Phil Simon - Collected Quotes

"Data science is an iterative process. It starts with a hypothesis (or several hypotheses) about the system we’re studying, and then we analyze the information. The results allow us to reject our initial hypotheses and refine our understanding of the data. When working with thousands of fields and millions of rows, it’s important to develop intuitive ways to reject bad hypotheses quickly." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"It’s a mistake to think of data and data visualizations as static terms. They are the very antitheses of stasis." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"Just because data is visualized doesn’t necessarily mean that it is accurate, complete, or indicative of the right course of action. Exhibiting a healthy skepticism is almost always a good thing." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"Metadata serves as a strong and increasingly important complement to both structured and unstructured data. Even if you can easily visualize and interpret primary source data, it behooves you to also collect, analyze, and visualize its metadata. Incorporating metadata may very well enhance your understanding of the source data." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"The term linked data describes the practice of exposing, sharing, and connecting pieces of data, information, and knowledge on the semantic Web. Both humans and machines benefit when previously unconnected data is connected." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"There are myriad questions that we can ask from data today. As such, it’s impossible to write enough reports or design a functioning dashboard that takes into account every conceivable contingency and answers every possible question." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"To be sure, data doesn’t always need to be visualized, and many data visualizations just plain suck. Look around you. It’s not hard to find truly awful representations of information. Some work in concept but fail because they are too busy; they confuse people more than they convey information [...]. Visualization for the sake of visualization is unlikely to produce desired results - and this goes double in an era of Big Data. Bad is still bad, even and especially at a larger scale." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"Visual Organizations benefit from routinely visualizing many different types and sources of data. Doing so allows them to garner a better understanding of what’s happening and why. Equipped with this knowledge, employees are able to ask better questions and make better business decisions." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"We acquire more information through our visual system than we do through all our other senses combined. We understand things better and quicker when we see them." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"We are all becoming more comfortable with data. Data visualization is no longer just something we have to do at work. Increasingly, we want to do it as consumers and as citizens. Put simply, visualizing helps us understand what’s going on in our lives - and how to solve problems." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)

"While critical, the arrival of Big Data is far from the only data-related trend to take root over the past decade. The arrival of Big Data is one of the key factors explaining the rise of the Visual Organization." (Phil Simon, "The Visual Organization: Data Visualization, Big Data, and the Quest for Better Decisions", 2014)