Bridging Data Gaps: Nancy Organ on Making Data Visualization Accessible for All Ages

The PolicyViz Podcast

Welcome to the Season 10 finale of the PolicyViz Podcast. I can’t believe I’ve been doing this podcast for 10 years! I’m truly grateful to all my guests and all my listeners who have been tuning in and, hopefully, have learned a lot about data, data visualization, presentation skills, and more. As I sign off for the summer, I hope you are able to take a break and get a bit of rest.

In this final episode of the season, I welcome Nancy Organ to the show to discuss her new book Data Visualization for People of All Ages. Nancy’s book aims to make dataviz accessible to everyday readers. Our conversation highlights the importance of not altering data simply for aesthetics but to facilitate understanding. We also explore balancing creativity with informed design choices, and suggest alternatives to traditional graphs, such as infographics, timelines, flowcharts, and diagrams.

Our discussion extends to the challenges of creating visually appealing infographics and the significance of design in effective communication. Because Nancy’s book could work well to help kids better understand data and data visualization, we talk about how she might better integrate data visualization into educational curriculums. We also talk about non-traditional learning environments like science camps and homeschooling, and we also discuss inclusivity and diverse thinking approaches.

➡️ Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Topics Discussed

• Importance of Data Visualization. Nancy underscores the necessity of data visualization skills in the modern world and how these skills can be nurtured from a young age. Nancy’s book aims to demystify complex data concepts, starting with basic data units and building up to more sophisticated visual representations.
• Educational Approach. Her book includes self-assessment tools and classroom exercises to facilitate learning with an emphasis on making the content relatable and straightforward for a broad audience.
• Ethics in Data Visualization. There is a strong focus in Nancy’s book and in our conversation on maintaining data integrity and making ethical choices in visual storytelling.
• Techniques and Tools. We also discuss various data visualization formats such as timelines and flowcharts and how to understand different data encodings to enhance perceptibility and engagement.
• Incorporating Visualization into Education. Finally, Nancy and I talk about integrating data visualization and data science into the K-12 curriculum and how to promote visual thinking across multiple disciplines and learning environments.