Design Decisions and Collaboration in Data Visualisation, with Professor Alberto Cairo
Sun Feb 01 2026
Hi #SmartCommunity friends, in this episode of the Smart Community podcast I have an incredible conversation with Prof. Alberto Cairo. Alberto is the Knight Chair in Visual Journalism at the School of Communication of the University of Miami and Director of Visualization at the Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing, plus author of several influential books including The Functional Art, The Truthful Art, How Charts Lie, and The Art of Insight.
In this episode Alberto tells us about his work with the National Hurricane Center designing graphics to convey hurricane risks to Miami's diverse multilingual population. We discuss why visualisation design needs decision-making processes rather than rigid rules, and why those decisions should be subjective but never arbitrary. We talk about collaboration being essential since designers acknowledge they often know nothing about the data and must ask experts tons of questions.
We finish our chat discussing the gap between expert designers and general public readers, encouraging everyone to just get started making graphics when they wish a story or spreadsheet was clearer. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.
Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community
Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn and watch on YouTube
Podcast Production by Perk Digital
This podcast is recorded on the traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi peoples and edited on the lands of the Gaibal peoples. I pay my respects to traditional owners of country and their elders past and present. I also extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today. Here on the Smart Community Podcast, we talk about data, technology, communities and the future. First Nations peoples have been sharing knowledge, caring for country, and telling stories for tens of thousands of years. I honour that deep connection of storytelling and community connection as we continue our conversation together here today.
Disclaimer
The views, opinions, and perspectives expressed by guests on The Smart Community Podcast are solely those of the individual speakers. They do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of the host, Zoe Eather, or of The Smart Community Podcast as a whole.
Any discussion of ideas, products, organisations, or services by podcast guests does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the host or the podcast. Listeners are encouraged to form their own opinions and seek professional advice where appropriate.
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Hi #SmartCommunity friends, in this episode of the Smart Community podcast I have an incredible conversation with Prof. Alberto Cairo. Alberto is the Knight Chair in Visual Journalism at the School of Communication of the University of Miami and Director of Visualization at the Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing, plus author of several influential books including The Functional Art, The Truthful Art, How Charts Lie, and The Art of Insight. In this episode Alberto tells us about his work with the National Hurricane Center designing graphics to convey hurricane risks to Miami's diverse multilingual population. We discuss why visualisation design needs decision-making processes rather than rigid rules, and why those decisions should be subjective but never arbitrary. We talk about collaboration being essential since designers acknowledge they often know nothing about the data and must ask experts tons of questions. We finish our chat discussing the gap between expert designers and general public readers, encouraging everyone to just get started making graphics when they wish a story or spreadsheet was clearer. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it. Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn and watch on YouTube Podcast Production by Perk Digital This podcast is recorded on the traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi peoples and edited on the lands of the Gaibal peoples. I pay my respects to traditional owners of country and their elders past and present. I also extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today. Here on the Smart Community Podcast, we talk about data, technology, communities and the future. First Nations peoples have been sharing knowledge, caring for country, and telling stories for tens of thousands of years. I honour that deep connection of storytelling and community connection as we continue our conversation together here today. Disclaimer The views, opinions, and perspectives expressed by guests on The Smart Community Podcast are solely those of the individual speakers. They do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of the host, Zoe Eather, or of The Smart Community Podcast as a whole. Any discussion of ideas, products, organisations, or services by podcast guests does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the host or the podcast. Listeners are encouraged to form their own opinions and seek professional advice where appropriate.