Two posts in a row about data. I'm definitely finding my inner geek here ;-). As the sophistication of our use of data improves, so the interplay between the art and the science involved with the whole business of content production and consumption, advertising, marketing and design becomes more interesting. They seem to come from such different places. Analytics, algorythm and optimisation meets creativity, aesthetic and emotion.
This excellent presentation from Matt Jones of Dopplr about working with data in a 'designerly' way deals handsomely with this dynamic. As the flow of data escalates, and is increasingly derived from the things we own and use (I rather like the phrase "data shadows") we can apply data in ever more artful ways to enable better understanding and to see previously invisible behaviours from 'the real world' (and apply social tools to them), giving rise to a 'culture of visualisation'. Good stuff.
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