Jeffery Veen

Second (and final keynote)

…but first some props to the board…

The Past

First spoke at WebVisions 5 years ago in 2003.

Worked at HotWIre 16 years ago. Then onto adaptive path for measure map. Bought by google where he worked on the great analytics.

3 weeks ago he split from Google….

Now back to 1974

(before I was born)

• OPAC crisis where gas spiked to 81cents
• Nixon left office
• You could see Elvis OR kiss
• Ma bell split (almost all back together)
• First published reference to Internet (packet switch)

He was first introduced to Pong. Had the revelation that you could interact with the TV instead of just consume. Never looked back.

Historical background of data visualization

From 1851 cholera outbreak, to Neapolitans march, to challenger shuttle data.

Need to make stories as clear as possible.

Data

• Simplicity of data on google analytics - from that scene in Indiana Jones where the plane flies over the ocean, leaving a single red line.
• Statistics can feel abstract - chrisjordan.com

Interaction

• Apply tools so that users can draw their own conclusions.
• Stamen Design is a good example of interactive data visualization.
• Allow people to follow their own trails.

Participants

• Need to know your audience. Can be scary.
• Variety of needs,
• Of scale,
• Of locations.
• Identify needs - then design a product to solve problem.
• A lot of time talking to a lot of people. (then pull out themes)
• Stack themes on features. Are the needs met? Gaps? Too much?

Nice Typography:

Gotham

David Anderson, University of Buffalo

He starts with a little back history and then jumps into showing an example of Webalizer. But his internet connection was not working.

Current the program he uses is Mach 5 FastStats - it took them about 4hours to churn over a year of data. Plus it has some cool extras.

• Hypertext tree view.
  • Cool feature - shows entry and exit points in a visual way.
  • Lets you easily walk down the hierarchy.
• Tracked files.
• Scenario analysis.

Clickheat:

• Open source click tracker.
• Very lightweight.
• Need php5 on server (with GD) - extra JavaScript on pages.
• Output looks very similar to a product we demoed.

Interesting findings:

• People will click on things that are not really links (maybe they should be made in into in links).
• Google analytics is really for commerce. It it useful to others, but sometimes hard to use all the features:
  • Goals can be used to see how people navigate an orientation.
  • Rather then a shopping cart, our goals can be registration or admissions.

Paul Dempsey, Dickinson College

He asks the crowd, “Who has good maps/directions to your campus”. No one in the audience raises a hand…

Google maps was launched in Feb. 2005. API released in June 2005. The “terms of use” mean that the service is available to both non-profit and commercial sites. However, they do reserve the right to place ads on your maps at a later time. But, is it really likely that they will do this… Especially to educational institutions? I really hope not.

He goes over the basics of creating your first map.

Then the cool features:

• map overlays
• event listeners
• info windows
• events and windows

Now:

• creating icons (this is very cool, you should check out his slides)
• polylines
• javascript extras (you can set up your own functions)

Overlay of building footprints - Tphoto. This is something that I have been looking for. Unfortunately, it look like it is not being actively supported.

Oh, and by the way, Portland just got added to street views. Here is my house. Too bad the tree is in the way.