The abstract is the 300 character elevator pitch for this talk
Data visualization is hard. Let's say a designer hands you a single example, with simple data. How do you build something that will handle the complexity of real-world data? Find the rules and constraints present in the concept, and let those guide the construction of your logic and your algorithms.
The description is the public abstract of your talk. The description will be seen by reviewers during the CFP process and will eventually be seen by the attendees of the event.
Data visualization is hard. When designing an initial concept, we can make intelligent choices based on our intended auidence, our intended message, and the texture of the data. But there are often a huge number of smaller choices we make primarily by human intuition:
- "This belongs over here"
- "These can be grouped together"
- "We can balance this out by shifting things this way"
When it comes time to bring this concept into reality, we can end up with something that's missing the intuitive feel of the original concept. We need a way to encode these human sensibilities into the application we create. Our algortihm needs to share our values.
With a few examples from my recent projects, we'll walk through how to find the rules and constraints present in your design, and how to build them into our algorithms and applications.
Notes will only be seen by reviewers during the CFP process. This is where you should explain things such as technical requirements, why you're the best person to speak on this subject, etc...
I started thinking in this direction during a project, when I was handed
this:
I was a little intimidated, so I started with a simpler sub-task: how do I make those cool swoopy lines? I jumped into Sketch and started playing with the pen tool, and thinking about the properties of those curves. Well, the line comes straight out horizontally at both ends. It's got an inflection point at the midpoint. And the perfect bezier curve, with easy-to-specify control points fell easily out of that process.
The story around laying out the whole tree structure is more
interesting. It led to something flexible that produced trees like
these:
This would be my first conference talk. I've been waiting for something to come out of my work that felt unique, that I haven't heard much of in the conference circuit. And the mission and style of your conference inspired me to take this idea that's been rattling around for a while, and give it some body & form.
Great work organizing this. Great theme, fantastic website, exciting lineup. I'd love to be involved, but either way I can't wait to attend!