Mapping Affinities: Democratizing Data Visualization

Abstract

Nowadays, many of our actions are transformed into digital information, which we can use to draw diagrams that describe complex operations, such as those of institutions. This book introduces us to the reading of complex systems through the concept of affinity: the alchemy that brings people together and makes them creative and productive. Affinity’s mapping is a data visualization method that allows us to observe the dynamics of an organization subdivided into complex systems: institutions, universities, governments, etc. It is a graphical tool based on the collaboration variable. Mapping Affinities is, according to the author, an instrument for deciphering complex organizations and improving them. By inserting individuals on these maps, it is also a way of helping them to understand how to evolve in life within an institution. The book tackles this problem with a case study concerning the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne. Data from the actions of researchers at the Lausanne institution are brought together and transformed into an innovative and attractive map