Data By the Bay

Some technologies for building data visualizations lend themselves to dynamic applications and interactivity (D3, HighCharts). Other technologies offer a lot of flexibility and precision (SQL), ease-of-use (SAP, Excel), or breadth of visualization types (Tableau, Stata). Doing data exploration at varying levels of aggregation is still a challenge for all of these tools. This talk will explore use cases involving visualizations which require varying levels of aggregation in the same visualization, and some tools, techniques, and technologies to support those visualizations. Examples will include selection techniques in SQL, data preparation scripts to prepare data for D3 visualizations, and using Excel for prototyping and checking conclusions. ClearStory Data has used a combination of Spark, D3, and React to create a web-based application which makes data combination and exploration clear, interactive, and maintainable even for the largest data sets. This talk will also discuss findings specifically relevant to supporting interactivity and clarity in data exploration of varying aggregation levels.