Our Data Visualization Framework
by carlos avendañoA good DV should aim to fulfil 3 things all at once:
- Data chart + storytelling
- Proof of work
- From system of record to source of truth
Data chart + storytelling — humans are wickedly good at inducting; not so at deducting. That's why charts work so well at all levels: anyone can understand a good, simple chart and correlate a few causal relations (A causes B, C is better than D).
However, a single, static chart will rarely tell the entire story. A chart may illustrate the opening, the challenge, the action, or the resolution, but it is unlikely to convey all the story parts at once. To condense an entire story arc into a single figure, it must contain a challenge and a resolution at the same time.
Proof of Work: from my PoW to a team's PoW — PoW is a form of cryptographic proof in which one party (the prover) proves to others (the verifiers) that a certain amount of a specific computational effort has been expended. A key feature of PoW schemes is their asymmetry: the work must be moderately hard (yet feasible) on the prover or requester side but easy to check for the verifier or service provider. That's basically what we do on IG: every pic we post is a PoW of something/somewhere we want to prove to others.
If we move on to more complex tools, same thing happens: any mainstream productivity tool has an embedded analytics / BI feature meant to prove to others (managers, more often than not) that X employee or Y team or Z cohort of clients have expended a specific effort (time, money, both) doing N activity (sales calls, invoices reported, customer service ticket backlog, finished sprints, etc).
In these scenarios, the data-creating agent has outsourced the ability to collect and present data visually to her company's analysts. PoW becomes plural, a team's PoW. But the XY plot remains surprisingly similar.
From system of record to single source of truth — like it or not, the more you use an app, the more it becomes a source of truth. More so when the app is collaborative, as there is when all viral loops are unleashed: more users, more data posted, more time spent, more in-app conversations... WhatsApp, Salesforce, Gmail... we know it when we see it.
...........
Thanks for reading all the way. Our app has 3 basic features (collect, present, comment) that, hopefully, will achieve the 3 elements discussed above. Come join us!
