Dear Data Collectors,

As human beings, we’re excellent pattern detectors. Rather than looking at any one thing, we look at how things come together to form a design or to tell a story. Today as we think about ways of displaying data, we need to keep this in mind. Data displays–bar graphs, line graphs, circle graphs, etc.–help us humans see data by putting it into understandable data.

We also have to be on the lookout for misleading data. Sometimes people display data in ways that tell the story they want told. As consumers and users of data, we have to ask questions not only about how the data is displayed but also about the methods used to collect it.

We have a responsibility to make the world make sense to human beings. Data can help us do that.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck