Questions in Dataviz

"It’s a common experience for newcomers in visualization to be a bit disoriented. Here are some questions we’ve all asked ourselves at some point: Am I doing things correctly? Should I use this type of chart or that other type? Is this color palette appropriate? Will my intended audience understand the point I’m trying to make with this graphic? Will they be able to use the graphic’s interface? Am I breaking any rule of visualization? And so many others.

The difference between Neil Richards and the rest of us is that Neil has written an entire book about his posing those questions to himself, and about the journey towards trying to answer them. Spoiler alert: the journey is often circuitous, and sometimes lacks a clear destination. But who cares? The journey, and not where it leads, is what can make us wiser as professionals; the process of reasoning to disentangle complex design choices has a value of its own.

Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, walking that path along someone as friendly and personable as Neil makes the experience exciting and joyful."

–Alberto Cairo and Tamara Munzner, Series Editors, AK Peters Visualization Series

"Questions in Dataviz is an amazing resource for data visualisation folks looking for different and more creative design ideas - instead of following the norms of business data visualisation it asks the questions that challenge conventional practices to inspire new ideas to develop your own style and data visualisation philosophy.

Neil introduces us to the concepts, inspirations and designers that inspired him, and encourages you to ask questions to find your own design driven journey into more creative design-driven output."
– Giorgia Lupi, Pentagram

"Beyond technical skills, statistical knowledge, and creative talent, one of the most vital attributes in data visualisation is to be curious. Before a chart comes data. Before the data comes a question. Questions fuel one’s understanding about anything and in this super new book, Neil Richards eloquently demonstrates his amazing flair for being curious. He answers the questions he had – and that anyone else should have – about the journey towards successfully mastering data visualisation. He delightfully unpacks the whys, the why nots, and the hows of this complex subject, in a wonderfully engaging and perfectly nuanced way."
– Andy Kirk, Visualising Data Ltd."Neil writes about the 'why' behind his own chart design decisions in an engaging way that will give any new practitioner a glimpse inside the brain of a data visualization designer, with examples that showcase how an individual designer's style evolves and changes over time.

For the experienced practitioner, Neil's book offers a tour through the many questions about our motivations and design decisions in data visualization that have emerged over the past decade or more. In some ways, the ideas feel like a delightful highlights reel of debates and discussions born out on Twitter and in various slack channels, summarized neatly and without judgement around the ways we may come to different answers to those questions."
– Amanda Makulec, Executive Director, Data Visualization Society

"Neil is a luminary in the field and his work clearly pushes the boundaries of data visualization. This book will help people push past the "standard" chart types and consider different, alternative visualizations that they may not have considered before."
– Jonathan Schwabish, Urban Institute and PolicyViz

“When do we break the rules? What are the exceptions? What is the decision making process that goes into creating dataviz and how do you bend the universal principles based on specific circumstances? This book explores these questions in an open-minded way.”
– Valentina D'Efilippo, Award-winning data designer