Ethical Visualization

A method for ethically visualizing data

Contents

About

Originally developed for big data and medium data contexts in the digital humanities, this method is currently also being used by tech startups, and in visualization of broader impacts by research groups in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

Poster

image of ethical visualization poster

Download a printable pdf here.

 


The steps

1. UNDERSTANDING

1A. STRATEGY

What is your motivation to visualize?

1B. DISCOVERY

What data have you got?

1C. STAKES

Who needs it and how badly?

1D. STORY

What story makes it relevant to them?

1E. DATASET

How will you process and contextualize the data to tell that story?

2. VISUALIZING

What visual data curation best conveys your story?

2A. CURATION

What platform, chart type(s) and data will visualize your story?

2B. LAYOUT

How can you arrange all elements so they can understand the story?

2C. LANGUAGE

How can you use titles, labels, and captions to reinforce the story?

2D. GUIDANCE

How can you guide them through the story with annotations, nudges, and animations.

3. PUBLISHING

Why should they trust you?

 


Participate

Follow

You can follow development of this work by subscribing to Dr Katherine Hepworth’s newsletter at https://broaderimpacts.substack.com.

Contribute

If you’d like to contribute to the development of this work, please reach out at khepworth at unr dot edu. Referrals to other projects, literature, and methods that may be relevant are welcome, as well as suggestions for improvement or other modes of implmentation.

Project help

Have a high-stakes visualization you need to make an impact? There are a limited number of spots available for client work under the auspices of the Mick Hitchcock Ph.D. Project for Visualizing Science. To express your interest, reach out at khepworth at unr dot edu.

 


Acknowledgements

Citation

Hepworth, K. (2020). Ethical & Effective Visualization. https://zenodo.org/badge/latestdoi/232150677

From Hepworth, K. 2020. (forthcoming) “Make Me Care: Ethical Visualization for Impact in the Sciences and Data Sciences”, HCII Conference 2020 Proceedings.

Funding

The following institutions have supported development of this method.

Contributors

I am grateful for discussions with and/or feedback from the following people. Their perspectives have led to the improvements outlined in the current version.

Full acknowledgements

For more details of how each person contributed and contributions to previous versions can be found in the the full documentation list [here]acknowledgements.md.

 


Development

Updates

This method is regularly updated. It is a key activity of Katherine Hepworth’s interdisciplinary research.

Versions

Version Date Title
Version 3.3 July 2020 Harm Reducing Visualization
Version 3.2 May 2020 Ethical & Effective Visualization
Version 3.15 May 2020 Ethics Checklist for COVID-19 Visualizations
Version 3.1 April 2020 Ethical Visualization for Impact
Version 3.0 March 2020 Ethical Visualization for Impact
Version 2.1 October 2019 Ethical Visualization
Version 2.0 October 2019 Ethical Visualization
Version 1.1 May 2019 Ethical Visualization
Version 1.0 December 2018 Ethical Visualization Workflow

 


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