The Cognitive Thread, Interaction and the Visual Query

I've been interested in the cognitive process that happens when our mind sees a captivating visualization which is exactly what I experienced during this keynote speech. Here is the summary of the talk from the Information+ webpage: "This talk introduces a design method built on three concepts: The cognitive thread, interaction and visual query. The cognitive thread refers to the sequence in which our ideas occur and what determines this sequence. When we watch a compelling visual presentation, our attention is being carefully lead by the presenter so that the patterns we see and the words we hear lead us to a series of planned conclusions; the presenter is controlling the thread of our cognition. When we explore a static data visualization we are (mostly) cognitively in the driver's seat, we set the goals and control the cognitive thread. We decide which information leads to follow. When we explore data interactively we intermittently give control to the computer and let a piece of software control the thread. In this case the cognitive thread is distributed, as in a conversation between two people. A visual query is a visual pattern search designed to advance an analysis. Visual queries are embedded in the cognitive process, the results of a pattern search will often alter the cognitive thread. In this talk, I will argue that a way of optimizing graphic design (how data is transformed to graphical marks) is to optimize for visual queries. A way of optimizing the design of an interactive visualization system is to think of the best division of cognitive labor between human analysis and computer calculations and how the transitions between them can be achieved through user interactions." 

Robert Kosara and D. Skau - Pie Charts: Unloved, Unstudied and Misunderstood

If you work in data, you know that the pie chart debate is one that you.cannot.escape. I loved this talk by Robert Kosara on the much-contested topic. It was humorous and proved that pie charts have a place in data visualization, if used correctly. I learnt a couple of interesting things including the fact that the angle of the pie is the least intuitive part of the chart - area and arc are far more important. 

Gregor Aicsh - Data Visualization and the News

Gregor Aicsh is the NYT Graphics editor. What I especially loved about his talk was how the NYT has figured out ways to embed visualizations on mobile platforms. They've learnt (through lots of A/B testing, I'm sure...) that mobile data viz experiences with too many clicks lead to exits or lost interest. He went through the evolution of the data visualization experience from paper to mobile and other do's and don'ts.

Overall, Information+ was an amazing conference, and I was fortunate enough to have attended it. I met a few of my industry heroes and was amongst like minded people. I hope to attend again!