If some tool looks promising, try it out. It’s easy, download then play. Just about everything offered on the web these days has a free trial. Maybe you’re not ready for a full test but download the trial anyway. If you need another round of testing later, email the company and they’ll likely extend your […]
When choosing software, reject this statement
Before you adopt a new piece of software, reject this statement: Switching to the alternative is no better than staying with the status quo. The status quo is how things are being done right now. Most evaluators I know don't have a software package they use for interactive visualization. So, for them, not creating interactive […]
What you already know
If you have something that needs to get done sooner than later, you should probably use a tool that you already know. Something like D3 looks neat, but if there's deadline approaching and you've never written a line of code in your life then now is likely not the time to start. The thing we […]
The Known Software Universe
It used to be that you could get by with just a copy of Microsoft Office suite and your field’s analysis program of choice. Maybe there was another specialized tool you needed, or some type of home built piece of software owned by your organization but that was about it. But the web has grown […]