Data, without context or design, is useless for most people.

 

Stats: love 'em or hate 'em, we live in a world full of 'em– and not knowing 'em can suffocate your intellectual conversations. But, beyond knowing statistics (after all 97% of them are incorrect), we need to understand what they mean. Thankfully, people who understand visual literacy also understand data literacy– people like FlowingData, for example. So next time you want to tout your fancy study or mind-blowing statistic, consider your illiterate audience, and break it down for them in a way that's meaningful and applicable. Now that's statistics 2.0.