My tumblelog will be something of a hybrid between Blogger and Twitter. My content will be sporadic, thoughtful, provoking, boring, insightful, obvious, me.
Thu
Aug
6
One small multiple at a time!
I had the opportunity to take an awesome professional development class today, Data Visualization. Throughout the day, I was exposed to piles of ineffective charts and graphs. Examples were pulled from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and other “credible” sources. Similar to how the GMAT asks you to disassemble and construct arguments, we sliced, diced, and rebuilt these visuals.
The class was eye opening and a great use of my day. If nothing else, it reintroduced me to the concept of small multiples. If you haven’t heard of small multiples, it’s time to familiarize yourself. If nothing else, you’ll have a new framework to use if/when you need to present data to others. Interesting and useful!
To explain it as simply as I can: small multiples are the product of taking a look at that overcrowded, indecipherable chart you created last week and breaking it into smaller, comparable charts. Each small multiple is charted on an X and Y-axis with the same scale and measure, and compared to the other small multiples. Being on the same scale makes it possible to compare the different charts with one another, and identify meaningful similarities and differences.
Learn more! Wikipedia it! :) I’ll be doing my best to use what I learned today in my own work, too. :)
I’m personally hooked on Picasa. Love the “Download Album” feature. But it sucks that Google only gives 1 GB of storage…especially since I’ve got terabytes of email storage!
An interesting opportunity has presented itself: my company is opening space in San Leandro, about 10 minutes walking-distance from my house. Contingent on my boss’ nod, I could cut a $2000 expense out of my annual budget and save an hour of commuting everyday.
Seems like a great option, but I’ve got a couple reservations:
- I’ll be away from my team when our culture relies on impromptu taps on the shoulder and intercepted bathroom attempts to be successful, and
- I’ll be reducing face-to-face time spent with my team.
The reality is that neither of these is that big of a deal- I can retrain my team to communicate with me differently, and I’ll be in SF (and on the phone) enough to maintain my work relationships.
But I’m curious: what advice or perspective would you share with me?
