The word INFOGRAPHICS is being thrown around alot recently. Like anything, there are good and bad examples; and typical of trends people tend to overdo it for a while until the next thing comes along.
I read an interesting piece by an organization that specializes in data visualization for web analytics and other data streams, about why they hate infographics. What caught my attention was the seemingly contradictory topic, but they did backed it up with some good points and I thought to share:
- “The first reason being that ‘Most of infographics focus on form rather than substance.” – Too much ‘graphics’, poor ‘info’
- “90% of the infographics out there are baroque, non-selective compositions of facts.” – Throwing a bunch of stats together with icons isn’t valuable.
- “Most infographics are just an experimentation to condense a whole set of information into one single page, rather than performing the difficult task of selecting the useful facts, simplify them, and sort them into a meaningful sequence.” – If it’s not simple, it’s not helpful.
- “Infographics are not DIY” – To make quality infographics, you need the right tools for the job, and many people don’t have these tools.
So when next you consider having an Infographic, keep theses salient points in mind.