How to Present
Information
Christine Robson
October 25, 2007
Topics
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Human Perception- Quick Review
Presenting Information
Visualizations
Quick Review:
Human Perception
Stage Theory of Human
Perception & Memory
maintenance rehearsal
Sensory
Image Store
decay
Working
Memory
Long Term
Memory
elaboration
decay,
displacement
“Short Term”
 Visual information store
 Auditory information store
 Pre-attentive Processing
decay?
interference?
Working Memory:
 Small capacity
 ~ 7 +/- 2 chunks
Long Term Memory:
 Huge capacity
Recall vs. Recognition
Two main ways we access memory:
Recognition:
 when provided with a cue to the information in memory
 eg. feeling of familiarity, matching, multiple. choice,
True/False on exams, recognizing someone you know...
Recall:
 drawing the information from memory without (or with
minimal) cues.
 eg. coming up with the name for person you recognized,
remembering what command to type, fill-in-the-blank on
exams.
Presenting Information
Present
Information
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Sibley Guide
To Birds
Lots of Data
Many types of
Information
Yet succinct
Train
Schedules
Periodic Table of
Visualization Methods
http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html#
Tables are great!
Chartjunk
The interior decoration of graphics generates a lot
of ink that does not tell the viewer anything new.
The purpose of decoration varies – to make the
graphic appear more scientific and precise, to
enliven the display, to give the designer an
opportunity to exercise artistic skills. Regardless of
its cause, it is all non-data-ink or redundant dataink, and it is often chartjunk.
Edward Tufte
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.
Chartjunk
Automatic Charts in Excel
Students with Pets
Students with Pets
16
14
15
12
10
10
5
0
Dog
Students with Pets
8
Students with Pets
Cat
Fish
Frog
Parrot
6
no pet
4
2
0
Dog
Cat
Fish
Frog
Parrot
no pet
Students with Pets
Students w ith Pets
16
14
12
Dog
Cat
10
8
Fish
Frog
6
Parrot
4
no pet
2
0
Dog
Cat
Fish
Frog
Students with Pets
Parrot
no pet
Information
that matters
Edward
Tufte
Information
that matters
Edward
Tufte
Automatic
PPT Charts
Information
that matters
Edward
Tufte
Without the
chartjunk
Data-Ink Maximization
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Tufte defines two types of ink used to
construct a graph:
– data-ink - the essential non-erasable ink
used to present the data
– non-data-ink - the redundant ink used to
elaborate or decorate the graph

The Data-Ink Ratio is defined as the
percentage: (100 x Data-ink) / (Total
ink used on graphic)
Minard’s Map of
Napoleon's March
Map by Charles Joseph Minard portrays the losses suffered by Napoleon's
army in the Russian campaign of 1812
Lots of Information
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Beginning at the Polish-Russian border, the thick band
shows the size of the army at each position
The path of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in the
bitterly cold winter is depicted by the dark lower
band, which is tied to temperature and time scales.
Sparklines
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Edward Tufte
data-intense, design-simple, wordsized graphics
small, high resolution graphics
embedded in a context of words,
numbers, images
Sparklines
U.S. stock market activity (February 7, 2006)
Index
Day
Value
Change
Dow Jones
10765.45
−32.82 (−0.30%)
S&P 500
1256.92
−8.10 (−0.64%)
Nasdaq
2244.83
−13.97 (−0.62%)
Visualization
Assembly
Diagrams
Protein Folding
Company Relationships
Networks of relationships
from the web
OPEC Ministers and Large Companies
Web topics relating to autos
Honda and
Toyota are the
most frequently
discussed
Honda: fuel
economy
GM: New
models and
future plans
HEV’s and
SUV’s: Ford
Visualizing Network
Traffic
Walrus
http://www.caida.org/tools
/visualization/walrus/galler
y1/
Grokker
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web-based enterprise search
management platform
leverages the power of federated
content access and visualization to
maximize the value of information
assets for enterprises, content
publishers, libraries and other
research-intensive organizations
– From Grokker.com
Gap Minder (Google)
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Hans Rosling’s 2007 TED Talk
Software to visualise human
development
Non-profit venture
http://www.gapminder.org/
Nuts & Bolts
Facebook Causes App
Guest Lecture Nov 6th
Sean Parker
 Chairman of Project Agape
 Managing Partner at The Founders Fund
 Co-founder of Napster, Plaxo, and Facebook
Joe Green
 CEO & co-founder of Project Agape
 founder and former CEO of essembly.com
Chris Chan
 Facebook Causes Application Product Manager
 Designer and Product Manager at essembly.com
Readings
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“Olympic Message System” for
Tuesday, in Google Group
Chapters from Tufte up on the Google
Group
Exams Back
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If you’d like us to explain your score
on a question, set up a meeting (email
us)
– Question 1,2,4,6: Christine
– Question 3,5: John
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Our policy on disputed grades is to regrade your entire exam
Grade Summary
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Summary page of all your grades
Please check for discrepancies