11–20 of 49 posts
This is the polonium of visualization
(just my opinion from a random sampling)
Also a good meta example of picking a poor visualization method for the given data? This makes me curious -- Has there been any good application of "periodic table" as a visualization method for anything other than chemical elements? If we are thinking of a grid where "rows" and "columns" imply some common properties .. then I am sure there are a few examples of matrix / quadrant/ grid formats that help convey that.…
Also a good meta example of picking a poor visualization method for the given data? This makes me curious -- Has there been any good application of "periodic table" as a visualization method for anything other than chemical elements? If we are thinking of a grid where "rows" and "columns" imply some common properties .. then I am sure there are a few examples of matrix / quadrant/ grid formats that help convey that.…
No, because as can be seen in all of them the structure of the table maps to the structure of the chemical elements.
The visualization of chemical elements is successful because it is an accurate representation of how chemical elements work, it does not just represent data but also is mapped to a model of how that data can conceivably change in the future.
Every periodic table of X that is not chemical elements is stupid and does not work because
1. come on - what are the odds that some other subject in the universe has a similar model to chemical elements.
2. the visualization is not done to best represent the data but the data is bent as best as it can be to fit into the periodic table structure.
And what is meant by periodic structure here - it is meant a selection of cells laid out in a very specific way with a color scheme so that if you saw it far enough away you would instantly think - hey, it's a periodic table!
The periodic table used this way is not a data visualization method, it is a visualization parody method.
on edit: also pisses me off because in my world a parody should at least be funny, darn it. sorry for the rant, this stuff really pisses me off.
Why is the "noble" (rightmost) column filled with garbage visualization methods? Seems like very very little thought went into the "period table" aspect of this
This is the polonium of visualization
That's an analogy I can work with. Lots of those visualisation methods are not fit for human consumption. And in fact a whole lot of them are just grey blobs that shouldn't be near humans at all. (just my opinion from a random sampling)
I don't know if I am missing something obvious. What is the periodicity in these visualization methods? Like I am looking at the 2nd column: cartesian coordinates, line chart, area chart, scatterplot, spectogram. What periodic property is being repeated among them?
Also, this "periodic table" does not show the three main branches of visualization: Information Visualization, Scientific Visualization, and Geographic Visualization.
For example, this page gives an overview of time-oriented visualization with meta information like the original paper: https://browser.timeviz.net/
It also seems to be maintained by people working in that area.