The other day I met with Mr.Takasuka. He founded Cybozu, Inc., one of the Japanese first Web-based groupware products company. In 2006 he also founded LUNARR in the USA.

There a new paradigm shift suddenly occured to me in the area of Data Visualization.
“Is the brain process of organizing new ideas the same as that of visualizing data?”
Actually my research theme is “Auto Generaion of Visualization from Data Scheme”.

To create new ideas, find a cut edge of things first

“If you want to create new ideas, it’ll be better for you to find a cut edge (one logical aspect) of things and expand it than to try to think of big ideas. Because the biggest power exists in the point where ideas and cut edges are balanced.” I got this message from his talk.

That is to say, it is easy to get new ideas by organizing things with some creative tools: “brain frameworks”.

For example, think about this case, creates a new laser machine (Mr.takasuka worked for Matsushita = Panasonic). Laser is point and line. The opposite of a point is a flat and the opposite of a line is a curve. After dividing split these aspects in four, quadrant, go through each quadrant in order to get new ideas. When he saw flat and curve quadrant, it means that the light is always reflected (curve) and shown on a screen (flat), he came up with a new projector with a mirror. By reflecting the light on the mirror put between the screen and the projector it can project images on the screen even when it is not put in front of the screen.

In this case, he used a tool. He called it “2x(by)2″, which I call “matrix”, because it is two-dimension chart with two axes. The point is that you come up with new ideas more easily when structuring thoughts.

» 事業を考える切り口 - Toru Takasuka の起業・経営ブログ [ja]

» 新しい concept のはじまり - Toru Takasuka の起業・経営ブログ [ja]

Editorial techniques taught in Matsuoka Seigo’s edit school

I once experienced an idea-training like this at Matsuoka Seigo’s edit school [ja]

It’s similar to the case study training among management consultants but I really enjoyed it because its purpose was to liberate my ideas not limited to MECE (Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive: consultants often use MECE). I found six tools in the brochure of the school.

1. Combination (一種合成型)
Combines two things to generate new idea.

2. Triple Jump (三間連結型)
Expands ideas in three stages like hop-step-jump. (ex. small-medium-large, past-now-future)

3. Branching(二点分岐型)
Branchs one thing to two. “Branding” is used as an aspect in the example.

4. Trinity (三位一体型)
Three-piece set organization. Marketing 3C and Hegel’s aufheben must be the examples.

5.1 All Around (二軸四方型1)
Branches one thing to four dicrections.

5.2 2×2 (二軸四方型2)
Set things in each cells divided by two axeses. It is called “Matrix” and “2×2″.

The relationship between organizing ideas and Data Visualization

Well, let’s get down to business. My paradigm shift is that when I organize ideas I use the same brain process as the one in visualizing data.

I think that “how to think easily” will have the same meaning of “how to visualize plainly” for our brains. The word “Data Visualization” strikes us as Computer Science while the visualizing process is similar to our brain procedure when we chart our thinkings to a diagram.
1. Think about concrete objects to deal with.
2. Create data collection by dividing the objects into one aspect.
3. Visualize the data.
The Data Visualization process above probably equals to “constructive thinking” Takasuka-san called.

Today Data Visualization focuses on these questions: what types of visualization are there? how should we program it? Visualizing Data: Exploring and Explaining Data with the Processing Environment mainly introduces the algorithms of programming visualization.

Conclusion

This paradigm shift makes me feel that I can create a new visualization method from not only visualization type but also data schema. If I got a concrete good implementation I would be able to propose a new convictive method of Data Visualization.

NOTE: This story must be very abstract so I will write a more concrete article referring to Semantic Web next time.

Reference

The diagram lists varied charts regarding each objective. You may be able to use it as cheat sheet.

» Chart Suggestions - A Thought Starter