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August 5, 2006
An interview with...Stephen Few
Today,
we could read the words on infovis by Stephen Few from perceptual edge, that also wrote 2 fantastic and interesting books on infovis, targeting to a broader audience than others.
But...start to have a look to what Steve answered 
1. When, how and why have you decided to research on InfoVis?
I’ve worked in the field of business intelligence for many years, but have always had interests in design, communication, and critical thinking. Several years ago I attended a seminar by Edward Tufte, with little advance knowledge of what I should expect. I was so inspired by Tufte’s ideas and the potential of data visualization, the seeds were planted on that day that would eventually grow into a shift in my work to an exclusive focus on data visualization. As a data visualization consultant, teacher, and writer, I am able to combine my experience in business intelligence with my interests in design, communication, and critical thinking, to produce practical business solutions.
In late 2002, after searching for resources that could be used to teach a team of business intelligence analysts, which I managed at the time, I couldn’t find any books that taught the fundamentals of visual data communication in a way that was practical for and understandable to business people. Eventually, I decided that writing a book to address this need was a contribution that I could make to the field. The result was Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten, published in 2004.
2. Which is, to you, the most interesting project you have worked on and why?
Writing my two books, Show Me the Numbers and Information Dashboard Design, were both engaging projects. Writing books and developing courses are activities that force me to embrace a topic intimately, exploring every inch of it like a lover. For me, this is the surest path to expertise.
3. On what themes are you working now?
I’ve been collecting, investigating, and organizing material for a third book, which I will soon begin writing. This one will be about visual data analysis. Just as Show Me the Numbers teaches people the simple, basic principles and skills needed to communicate quantitative business information in tables and graphs, this new book will teach the simple, basic skills needed to make sense of business information using visual analysis techniques.
The greatest potential for data visualization lives in its ability to assist us in thinking about information in an effort to understand it. Viewing and interacting with information visually can uniquely and powerfully augment our ability to detect the points of interest that reside in it as well as our ability to uncover what they mean. The vast majority of people in business who are responsible for making sense of data have never been trained in this process, and even those who have studied statistical and financial analysis have seldom been trained in the fundamental skills of visual data analysis. With a little instruction and the right tools, business people could be gleaning much greater value from their information assets.
4. Which university programs would you recommend to a student who is interested in InfoVis?
Even though I am aware of many programs, I am only really familiar with the InfoVis programs at a few universities. My short course in the MBA program at the University of California, Berkeley offers advanced business students an introduction to the practical tools and techniques of InfoVis. Also at Berkeley, Marti Hearst and Maneesh Agrawala offer more extensive courses that provide students in computer science and other areas of information studies broad surveys of the field. Pat Hanrahan at Stanford University offers a good course in the Computer Science Department. Ben Bederson and Ben Shneiderman at the University of Maryland lead one of the most extensive and productive programs in the United States. These are the university programs that I know best, but several others exist, and I’m sure that many are quite good.
One of the challenges facing university programs is that of bridging the gap between academic research and practical application. Many fine student projects have produced valuable InfoVis technologies that have never been developed into viable commercial software. To bridge this gap, students need to focus on the practical application of their research and seek to thoroughly understand the needs of a target audience of potential users. Students who can do this will not only pave the way for commercial success (given the required business acumen), but will also contribute something useful to the world. I hate to see fine work growing dusty on the shelves, untouched. Let’s learn to take the next step to put it in the hands of people who are desperate for good data analysis and communication tools.
5. How do you think InfoVis research will evolve in your country for the next few years?
I don’t have a clear sense of what will actually happen, but I do have a clear vision of what I would like to see happen and what I am working to encourage. As I mentioned above, I hope that practical applications will increasingly guide InfoVis research. I also hope that those involved in this research and development will take the time to become grounded in an understanding of visual perception. I’ve seen many research projects that produced results that simple didn’t work, because they didn’t display information in a way that mapped to the capabilities of visual perception. I’ve also seen many research projects that were a waste of time because what they produced wasn’t useful for anything, which should have been obvious from the start.
Information visualization has tremendous potential for helping us understand the world and thereby work to make a better world. There are plenty of real needs that could be addressed if researchers would simply focus on these needs and take the time to understand them well enough to create viable solutions.
http://www.mentegrafica.it/blog/?p=116
Posted by InfoVis at August 5, 2006 6:28 PM
