From Charts to Dashboards: Visualization Tips and Tricks
We’re well into fall pie season (a concept that we may have just invented), which means circles, slices, ratios, and measurements are top of mind for many of us. What could be a better time to fill our crusty dataviz skill set with some new ideas?
Baking metaphors aside, the goal of data visualization has been consistent for a very long time: to transform complex relationships and tangled sets of facts into clear, easy-to-decipher narratives. The tools and approaches we use to create effective visuals never stop evolving, though. This week, we’re sharing a selection of recent articles to help you add depth and breadth to your visualization toolkit. Let’s dig in.
- Who doesn’t like interactive charts? The one thing better than a sharp-looking visualization is a chart that your audience can play with and manipulate. Erdogan Taskesen recently introduced D3Blocks, an open-source Python library that empowers users to create 10 different types of sleek and interactive visualizations, from heatmaps to Sankey diagrams.
- The art of the table (in R). Less flashy than charts and plots, perhaps, tables are nonetheless an essential medium for presenting interconnected data. Devashree Madhugiri rounded up seven essential packages in R to generate powerful, effective tables.
- Finding the right approach for your dashboard. Zooming in on the open-source Panel library, Sophia Yang and Marc Skov Madsen show how even when you use a single tool, “there are multiple ways to build a dashboard,” depending on the scope and goals of your project. They offer three distinct approaches, each for a specific use case.
- How to present proportions and percentages clearly. Even as we celebrate fall pie season, we must acknowledge that the pastry’s namesake chart has fallen out of favor with many data practitioners. If you’re looking for more modern alternatives to pie charts, Boriharn K offers no fewer than nine ideas for your consideration (interactive donut charts, anyone?).
If your reading appetite is not yet sated, here are a few other recent highlights for you to explore:
- Interaction designer, architect, and first-time TDS author Karen Asmar published a fascinating deep dive on AI’s potential to transform and enhance digital design tools.
- In another TDS debut, Partha Sarkar explored digital-twin modeling and its applications in diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics.
- Quantum deep learning can seem dense and daunting for non-experts, which makes Holly Emblem’s accessible introduction to quantum convolutional neural networks (QCNNs) particularly helpful.
- Florent Poux, Ph.D. continued his ongoing exploration of 3D model fitting with a hands-on walkthrough of a Python-based point cloud project.
- What kinds of applications will we build with a new generation of language models? Amber Teng joined Jeremie Harris on the TDS Podcast to discuss this ever-timely question.
Thank you, as always, for your support. If you’d like to make the biggest impact, consider becoming a Medium member.
Until the next Variable,
TDS Editors
