Let Your Data Tell a Story

A talk at Monitorama.EU in Berlin, Germany, September 2013

Transcript

1. LET YOUR DATA TELL A STORY Jarkko Laine
2. @jarkko jlaine.net
4. BEAR METAL bearmetal.eu
5. BÄR METAL
6. METAL BÄR
7. METAL BEER
8. METAL BEER
9. BEAR METAL
10. Tim Lenz, CC http://www.flickr.com/photos/59323989@N00/2851930098/
12. ~100 INFECTED 13 DEAD
13. DUALITY OF THE MIND a farce in 2 acts
14. DUALITY OF THE MIND a farce in 2 acts duality of the
15. Act 1 Brain pixels and the human RAM
18. DIFFERENT
19. DIFFERENT Person
20. DIFFERENT Person Hair color
21. DIFFERENT Person Hair color Clothing
22. DIFFERENT Person Hair color Clothing Gender
23. DIFFERENT Person Hair color Clothing Gender 50% still didn’t notice
24. OUR ATTENTION CAPABILITY IS HIGHLY LIMITED
25. COMES DOWN TO TWO THINGS
26. 1. OUR FOCUS OF VISION IS VERY SMALL
27. HUMAN CMOS CONSISTS OF BRAIN PIXELS VERY SHARP IN THE MIDDLE (FOVEA) TERRIBLE AT THE EDGES
29. 2. OUR WORKING MEMORY IS TINY
30. SHORT TERM WORKING MEMORY IS A BIT LIKE RAM OR CACHE
31. SHORT TERM WORKING MEMORY IS A BIT LIKE RAM OR CACHE IN A PREHISTORICAL COMPUTER
32. WORKING MEMORY CAN HOLD ONLY 3-4 PIECES OF INFORMATION SIMULTANEOUSLY
33. DEMO VIDEO
34. So what? Minimize eye fixations Maximize data-ink ratio
35. Act 2 Thinking, fast and slow
36. Give it your best shot
37. The two minds System 1 & 2
38. System 1 Fast Intuitive Automatic
39. System 2 Conscious Rational Slow Laborious Logical
40. System 2 Conscious Rational Slow Laborious Logical Lazy and trusts System 1
41. Availability bias We prefer wrong information to no information
42. The plural of “anecdote” is not “data”.
43. Conjunction Fallacy The more vividly something is presented, the more likely it is for us to believe it is true.
44. “My science is Evan, and he’s at home. That’s my science,” – Jenny McCarthy
45. “To paraphrase George Lucas: So this is how science dies — to thunderous applause? In the court of public opinion, data, and statements, and science are no match for an emotional parent and her child.” — Saul Hymes
46. Story fallacy We want our lives to form a pattern that can be easily followed.
47. Story fallacy If facts don’t match the narrative, we retrofit them.
48. Story fallacy Example: Apple is doomed just like with PCs in the 80’s
49. RESULT: Measles, once eliminated from the US, is on the rise again – almost completely in the anti-vaccine communities.
50. You think you’re immune to these biases?
51. Overconfidence Effect We systematically overestimate our knowledge and our ability to predict
52. Overconfidence Effect Experts suffer at least as much as laymen
53. We are all biased
54. But let’s not be negative
55. Storytelling is a super- powerful way to get your point across
56. Storytelling is a super- powerful way to get your point across WHY?
57. A story can put your whole brain to work.
58. "When the woman spoke English, the volunteers understood her story, and their brains synchronized. When she had activity in her insula, an emotional brain region, the listeners did too. When her frontal cortex lit up, so did theirs. By simply telling a story, the woman could plant ideas, thoughts and emotions into the listeners' brains." Uri Hasson, Princeton University
59. We are evolutionary wired to listen to stories.
60. Things needed in a good story 1. A hero 2. A goal 3. An obstacle 4. A mentor 5. A moral
61. Telling stories with data Much harder than verbally
62. Telling stories with data Create continuum, narrative, animate
63. Telling stories with data Integrate information presented
64. Telling stories with data Create relevant emotions and affect
65. Telling stories with data Help link to existing knowledge
66. Telling stories with data Make your message more memorable and likely to impact behavior.
67. source: http://wtfviz.net/post/60861129846/in- the-future
68. Telling stories with data Rule #1: It has to make sense
69. Telling stories with data See Hans Rosling’s TED talks
70. In closing...
71. 2 things to remember 1. Our attention and short term memory are limited. Don’t overestimate them. Plan for this and give them a hand with visual cues.
72. 2 things to remember 2. Storytelling is important because it works – it makes people understand and remember things better.
73. If you’re into data visualizations, you’re not in the data business – you’re in the human communications business.
74. Thank You @jarkko