#AskAndy Anything about Data: Further Reading

It was great fun and we managed to tackle 10 questions in the hour. We discussed a lot of different resources which are gathered here. (This post isn't a write-up of all the answers. For those, I recommend you watch the webinar.)

#askandy I'd love to hear you both do an elevator pitch for #dataviz @acotgreave @visualisingdata

— Chris Love (@ChrisLuv) November 26, 2015

We talked about Anscombe's Quartet and the sparklines in Kayak:

• Dashing D3.js - Why data visualisations (Anscombe's Quartet)
• Tech Crunch - Kayak sparklines: Book now or wait

@acotgreave Same old question from me: Can we have some (recent) examples of where data viz has really made the difference?

— Rob Radburn (@robradburn) November 26, 2015

I discussed Fitbit dashboards and some climate-change charts:

• Fitbit - Dashboards that Make a Difference
• BBC - Six Graphics that Explain Climate Change
• VisualisingData - Nice Story about the Impact of a Visualisation

@acotgreave @visualisingdata @tableau do you think the recent Few/feud is damaging to the community and puts newbies off from publishing?

— David Pires (@davidmpires) November 10, 2015

This was a great question to answer. Here's a link to the original post by Stephen Few, and responses by myself and Ben Jones:

• Perceptual Edge - The Stephen Few/David McCandless Blog Debate
• Living with Data - Why Do We Visualize Data?
• DataRemixed - My 3 Basic Tenets of Data Visualisation

If you could only use 5 viz types, which would they be? #AskAndy

— Andy Kriebel (@VizWizBI) November 30, 2015

More fun! We decided to do a five-a-side squad-picking thing, evoking memories of school days when we were always picked last. We used Show Me's starting points as our list. Andy K. picked line charts first. I picked bar, then he picked treemap, and so on. We both felt Sankey charts would be our ringers!

• GravyAnecdote - What Charts Would Make Your Five-a-Side Squad?
• Sankey Diagrams - Where Do Sankey Diagrams Work?

How can I visualize wifi access data showing how busy 'tracks' between points on a map are? @Tableau #AskAndy

— Ian Pearshouse (@IanPearshouse) November 19, 2015

This was a very specific question but brought up some interesting points of discussion, and a chance to talk about Charles Minard:

• Cartographia - Mondays with Minard

We answered a question, not from Twitter, from Helen Lindsay: What should I do if my client wants a radar chart and I’m struggling to resist?

• Perceptual Edge - Keep Radar Graphs Below the Radar—Far Below
• Visualising Data - Redesign of a Radar Chart
• The Information Lab - Variation in Hue across Movie Posters [Legitimate radial layout for this subject]
• Maarten Lambrechts - Introducing the Weather Browser [Legitimate radial layout for this subject]

@andylees85 what is your fav book? #AskANDY

— Biel (@candicegande) November 11, 2015

Although this was directed at a different Andy, we hijacked it because it's a great question. What books are good for data visualization? Here's some great starting points:

• Colin Ware - Visual thinking: For Design
• IsabelMeirelles - Design For Information
• Steven Heller, Rick Landers - Raw Data
• Susana Martinez-Conde, Stephen Macknik - Sleights of Mind (about the Neuroscience of Magic)

What's the most effective way that you give constructive feedback? #AskAndy

— Andy Kriebel (@VizWizBI) November 30, 2015

This is a fantastic question. The posts below should be mandatory for all people getting into this field:

• Medium - Design and Redesign in Data Visualization
• VisualisingData - Walking the Tightrope of Visualisation Criticism
• DataRemixed - My 3 Basic Tenets of Data Visualisation
• DataVizDoneRight - Constructive Criticism: Data Viz Done Right

That covered everything! I hope you enjoyed the webinar. We were deliberately trying something new. If we do it again, which guests would you like us to have?

If you missed the webinar, you can watch it here.