Edward Tufte on Flat Surfaces

This is my third and final blog post on the Edward Tufte course I attended this month. This post also captures the essence of his teachings. Ed makes three key points:

• Most visual communication happens through flat surfaces like books and screens.
• Non-fiction writing, particularly news articles, is a good model for written content.
• Visuals are meant to add richness and meaning to content. They should not be used as design elements to beautify bad content.

Flat Surfaces - The most prevalent communication media
Human beings have been communicating through flat surfaces, a.k.a 2-dimensional surfaces, for centuries. Richly illustrated books from centuries ago are great examples of the effective use of flat surfaces. With increasing screen resolutions, it is possible to display lot of detail. Hence, hi-def screens can be used to deliver a lot more information than their low-def counterparts. The human eye-brain system can handle 20 MB/s of data - more than what many modern visual displays can output. This means that the human eye can comprehend "stuff" faster than what modern displays can output.
Content developers should take advantage of higher resolution displays to create information-rich content instead of forcing readers to turn pages/slides. In Ed's words, "do your important stuff adjacent in space rather than stacked in time."
On the positive side, touch screen interfaces have eliminated "information vampires" like scroll bars thus freeing up over 10% space for information. Higher resolution have made it possible to display intricate diagrams and other multimedia without sacrificing quality.

NOTE: I found this interesting conversation on Ed's website.

Typical monitor             72 dpi
Best LCD monitor         204
Best inkjet                      2400
High quality printing   4800
Human eye                    9600

Non-Fiction - Focus on Content, not Design
For a flat surface to be effective, content quality is key. Design cannot fix content problems, i.e. typography, images, tables, and colors can only improve content marginally. Non-fiction, especially journalistic writing, is a good example of the effective use of flat surfaces. Classic non-fiction articles are usually information-rich with judicious use of tables, charts, and images. In this form of writing, numbers are generally inline with running text and tables are reserved for large datasets. The same rule applies to charts - only large datasets are represented by charts. Images are often clear, appropriate, and few.
Now this might fly in the face of commonsense, especially for people who primarily communicate through slide decks. Slide decks and most websites today are highly visual and contain very little text. That, according to Ed, is a waste of screen real estate, and an example of using design to making boring content interesting. According to Ed, news articles on websites like ESPN, Google News, and NY Times are good examples of effective use of flat surface.

Using Visuals - Optimize Space and Create Powerful Content
Modern infographics are a continuation of an old tradition of communicating through visuals. The old masters - cartographers, architects, even ornithologists - specialized in producing extremely detailed drawings that were information rich. They did this all, painstakingly, on paper. Many a times, diagrams and visuals were meant to add richness and depth to text content.
These days, we seem to use visuals as a means to simplify content for the audience. That, according to Ed, is a very wrong attitude. His book, "Beautiful Evidence" has good points on attributes of a good diagram on pages 78 and 79:

• Focus on casualty: Diagrams should be able to communicate cause and effect
• Multiple Sources and Layers of Data: Good diagrams are data-rich. They have layers of information.
• Annotated Linking Lines: Everything should have a purpose. Even linking lines should be annotated to convey information.
• Annotated Nouns: Even nouns in diagrams should be annotated and explained.
• Efficiency of Design: Diagrams should be as efficient as maps. Old cartographers were craftsmen who were ruthlessly efficient with color, typography, and layout.
• Credibility: If a diagram is not based on credible sources, don't use it. :)

Summary
Producing great content on flat surfaces is not a new concept. Society would not be the same if people had not mastered the art of communicating (reading and writing) in 2D.