How Much Does the Sahara Desert Weigh? And How Would You Visualize That?
Bill Shander
Author of "Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask", keynote speaker, workshop leader, LinkedIn Learning Instructor. Information design, data storytelling & visualization, creativity.
How much does all the sand in the Sahara Desert weigh? One way to answer that question is to estimate it. You take a small sample of sand from a few locations, then measure and weigh it. Next measure the entire desert volume (again an estimate based on average dune depth and desert length and width) and do some easy math. That would give you a pretty good estimate. Another option would be to have a database that contained every single grain of sand as a data point. Maybe you have each grain's weight AND other things like its exact location, mineral makeup, etc. That would be some serious big data...an absurd idea maybe a few years ago. But it's no longer absurd to think of a database that size (though this example may still be absurd!)
The exponential growth in computing power and data storage has put big data squarely into our hands. Organizations are still in the early stages of figuring out exactly what to do with it, and how to make sense of it. It's still a highly specialized area but one that is mature enough that we are now expecting true insights from this data. We can no longer accept stories like "this big data is interesting...one day we'll understand exactly what it means", which is the kind of thing we might have heard 5-10 years ago, especially when confronted with a giant incomprehensible hairball visualization. Those days are over - it is time we ensure that we can get to real insights to take advantage of the large datasets available to us now.
Large datasets present a lot of challenges for communications and visualization. It can be overwhelming - both conceptually (OMG, so much data!) and technically (finding software that can do the analysis and visualization efficiently, and displaying that data to a viewer in a browser, for example.) And it's really challenging to visualize big data. You can aggregate to one number ("the average is X"), but that's not communicating big data. Or you can show every data point, but that may be overwhelming. It is on us to figure out how to bring the right level of information to our audiences in compelling ways to reveal patterns, identify outliers, and enable decisions.
Lesson: Visualizing Large Datasets
At the highest level, visualizing big data really comes down to a few key things. In this lesson, I talk about some of those important ideas, like figuring out how detailed you need to be versus providing a big picture overview; and how to think about finding a good idea as opposed to worrying about what technology you're going to use.
Listen: Elijah Meeks on Visualizing Large Datasets
In this conversation with Elijah Meeks, we talk about his experience working with trillions (yes, that's TRILLIONS, with a "T") of rows of data when he was a senior data visualization engineer at Netflix. Elijah has great insights into working with big data and data visualization as a whole.
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Reach out to me about in-person data storytelling/visualization training for your team or consulting/design
Learn more about data storytelling and visualization via my other courses on LinkedIn Learning
quantitative storyteller and coach, fractional geospatial data scientist, strategist creating narrative around physical-cultural-ecological facilities required for sustainable operation of infrastructure.
5 年The problem with our inexhaustible ?data supply begins with the lack of a well formulated question. I am challenged with "How much does the Sahara Desert weigh" type questions every day. The problem is there is no long-game to how the answer would inevitably be operationalized. I ask clients--what will you do with this information? I love this metaphor--thanks!