Data Visualization Past, Present, and Future（数据可视化的过去、现在和未来）.pdf

DATA VISUALIZATION PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE STEPHEN FEW PERCEPTUAL EDGE Wednesday, January 10, 2007 INTRODUCTION Data visualization, the use of images to represent information, is only now becoming properly appreciated for the benefits it can bring to business. It provides a powerful means both to make sense of data and to then communicate what we’ve discovered to others. Despite their potential, the benefits of data visualization are undermined today by a general lack of understanding. Many of the current trends in data visualization are actually producing the opposite of the intended effect, confusion rather than understanding. Nothing going on in the field of business intelligence today can bring us closer to fulfilling its promise of intelligence in the workplace than data visualization. But this will happen only if we understand it and use it properly. We must embrace what really works and jettison the silly stuff that undermines data visualization today. HISTORY OF DATA VISUALIZATION To understand current and future trends in the field of data visualization, it helps to begin with some historical context. Despite the fact that predecessors to data visualization date back to the 2nd century AD, most developments have occurred in the last two and a half centuries, predominantly during the last 30 years. Figure 1: History of data visualization timeline The earliest table that has been preserved was created in the 2nd century in Egypt to organize astronomical information as a tool for navigation. A table is primarily a textual representation of data, but it uses the visual attributes of alignment, white space, and at times rules (vertical or horizontal lines) to arrange data into column