• Home
• Magazine
• Blog & Podcast
• Idealog TV
• Directory
• Celsias
• Search:

• Business Magazine of the Year
  MPA Awards 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010

Creative Visualisation of numbers

A key challenge for policy makers is how to tell a compelling story with numbers. It is not easy to visualise the impact of change in a meaningful way—but help is now at hand.

Ironically it doesn't come from the business intelligence (oxymoron alert) community—it is more the result of being able to add graphical tools and creative vision to the core data. The person driving this vision is Dr Hans Rosling a global health professor. Google like the approach so much that they have now invested in the gapminder software developed by Rosling.

The second irony here is that it is much better for you to go view this video presentation than to carry on reading at this point (video link provided below.)

Try this link if the flash embed doesn't work correctly. (20.35 minutes)

"Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called "developing world" using extraordinary animation software developed by his Gapminder Foundation.

The Trendalyzer software (recently acquired by Google) turns complex global trends into lively animations, making decades of data pop. Asian countries, as colorful bubbles, float across the grid—toward better national health and wealth. Animated bell curves representing national income distribution squish and flatten.

In Rosling's hands, global trends—life expectancy, child mortality, poverty rates—become clear, intuitive and even playful." (from Ted.com)

It is easy to try the gapminder software out and what will be even more exciting is if policy makers actually use some of this to help communicate in visually compelling ways.

Note: TED is "like drinking from a firehose" see a report from Brian Sweeney who was at TED 2007 and has attended quite a few of previous conferences. His liked the Rosling presentation and recommended it as follows:

"See especially the presentation by Hans Rosling at the 2006 conference, it will change your world view of what is happening and what is possible"... and

"For me TED has been life-changing in terms of seeing ideas up close from the folk who had them" ... Sam Morgan presented a new design for dispensing pain relief medicine which can save lives the world over.

He has also kindly posted his conference notes on TED 2007. See full post.

Also—Guy Kawasaki linked to a budget poster (yes really) which uses  relative sizes to communicate well. Check the full poster over at budget poster use the control or shift keys to zoom in/ out.  Another example of visually useful fast communication.

1 comment

Deborah Louise Bowman

2007-12-03 11:54:24

Very good jason kemp I see your competing against me keep it up jason kemp you getting thier So jason Kemp
How was America, trip Keep up the great work and cheer
see you in about week Deborah Bowman

Add your comment

Name

Email address

URL

Comment

If you enter anything in this field your comment will be treated as spam

HTML will be removed. Web addresses will be automatically hyperlinked.

Tweeted

Overheard

• Steve on Bottled inspiration:
  Next time you're in Barcelona make sure you stay at the famous Hotel Palace where Antipodes is stocked in the mini-bars and served in the restaurant.  …
• tony on Multi-purpose car park design pushes the sustainability envelope :
  You mean pushing the BS envelope.how can a carparking building be sustainable. Doesnt matter how many wind turbines you put on it......cars arent sustainable in their current guise. It like ...  …
• ash on Wellingtonian's boggy blog design piece gets anti-attention:
  cool idea..but is it a smooth wipe too!?  …
• Tamara Pitman on Misery, Inc.:
  Really never thought that she was a New Zealander, her artwork is sooooooo unquie. Really one of my inspirations now :D  …
• Noel mRoberts on The people's court opens for business:
  At last a N.Z. building design that is original,creative and exciting. So different from the standard rectangular concrete and marble structures that have become the N.Z.standard over many years. Well ...  …
• Bel on Camera never lies:
  Oh my. Very excited about this! Saw the doco at the festival a few years back and it was both funny and moving - can't imagine how kick-ass it will ...  …

• Back to top
• Looking for something else? Check the site map
• © 2005–2010 Idealog. All rights reserved. ISSN 1179–3465