The Eyes Have It: Understanding Perception-Driven Data Visualisation

Design isn't just what we make - it's how it's seen. In an era of 8-second attention spans, simple design choices can capture viewers' interest. In my talk "The Eyes Have It: Understanding Perception-Driven Data Visualisation", at VizChitra 2025, I shared how we can make informed choices that lead to intuitive, effective, and impactful charts.

Transcript

1. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com The Eyes Have It – Understanding Perception-Driven Data Visualisation
2. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
3. “The whole is other than the sum of the parts” – Kurt Koffka, German psychologist and professor VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
4. People interpret complex images as the simplest form(s) possible. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
5. “Gestalt” is German for “form” and implies a “unified structure”. The first Gestalt Principles were devised in the 1920s by German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
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7. I am – an information designer a web developer a data journalist I craft data-driven pieces that help narrate important stories visually. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
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9. Prägnanz The power of simplicity VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
10. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Standing out amidst the crowd?
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12. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Fleeing Ukraine: Ukraine’s exodus in context.
13. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Fleeing Ukraine: Ukraine’s exodus in context.
14. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Fleeing Ukraine: Ukraine’s exodus in context.
15. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Similarity Birds of a feather
16. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Which one looks organised?
17. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Palette of Pollution: The changing colours of Delhi’s air quality.
18. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com North vs South: India’s states are in a battle for fair representation in parliament.
19. Proximity The power of nearness VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
20. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker: Do some countries have an advantage?
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22. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Grid illusions
23. Enclosure The power of boundedness VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
24. The unprecedented scale of India’s Maha Kumbh festival.
25. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com No place of refuge: Israeli strikes hit Gaza refugee camps.
26. Symmetry The desire for rhythm VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
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29. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com More obvious symmetry?
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31. Closure Filling in the gaps VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
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34. Continuity The path of least resistance VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
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38. Intuitive ordering by hue (colour) Intuitive ordering by lightness (brightness)
39. One colour Two colours Three colours Multiple colours Diverging colours VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
40. Figure-Ground Seeing what stands out VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
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49. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Guide your viewers’ attention effortlessly to what matters most – using good contrast (size, shape, colour), simplicity, containment, highlights and typography.
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52. Balancing a composition Position, weight and direction of visual elements + Perceptual forces VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
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55. Form follows – “How people read and perceive” Function follows – “What people need to know” VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com
57. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com If it doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t going to be read or understood right.
63. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Gestalt principles are fairly universal as these are rooted in the way the human brain is wired to perceive and interpret visual information.
64. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Gestalt principles are fairly universal but may be subject to nuances based on social, cultural and perceptual differences.
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67. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Things that are separate, yet simply seen as a whole When one stands out, it plays an important role. The ones alike, are definitely partners in crime Even when they vary in shape, size and prime. In nearness, mental connections are formed As if space itself, by meaning is warmed. When bound by a border, our attention is spun What felt scattered, we now see them as one. Where halves unite, it speaks in a silent song Our desire for rhythm finds peace that belongs. Even emptiness speaks, louder than the noise When the closure we seek in the void, gets a voice. The threads, that weave seamlessly with grace Often guide our attention through time and space. Foreground and background in a delicate blend What the eyes perceive, becomes the truth in the end.
68. VizChitra 2025 | prasantakrdutta.com Thank you! bit.ly/the-eyes-have-it-vizchitra