Edward Tufte: Beautiful Evidence

19 May 2010

Speakers: Edward Tufte

You can listen to an audio version of this event for free on our iTunes podcast.

Edward Tufte argues that the intellectual task of the viewer to understand information remains constant regardless of the modes of production and consumption. He believes Data should be used to guide the design, rather than design being based on fashion or what the technology offers. Content-oriented design is necessary, as the point of information display is to assist analytical thinking.

Using Minard’s map of Napoleon’s Russia campaign in 1812, Tufte explores what he considers to be the grand principles of analytical design. The first is to show comparisons, contrasts and differences. The second is to show causality, which applies to both the production and the consumption of displays. The third principle is to show multivariate data, as reality is inherently multi-variable. The fourth is the principle of mode indifference, i.e. complete integration in analytical design is required - there must be no segregation by mode of content or text, and the selection of content should be driven by explanation. Tufte argues that good analysis does not pre-specify anything and does whatever it takes to best serve the content. It is important to make the distinction between presentations being process or explanation-driven.

The fifth tenet is to elicit credibility by documenting everything, which is part of the quality control mechanism of design. A good presentation should show what the story is about, and why the audience should believe you. It is important not to undermine the credibility of presentation by lying or cherry-picking data. Producers of presentations ought to be competent, masters of detail, and intimate with the evidence. The sixth principle urges the importance of content. As Tufte states, “Presentations stand or fall on the relevance and quality of the content.” Thus to improve a presentation, you must improve its content.

Lastly, Tufte makes the point that information should be shown adjacent and in the common eye span. Using one slide after another makes comparison difficult, and the human eye is adept at looking over a computer screen and choosing which data sets to compare. We need to trust optical capacity more.

Use the Further Related Links column on the right-hand side of this page to see handouts referred to by Tufte in the lecture.