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Analyze this

exploring how to use data

"Data has become a currency of power." Huge tech corporations like Google and Facebook have invested billions in data mining and storage. You can collect and analyze data too-- about things that matter to you and your community.  

DEFINE

​Maps first show up as markings on cave walls and clay tablets. "The prevalence of smartphones, the rise of Google, and the widespread availability of open geographic data have made maps an everyday, everywhere medium. Within the academy, these same developments, compounded with greater access to digitized archival material, have led to the increased use of mapping as a method and mode of representation in a variety of disciplines."

COLLECT INFO

Use the following resources to explore data design. Think about how to design for meaningful user interaction.

BOOKS:

The Functional Art, Alberto Cairo

Information is Beautiful, David McCandless

The Map as Art, Katharine Harmon
Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas, Rebecca Solnit

Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas, Rebecca Solnit and Rebecca Snedeker

 

WEBSITES/CLASSES/TUTORIALS:

DataBasic.io

Data Culture Project

Data Therapy

Place It!

Rap Research Lab

Seattle Open Data

Cultivating a Data Mindset

Information is Beautiful

Visualising Data

VIDEO:

Catharine D'Ignazio

Boston Coastline: Future Past

Everything Sings, Denis Wood

Mapbox

 

PROJECTS:

Build a Data Sculpture

Deconstruct a DataViz

Asking Good Questions

Paper Spreadsheet

Data biographies

brainstorm ideas

With some thought, it is possible to create a perfectly unique map. What would you like to map? Consider your level of the programming experience and your preferred IDE.

DEVELOP SOLUTIONS

When designing your map, use the iterative process.
1. Design a prototype
Create a quick illustrated design of your map. Refer to specific programming languages as needed. Using your knowledge of electrical current, specifically power and resistance, create your prototype to model the experience you want users to have.
    
2. Build  

Gather the necessary code blocks and libraries, along with your illustrated flowchart, and build a prototype of your program. Test your circuit, evaluate what occurred, fix the prototype. Retest and reevaluate what occurred many times until the circuit functions consistently according to your intentions.
    
3. Analyze your prototype  

Test your prototype. Does it work? If not, determine where the problem is. Make changes and re-test.
    

final design

Does your design solve the original problem?

“"The future is already here—it's just not evenly distributed"  -William Gibson

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