Infographics & personal dashboards
Nothing like discovering something truly remarkable on the web, and this week thanks to Igloo I did. (Sorry about stealing your tweet K).
www.feltron.com
This site essentially revolves around the annual reports that Nicholas Felton has completed over the past few years. These “collate countless measurements into a rich assortment of graphs and maps reflecting the year’s activities”.
What makes this so unique is that the topic of the Annual Reports is not a corporation but Nicholas Felton himself. "These collections of graphs and charts concentrate the year into statistical chunks that illuminate his life in a wry but rigorous manner"
Ok this sounds a little self obsessed and true it is but if organizations dedicated the same amount of time to exploring their own data as Nicholas has with his the Business Intelligence industry would be in much better shape. It is the shear dedication to the collection, analysis and presentation of data that makes up the life of Felton that completely overwhelmed me.
What this conveyed to me was:
- The capacity to interpret and understand volumes of data
- How beautiful data presentation and info graphics can be
- Assuming Felton has a life outside of this – that this type of analysis is possible for everyone
“I am very rational about my work. I admire clear and meticulous works, and strive to create similar objects. I am passionate about strong ideas, the use and misuse of grids, restricted color palettes and beautiful typography.” NF
Beyond feltron.com
So after neglecting my family and spending way to much time on feltron.com I discovered even more. Not only is Felton completely self-obsessed but he is sharing his special capacity for self obsession with the world via daytum.com
Datum is a platform for collecting and sharing your personal statistics. Not your typical personal data but your stats…..
For example what you eat, how often, etc. I found some interesting examples such as dog breeds I have seen, public transport usage etc. This site is so well designed, that it truly does make the mundane look beautiful and at the same time provide insights that would otherwise be missed if we did not take the time to step back and look at the events that make up our lives.
What I loved about this site:
- a truely personal dashboard with easy data entry
- great portlet modification UI
- limited choice increases aesthetic value
A lot of BI vendors can learn from what Datum has achieved….. and lot of organizations can learn from this style of self awareness an introspection.