Visualising data to engage others

So I feel like I just died and went to heaven. The data nerdy part of me likes to find ways to capture and then show information in a way that makes sense and meaning. Too often I see the basic excel chart (not even bothering to change the colours) which does little to inspire me. We know from evidence and experience that capturing the imagination and interest of those we are influencing to change is key.

I clicked on a button and found Google's Visualization API gallery. These are the applications written by Google or 3rd parties. So if you want to put your values on a map, create annotated time series graphs, generate bar graphs with humour, trnslate a table of data into something visual, create an interactive map, show several indicators over time - I could go on. Seeing is believing. There are sections on maps, google, charts, fun, tables, analytics, project, text and other - enough to keep you amused for hours.

http://code.google.com/apis/visualization/documentation/gallery.html Go here only if you have at least an hour to spare to play and be inspired...