Amanda Cox, on Doing DataViz Right

In a good graphic, "something surprising pops out," Amanda Cox says. "The interesting things in this data reveal themselves by the structure you've chosen."

If you work with data and news, listen to what Cox says. Then go look at the work she does. Cox is a graphics editor at the New York Times and one of the best there is at turning complex datasets into understandable stories and usable tools.

A few key points:

• "The annotation layer is the most important thing we do." Data needs context.
• Context isn't just change over time. Think about scale, background or geography.
• "We sort of adore sliders. There's this cheap way of having a story in it. There's a beginning, middle and end."
• Choosing the right form is critical. "You create a form or a structure so you can see things that you might not have seen in other ways."
• Have discipline. "What are we trying to show with this?" Not everything needs to be fully interactive.

There's much more in the video.

Before: In the Thick of It with #TSATime | After: A Quote from Josh Marshall