Air Quality Stories Blog is a gateway that provides meaningful air quality information with context to invoke your understanding of the data. The objective for this blog is two-fold;
- Provide air quality data in an unbiased manner to the public;
- Promote thoughtful presentation of air quality information via non-intrusive discussions.
Welcome the the Air Quality Stories Blog/Gateway!
I am very excited that the blog is FINALLY live in October 2011.
I have worked in the air quality field since 2001 and I love what I do! During this time, I have continuously tried to improve my analytical and presentation skills with the intention of making air quality data understandable. This has been a challenging process but definitely a rewarding one. The fun part is knowing it has no end but can be broken into achievable milestones.
Just under 3 years ago (2008), I stumbled upon Perceptual Edge while searching for a solution to an Excel problem. Perceptual Edge is a consultancy established by Stephen Few, a leading expert in the area of business intelligence and information design. Mr. Few has written 3 books and developed a series of resources including a workshop to assist people on how to communicate business information visually. Needless to say, I own all his books and was fortunate to attend the public workshop with support from my employer (the Maryland Department of the Environment). My skills accelerated tremendously during the last couple of years. By 2011, I think my skills are polished enough that I want to share my experience on the web by starting this blog.
Hope you will enjoy the contents and be connected to the blog!
CONTENTS OF THE BLOG
I hope to publish one air quality story per month as time permits. Each air quality story will be accompanied by supporting information (a combination of conceptual diagrams, charts and/or tables or in the form of a dashboard). From there I will discuss my thought process in creating the contents to support each of those message. I know many of you are probably thinking how can this be unbiased if my intention is to produce supporting contents for each message. Let me elaborate by saying I respect the data! When I analyze data, I try to find the message hidden in the data. Once a message is found or at least I think it is, I will focus on designing graphic(s) using best practices to help convey that message to the reader. In other words, I use graphics to guide and to help the readers to understand the data and to come up with their own conclusion/statement about the data. AND guess what? If I design the graphics correctly, my readers will be arriving at the "rightful" conclusion about the data (i.e. the story hidden in the data).
Lastly, I want to emphasize that this is a learning process. I respect all constructive comments with the intention of promoting thoughtful presentation of air quality information.
DISCLAIMER
Any statements, postings, shares, likes, follows on the blog should be considered personal. They do not represent any political or official endorsement from my employer.
COPYRIGHT
If your intention is to make money using contents from this blog without my permission, it is WRONG! Otherwise, feel free to use the contents of the blog for all non-commercial purposes provided that you give credit to this blog. I try to do my best to cite my contents. If I have adversely used copyrighted material, please bring to my attention and I will immediately remove it. Contact information can be found below.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Duc Nguyen
cyclone dot nguyen at gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment