Monthly Update: October, 2024

One year of consistent writing! My candidature. September posts. Etc.

Hi all, where did September go? It went by so fast! The leaves are already coloring here in Boston. Spring used to be my favorite season, but Fall is so gorgeous here in New England (and Spring is so bad!).

Let me start this monthly update with an important note. October 4 marked one year since I started writing FILWD on a regular basis. Last year, around this time, I told myself I needed to challenge myself and that one way to do that was to commit to publishing one post every week. After one year, I published 50 posts, which is almost exactly one post a week (I cut myself a little slack). I am incredibly happy with what I have done so far. Writing a post a week forced me to think about many ideas on a much deeper level, and I feel way more confident about them. I also had the opportunity to connect with many readers, which is absolutely priceless!

Of these 50 posts, a good bunch are part of a series. The first series is on the use of data transformation in visualization, and it’s completed. The second is on visualization for machine learning, and it’s not completed yet, but I have published a good set of posts already. In the meantime, I have organized several reading clubs, and I have been developing the online version of my Rhetorical Data Visualization course. Last September, I ran the first pilot of the course, and I am now about to wrap it up (you should hear about it soon).

Some of the 50 posts are video interviews I recorded on various data visualization topics. I have been quite timid in this endeavor, but I am considering turning video interviews into a regular schedule and (maybe) creating a new podcast out of it. I have been reticent because FILWD already takes a lot of effort, and I don’t want to commit to a regular schedule for video interviews until I am sure I can sustain it. The other components of the newsletter, especially the educational part, are way more important for me at the moment.

IEEE VIS Steering Committee Candidature

I posted a note the other day regarding my candidature to the VIS steering committee.

Vote for me!

This is the group of people who give a direction to the VIS conference, the premier event for visualization research. I have attended the conference since when I was a PhD student and I have covered many roles over the years. Now I feel I am experienced enough to provide a contribution through this very important position. If you participated to VIS in the past or have been an author or organizer you are eligible to vote. You can find the details in my post.

September Posts

In September, I posted three new articles, all about some more theoretical aspects of visualization. Somehow, this month, I managed to shift away from anything related to AI! :)

I started the month with a post on the idea of using a “message takeaway” lens to think about data visualization.

A “Takeaway Message” Model for Data Visualization

Most visualization theory is all about efficiency and effectiveness but we don’t know much about what kind of message people perceive from a visualization and what influences that message. That’s something I keep thinking about and trying to clarify to myself. I think I am making progress and you’ll probably hear. Lee about this idea from me in the coming weeks.

The second post was about the idea of using data visualization to instill doubt rather than certainty.

Using Data Visualization to Instill Doubt

Data is often framed as a tool to reduce uncertainty, but what if the goal is to reduce certainty by dislodging some of our previous beliefs and assumptions? I think data visualization could be used more creatively to achieve this goal.

The third post of the month was about the “trust chain in data visualization.”

The Trust Chain in Data Facts

What I mean by that is how much trust we have to put in the intermediary steps that generate and process the data when we create or consume new visualizations. I don’t know what the solution is, but awareness of the problem seems crucial.

Rhetorical Data Visualization Course

In September, I started a new edition of my RhetVis course at Northeastern University. This is the same course I have been developing online but with a more academic angle. The course has been going great, and I have a really fun and engaged group of students. The university course is also giving me more fuel and ideas to finish developing my online course. Last week, I was finally able to develop my fourth module and visual representation, and I have tested it with my students. I was surprised by how much they absorbed from the module, so I’ll call this a win. Now, I am ready to move on to the last module of the course, which is on “contextual factors” (also tentatively called “the narrative layer”). I am hopeful I will be able to finish recording the last module by the first or second week of November, maybe earlier! Once I am done with that, I will create a new version of the online course, and I will work on a second pilot (the first one happened at the end of August). If you participated in the first pilot, be on the lookout for a second call. If you did not have a chance to participate and are interested, add a comment below, and I will add you to the waiting list.