There are many interesting and effective ways to map data that you may already have from various sources. Whether that data comes from human beings, actions, weather, distance, or really anything that can be tracked and stored as information. How that data you already own are mapped and then presented to another audience is the moment of impact. It can help someone see an idea differently, understand the meaning behind a theory, or provide a mechanism for educating others.
Considering that there are so many options to mapping data, taking a straightforward approach probably won’t get you to that moment of impact. This begs the question, “Where do I start, and how should I think about mapping data.” The answer on a high level is to think about it in a creative way by collaborating with key individuals that understand the data. Secondly, define the end goals you hope to achieve by distributing the data to help guide the overall mapping process. It can’t just be about a data dump.
I’m a visual person, so I’m going to show you some actual examples of data mapping that are highly impactful. Hopefully, this will spark some ideas for your own data mapping solution.
LRA (Lords Resistance Army) Crisis Tracker
This is an absolutely perfect example of using data for educational purposes to serve the greater good at LRACrisisTracker.com. Using information sourced from the Invisible Children’s Early Warning Radio Network, UN agencies, and local NGOs, this tool allows for better response from governments, policy-makers, and humanitarian organizations.
GE/Healthymagination.com
GE’s Healthymagination.com has created a variety of ways to visualize and map data that people can truly digest and understand. This is an example of one of those data visualizers for the well-known website. The tool allows the user to check out the relative safety and quality of the hospitals in their area and region. The categories that it displays are focused within specific US states for surgery, pneumonia, heart attack, heart failure, and asthma.
Geovisual Analytics Applied to Weather and Ship Data
Considerations of speed, safety, and cost are incredibly important to the water shipping industry. Being able to give those that rely on this information a customizable and easy way to monitor and plot their voyage are always key. This data mapping tool allows them to plot a voyage based on key data indicators such as wind, wave direction, and wave height just to name a few.
The New York Times – Mapping Every City Block
Finally, in this last example, I wanted use something that shows the level of detail that can be provided. The New York Times uses US census data to plot population data into every single block in the US. In the following example, you can see the density of foreign-born population in various areas of New York City and its surrounding areas. This is the essence of taking an enormous amount of data and mapping it down to digestible details in an interactive, meaningful way. If this doesn’t show you the power of data mapping, I’m not sure what will.
To recap, in the end it’s up to you how you want to map the data you own. As you can see in the examples, there are many ways to deliver interactions and visualizations to make data relevant and impactful. Understanding your audience and their needs are crucial to following the right path and providing that value.
– See more at: http://www.whatsyourdigitaliq.com/mapping-data-you-already-have/#sthash.y9Bkag1o.dpuf