IN CONVERSATION spring 2017

computerarts.creativebloq.com

In the Renaissance European

intellectuals ended the Dark Ages by

placing human nature – instead of

God – at the centre of their world.

I believe something similar needs to

happen with the universe of data.

Data is treated like the keeper

of infallible truths for our present

and future. To make data faithfully

representative of human nature we

need to design new ways to include

empathy imperfection and human

qualities when we collect process

interpret and display it.

The hand-drawn approach is more

emotive but also less accurate than

a computer. Does this matter?

A dataset can lead to many stories.

Data filters our reality in a highly

subjective way and from quantity

we actually get closer to quality.

Data has a unique power to

abstract the world but factors such

as how a dataset is collected and

which information is included – and

omitted – directly determine the

course of its life. I’m not saying that

accuracy is impossible but I believe

we need to embrace imperfection

with data all kinds of data.

Data is almost never a perfect

description of reality. Data-driven

doesn’t mean unmistakably true – it

never did. Data is primarily human-

made. If it comes from a sensor a

human being designed that sensor.

It’s time to leave behind any

presumption of absolute control

and how to organise them in a visual

way to gain meaning out of them.

Sketching with data introduces

novel ways of thinking leading to

designs that are uniquely customised

for the specific type of data problems

we’re working with as opposed to

relying on the standard approach.

I don’t have access to the actual

data with my pen and paper only

to its logical organisations. This is

an invaluable asset to focus on the

meaning of the information. Instead

of being overwhelmed by millions of

numbers we focus on their nature.

Big Data is a fast-growing area of

interest in design – can analogue

processes such as yours help make

huge datasets easier to relate to?

The ‘promise’ of Big Data is clearly

to provide a level of measurement

and control over aspects of business

society and our personal lives that

we didn’t think possible before.

I believe though that in order

to unlock the true potential in Big

Data we must focus on what the

data represents not on the numbers

themselves. Unfortunately in many

industries this sudden craze for Big

Data has been interpreted merely

as a technological challenge while

we think a true revolution will

come if we keep context stories and

human qualities at the centre of our

efforts. The whole point is to make it

meaningful and contextual; smarter

smaller and more understandable. 

D

ata visualisation

doesn’t have to be

impersonal. In fact

for Italian-born

New York-based

information designer

Giorgia Lupi the

opposite is true.

Her beautifully

handcrafted

realisations of very personal data

bridge the gap between digital

and print exploring visual models

and metaphors to represent dense

rich data-driven stories.

Her multi-award-winning work

has been exhibited worldwide and

challenges the impersonality of data

designing engaging visual narratives

that aim to connect numbers to

what they stand for: knowledge

behaviours and ultimately people.

Following her engaging talk at

Design Indaba in Cape Town (see

page 16 for our event report) Lupi

chatted to CA about her refreshingly

analogue approach to data...

You said in your talk: “I sketch with

data in my mind not in my pen.”

How does this work in practice?

For many data visualisation may be

associated with heavy programming

skills complex software and huge

numbers. Believe it or not lots of

data visualisation designers use old-

fashioned drawing on paper as their

primary design tool: we sketch with

data to understand the numbers

above: lupi’s
Data Humanism
manifesto is
about how data
visualisation can
help make data
more meaningful.