WIRED | Evolution of Data Leaks
The first online companion to one of WIRED's iconic print “Infoporn” graphics, which led to a recurring series of interactive pieces.
Role: Developer
Client: WIRED
Result: Launched a recurring series of interactive Infoporn companions
The problem
WIRED's Infoporn pages are dense, iconic data graphics that had only ever existed in print. This was the first time one got an online companion. The challenge was bringing it to the web without losing what made the print design work, and using interactivity to make the data easier to read.
My role
I was the developer, building the interactive version of the print graphic for WIRED.com.
Key decisions
Stay faithful to print. The interactive is a near one-to-one recreation of the print design, so it reads unmistakably as a WIRED Infoporn graphic online.
Add interactivity only where it helps understanding. Readers can switch between a horizon chart, which packs a lot of data into a small space but is unfamiliar, and an area chart, which most people already know how to read. Animating between the two shows how a horizon chart is built.
The outcome
The piece became the first of a recurring series of interactive Infoporn companions on WIRED.com.
How it works
A key feature of this piece was the ability for users to swap between horizon charts and area charts to understand the data. A horizon chart is an area chart that is sliced horizontally and whose slices get stacked on top of each other. The animation between the two chart types makes the relationship clear.
Horizon charts are less common but can encode a lot of information in a small space, while area charts are already widely used and understood.