Lately I’ve been seeing a ton of new data visualization tools/experiments that I thought were worth sharing. One is not really applicable to web analytics or reporting, but others are.
Trendly
I saw a post about Trendly on the Google Analytics Blog, its an application that leverages GA data to display it in a way that is supposed to help you understand the data better. From what I can tell, they use statistically significant numbers (between the upper and lower control) to show a trend-line that is less jagged and crazy. I think that is helpful for noting the big picture of change over a longer time span, but less so if you want to do a deep dive. Which might be besides the point. And then their other graph shows time vertically (I’ve always had issues with that metaphor), and the percentage of traffic from that source correlates to thickness. Its easier to show than tell so here it is:
Trendly time graph
Darwin’s Origin of Species
This is the English major in me geeking out, but I think this changing textual visualization by Ben Fry (go to the site to see it in action) is a great way to show how different editions of an important book like this can change. I’d like to see it for Lyrical Ballads. This is from the information aesthetics blog again, but I think its cool.
Darwin visualization
California Stimulus Map
I should probably find some more data visualization blogs, but I like the information aesthetics finds so much. This interactive map by Stamen Design shows where stimulus money is being spent in California, and what kinds of projects it goes to. The subject matter is worthwhile, but mainly I liked the vertical graph on the right side, I find that visualization easier to duplicate (in Excel!) and translate to different data sets than the one in Trendly. I will try to sneak it into a report at some point, and I’m sure I will get a WTF reaction, but it would be more interesting than the standard Excel graphs for me and the reader.
CA stimulus map
Otherwise I am having fun with my new G1 phone, new running shoes, and I’m going to Arizona this weekend–good times! Hoping to get some hiking in if it is not over 100° outside.
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sarahd23 on Twitter
When it comes to “Data Visualization Toys” and the ability to present huge amount of data I find InfiView to be one of the best tools on the market. http://bit.ly/rC61O
Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to try that out.
If you want to play with a generic data visualization tool, check out http://visualizefree.com
You can upload your own data, build an interactive dashboard, and then embed it into a blog post for your readers to manipulate. Did I mention it’s free?
Thanks Byron! That’s another tool I’ll have to try out. Free is always good.