Datavisualization.ch Selected Tools is a collection of tools that we, the people behind Datavisualization.ch, work with on a daily basis and recommend warmly. This is not a list of everything out there, but instead a thoughtfully curated selection of our favourite tools that will make your life easier creating meaningful and beautiful data visualizations.

Created by Nicholas Feltron and Ryan Case, Daytum for iPhone is complementary application for Daytum web app to track your daily activities. iPhone app allows you to add, edit and view entries to help collect and communicate the most important stats in your world.

Daytum was originally conceived by Ryan Case and Nicholas Felton as an elegant and intuitive tool for counting and communicating personal statistics, inspired by Nicholas Felton’s “Annual Reports” which he has been making since 2005.

The iPhone app adopts the beautiful and familiar cyan and grey palette offering all the features you’d expect for inputting and tracking data on the go. Within the app, the entries page features an entry field and a list of recent entries. Tapping an item name or entry amount will link to their detail views. By swiping across an entry, you can quickly choose to re-add that item and amount at the current time, or choose to edit or delete the entry. The main item and category views are scrollable lists. Tap the button at the top of the page to add a new item or category. Click on an item or category to visit its detailed view, or swipe to quickly reveal edit and delete options. Not only can you add data quickly but also the app allows you to visualise the same data in beautiful graphs. Selecting an item or category from the list view loads the graph view. Dragging the handles below the graph allows for the default 2 week range to be adjusted. Drag over the graph to see the entry total for a specific day. In addition there is favourites view, a place to keep frequently referenced graphs. Save an item or category here by pressing the star icon on a graph. When it’s blue, the graph has been saved to your favourites.

As it can be expected, Nicholas and Ryan have done a wonderful job with the app. Although utilising in a lot of instances standard UIKit elements, there are tweeks and quirky elements that give the app unique feel. Some may miss the minimal feel of the web app, myself included, but the iPhone app seem to make the best of the two worlds. UI is light, fast and functional.

Tracking your data requires discipline and persistence. My only concern with tools such as this has always been that they required 100% commitment which Nicholas is known for (see video below). I would love to see features added to the web app which allows you to pull activities from other sources such as RSS or Flickr, something that Momento does. The actual how this data can be filtered may be related to keywords or hashtags but never the less it would be great way to collect, analyse and reflect upon your activities. For the time being, Daytum relies much on your persistance to be able to reach a point and enought data is collected. With the knowledge that API is on it’s way we can rest assured that most of the things I just mentioned are on the way. iPhone app is just the first step in that direction, using oAuth and undocumented and currently private API.

To summarise, Daytum is a fantastic way to collect and track important stats. iPhone app is a wonderfully made and designed iPhone app to complement Daytum service. Considering it’s free, including the web service which is also free, limited to 1000 entries giving you enough reason to try it. Should you feel this is something you’d like to continue using, a tiny fee of $4 a month should be no deterrent whatsoever.

Platform: iPhone
Version: 1.0
Cost: Free
Developer: Daytum

See also your.flowingdata [WebApp]

Daytum [iPhone, WebApp] is a post from: CreativeApplications.Net | Follow us on Twitter - Facebook - Flickr - Vimeo

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Synecdoche’s a term from literature, best explained as “the part representing a whole“. So: for me, Tower Bridge is synecdoche, for the Thames, for London, for the city, for home. Low Flying Rocks is synecdoche not only for the scale of the universe, all the activity in the solar system, the earth’s place in that – but also for NASA, for science, for discovery.

Synecdoche allows you to make big, terrifying data, human-scale.

Currently in development and created by Mothership, Kinetic is a GPS-based tracking and training app for running, cycling, hiking, walking… designed specifically to help you measure, record, store, review and analyse your location based data. Packaged in a beautiful interface with features to amaze and only grow with time, Kinetic is/will be a must for every iPhone. Guys at Mothership sent us an ad-hoc and although I am not a big runner myself, this is an app that I will want to use for all my location based activities and in the future I hope much more…

Because Kinetic is module based, ie your mix and match different modules according to your preference and activity, you are able to build you own perfect tracker. Included are time, distance and location which allows you to keep track of your time and distance covered, and see the route you’re on with live mapping and real-time markers. Speed and pace display average speed and pace, and lets you view live speed history graph to monitor your progress. Also included are altitude and compass which display current altitude and ascent/descent rates over both distance and time as well as an altitude history graph. Things don’t stop here. The team is hard at work to release the 1.0 version and at the same time excited about the endless possibilities that can be included in the future. Some of these will include full on Marathon training packs, audio and customisable training plans as well as ways to output data with all the recorded time and location to use as you like whether this be for art projects or else.

Another feature of Kinetic is the ability to change the app style. Kinetic comes with a number of styles preloaded, including Dashboard – which is designed specifically for night time use and comes in a number of alternative flavours. Of course, the team will add more styles with future app updates.

The app was submitted to the AppStore three days ago and should be available within a week or two. Included also is the lite version, ad supported which allows you to transfer your data to the full version once you are ready to make the jump. The full version will be available for $2.99 (for a limited time).

Mothership was established in 2010 by Stuart Eaton, Nick Hingston and Tim Juby to develop and build intelligently designed software that meets the highest of standards and are enjoyable to use. We care about getting the user experience right. We believe in making software that serves a purpose, making sure that it is as functional, engaging and as simple to use as possible. Creativity and innovation shaped by good design.

App Page

Kinetic [iPhone] is a post from: CreativeApplications.Net | Follow us on Twitter - Facebook - Flickr - Vimeo

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DaylightCal visualises the duration, angle and quality of sunlight wherever you are. Using weather forecast data, DaylightCal calculates the distribution of daylight for any location and date worldwide. Find out how much daylight you’ve got left today and how much to expect tomorrow.

Now all of this may sound pretty familiar and we have seen a number of apps like this appear in the AppStore. What makes this slightly special is that the app has been designed by the UK based Bureau for Visual Affairs, a design consultancy with some pretty impressive past clients list. The list includes Designhotels so I can therefore also assume that the beautiful The Design Hotels™ iPhone City Guides is also the work of the Bureau (but I may be wrong – ) – *see below. The DaylightCal app in this case adopts the beautiful swiss helvetica aesthetic specific to the Bureau’s work, of course loaded with useful info about daylight and sunlight in your city (see screens below). Considering the app is also free, makes it a must without question.

Platform: iPhone
Version: 1.0
Cost: Free
Developer: Bureau for Visual Affairs

*UPDATE 2009.12.29 – the iPhone travel guide apps are the work of unlike – thanks Pieter

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