Putting Data in Cells
Xavier Badosa (@badosa)
Idescat
March 30, 2023
Statistics Norway, Oslo

We
put
data
in
cells

We
put
data
in
cells

Analytical Tool

Abbreviation

Websites
as buildings

Websites
as buildings

Transparent
buildings

Short visitors
Most
users
Non-returning
No context
Non-experts

data
providers

data

data
data

data
s
h
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t
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n
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h
e
p
a
t
h
t
o
data

land on data
A
S A P
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h
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h
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p
a
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h
t
o

The Factory Metaphor
Tables as the result... ...of a process

land on data
A
S A P
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p
a
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t
o

Ask
less
s
h
o
r
t
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n
t
h
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p
a
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h
t
o

not less options
default options
Ask
less

not less options
default options
clicks
selections
action
decissions
concept processing
cognitive

not less options
default options
action
cognitive
99/1

not less options
default options
%
of
data
99/1
%
of
users

automatic criteria
default options
general

expert criteria
default options
table-level

adaptive criteria
default options
flexible

default dangers
99/1
unexpected
default options

default dangers
unawareness
99/1
unexpected
default options

Ask
less
s
h
o
r
t
e
n
t
h
e
p
a
t
h
t
o

not less options
default options
clicks
selections
action
decissions
concept processing
cognitive

concept processing
cognitive
simplest

Spanish women by age. Norway. 2023

Spanish women by age. Norway. 2023

Spanish women by age. Norway. 2023

land on data
A
S A P
s
h
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p
a
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h
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o

data
from data
to data
data data
data
s
h
o
r
t
e
n
t
h
e
p
a
t
h
t
o

data
from data
to data
s
h
o
r
t
e
n
t
h
e
p
a
t
h
t
o

Table Builder

Table Builder
Table Editor
edit

edit
responsiveness
complexity

1-2 secs. is OK.

You don’t expect the keyboard to be this slow!
<0.1 sec.
The user feels the system is reacting instantaneously.
>1.0 sec.
User's flow of thought is interrupted.
Jakob Nielsen

responsiveness

responsiveness

responsiveness

responsiveness

(in memory)
Small dataset
responsiveness

2. Fetch new info
3. Repaint the whole table
1. Remove the whole table

Big dataset

Big dataset

Big dataset

Big dataset

Big dataset

Big dataset

Big dataset

Big dataset
complexity

Midsize dataset
prototype

Midsize dataset
prototype

Midsize dataset
prototype

cognitive overflow

cognitive overflow

complexity is not mobile-friendly

complexity is not mobile-friendly
denial

complexity is not mobile-friendly
42%mobile
users

Form is meaning

mitigation
damage

interface
double

vertical row

vertical row

vertical row

row
vertical
CSS-only solution

CSS-only solution
Complex rows
support
Complex columns
support

Thank You!

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