There is no way to think up an original and extraordinary design—it can only come as a result of pursuing a given task. In the same way running down a list of words is different from making a narrative.
— Artemy Lebedev, Designer’s block, February 16, 2010
This applies to visualization too. When you don’t have a question to answer or a simple wonderment about something, you end up staring at a bunch of numbers with no clue what to do with them. Want to test this out? Go to data.gov and make something useful.
[via @Coudal]
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True. I cannot recall the number of times I’ve had to remind myself or had to ask my students, ” What is your research question?”
Forming and following a well-defined question provides you with guidance. It defines the purpose and scope of your work (from rules come freedom). You know you’re done when you answer your question. Without a question, you can never know when you’re done.
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