Making data fun - or at least user-friendly November 24, 2007

Last week my multimedia journalism class discussed data handling, charts, infographics, etc., and how they can revamp the way newspapers cover topics. One of our primary readings was a blog post titled “A fundamental way newspaper sites need to change,” by Adrian Holovaty. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical at first. Would big chunks of data really be all that interesting to people? Would they adequately inform and educate people newspaper readers and Web site viewers?

Well, I think the answer to these questions is really…no. Lots of data alone, even in nifty chart forms, won’t do the job, even if you can manipulate it and search it backwards and forwards. But, the beauty of the idea really comes in combination with stories, photo packages or blogs that will grab someone’s interest on a certain topic and make them want to know more. If these banks of data are updated regularly, people will probably start to come to them without being attracted to a new story or photo package first.

I like the idea because it lets people use the data the ways that work best for them. I think this will get people interested in information they might otherwise bypass and hopefully get people a little more engaged in their own communities and in the world at large. One of the cool things about putting data into these malleable forms is that people can have just as much interaction with info that relates to their local community as with data that relates to some far away place. Two examples that we studied in class demonstrate that idea pretty well. The first is an interactive database/map of crime in Chicago (developed, I believe, by the previously mentioned Adrian). The second is an interactive map about Islam in Europe, from MSNBC.

I really like the structure of each of these projects. I’ll admit, my initial response when someone tries to interest me in a big bunch of data is - NO THANKS. But the graphics and cool stuff you can do with the data masks the potential boringness of the information, making it something fun for people to play with. I have to admit, that’s what news writers like myself struggle with sometimes - how can I make this info - which actually is relevant to people’s lives (like the crime data) or maybe it’s just interesting info about the world at large (like the MSNBC map) attractive to people? I think Adrian is right - this user-friendly, manipulation-minded approach to big chunks of information has to be a growing part of newspapers’ approach to news.