Key points emerging from the Interactives session:
- Interactive graphics need a clear defined purpose. Understand what the users can get out of it, and what makes it different from a static graphic.
- They take time to produce, so think in terms of updating them to keep them useful over time.
- Pick a concept that has "legs" in the first place - that won't get old fast.
- Coders and designers are different - and you need both
- You can use human curation of information into the interactive display to add value
- Old content can be valuable in them - all the BBC's stories around the 2012 olympics will get new value when the Games start
- Do you want users to "consume" or "interact"? Pick.
- It should be a story in its own right, not an addendum to one.
- People still mainly using Flash (despite iOS issues). Take up for Silverlight-based infographics has been awful.
- If you don't trust the data, don't use it.
- As you do more and more, you start developing a code library that can speed up later projects.
- Useful tool: Freebase
- Book recommendation: The Tiger That Isn't: Seeing Through a World of Numbers
