On this week’s episode of the podcast, I speak to author and teacher Nick Desbarats about his new book, Practical Charts: The Essential Guide to Creating Clear, Compelling Charts for Reports and Presentations. Our conversation covers choosing appropriate chart types, emphasizing simplicity and clarity, and understanding when to use different formats. Nick aims to challenge dogmatic views on charts, such as the use of pie charts, and stresses the importance of catering to the audience’s familiarity with graph types. Our chat also includes insights on transitioning to online teaching during the pandemic, the distinction between clear graphs and dashboards, and the significance of mastering fundamentals in data visualization for beginners and intermediates. If you’re familiar with Stephen Few’s work, you’re also bound to find some behind-the-scenes gems in this week’s episode.

Topics Discussed

• Choosing the Right Chart. Nick kicks off our conversation with an essential primer on selecting the appropriate chart types for different datasets. His focus is on simplicity and clarity, ensuring that the chosen chart communicates the intended message as effectively as possible.
• Challenging Chart Dogmas. Prepare to have your preconceptions challenged as Nick takes on the controversial stance on pie charts and other commonly debated graph types. It’s all about breaking the mold and understanding why certain charts work better for specific audiences.
• Catering to Audience Familiarity. A significant portion of our chat is dedicated to the importance of tailoring chart choices to the audience’s level of comfort and familiarity with different types of graphs. This segment is crucial for anyone looking to maximize the impact of their data presentations.

➡️ Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

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In this week’s episode of the PolicyViz Podcast, I interview Rahul Bhargava from Northeastern University on the topic of data physicalization. We discuss the role of community engagement and societal impact in communicating data and including different people and communities. Our conversation touches upon teaching combined majors at Northeastern and expanding data engagement through Rahul’s participatory art methods. We explore the limitations of visual learning and advocate for including diverse voices via data sculptures and embodied experiences.

• Inclusivity in Data-Driven Society. The episode opens with a discussion on the necessity of inclusivity in our increasingly data-centric world. Rahul shares his insights into how data physicalization can bridge the gap between complex data and diverse community members.
• Teaching Combined Majors at Northeastern. Rahul gives us a glimpse into Northeastern’s approach to education, emphasizing the value of combined majors that integrate data science with other disciplines.
• Participatory Art Methods in Data Engagement. Rahul describes his use of art tomake data more accessible and engaging. We talk about the potential of data sculptures and embodied experiences to include those who may not be reached through traditional visual data presentations.
• Culturally Sensitive Approaches to Data. We discuss the importance ofunderstanding and respecting cultural differences, particularly when working with youth from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Community Empowerment through Data. Rahul shares his strategies for adapting data collection and dissemination to empower communities, and his use of everyday materials like craft items to make data physicalization more inclusive.
• Data Literacy and Design Principles. Finally, we discuss on how to build data literacy by employing engaging and thoughtful design principles.

➡️ Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

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• Leadership and Evolution of DVS. Amanda discusses her path from volunteering to leading DVS and reflects on the importance of term limits and her dedication to the sustainability of the society.
• Community Building and Knowledge Sharing. Amanda discusses DVS’s role as a hub for individuals from different tech backgrounds to share insights and best practices and how DVS seeks to create more meaningful community spaces.
• Data Literacy and Supportive Initiatives. We discuss DVS’s commitment to data literacy and providing a nurturing environment through initiatives like the Outlier conference and the Nightingale magazine.
• Navigating Social Media and Communication Platforms. As I’ve talked about with other recent guests, we talk about decreased engagement on Twitter/X and limited real-time interaction on LinkedIn. We discuss the balance between online space fragmentation, privacy, and psychological safety, as well as DVS’s use of Slack and potential migration to other platforms such as Discord.
• Financial Challenges and Operational Sustainability. We talk about the financial constraints of DVS, including the high costs of Slack, and the importance of allocating the budget wisely to support key community and operations management roles.

➡️ Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Design and develop Ant Design projects faster than ever! The powerful UI kit for Figma based on the most popular React UI library - Ant Design. Create and implement well-documented Ant Design apps in no time!

• Variables, Auto Layout, Variants, Component Properties
• Dedicated Figma Plugin to copy style settings from Figma to code
• Hover and click interactions for easy prototyping
• Switch between light and dark theme
• Developer-friendly components