Visualization is a technology to graphically represent data sets. If you will think about 2D and 3D CAD tools, they are visualizing sets of geometrical and other types of data about a product we design. This is very typical visualization for PLM world. In my view, it’s easier for people to understand information presented visually, compared to other ways like text, tables, etc.

I’m trying to explore new ways to represent information. In our modern world, the Internet, social networks and other new technological innovations create new information realities. To present them graphically is not a simple task. However, exploring these capabilities, and perhaps leveraging them in your application can be very cool and beneficial. I want to share with you a few examples of social data set representations. I hope you will find them interesting.

I’m sure you know http://digg.com. Digg is an online social bookmarking tool that allows you to store links and share them in user communities. I think Digg’s Digg Labs is providing one of the best visualization tools for social bookmarking. Digg Pics is the latest tool that tracks the activity of images on the site with images that slide in from the left as people submit and digg them. Digg Arc displays stories, topics and containers wrapped around a sphere. Digg BigSpy places stories at the top of the screen. Digg Stack shows diggs in real time, with diggs falling from the top of the screen. Digg Swarm draws circles for stories as they’re dugg.

Another very interesting data visualization discovery I found is walk2web. I tried to discover Dassault Systémes web and found it very cool. You can see and explore much more information aggregated in very useful way.

This is only small set of possible visual representations. The power of visual representation is huge, and I see newcoming examples of possible representations almost every day. The following website Visual Complexity is an interesting opportunity to discover multiple ways to present data sets in a visual way. I encourage you to dig into this to find new ways to represent your data.

I’m looking forward to your comments and maybe your examples.

Best, Oleg