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Amelia Wattenberger

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Here's a close-up of a fish— we can see the scales, the texture of the fins, the faint reflection in the eye. Zoomed out a bit, the details are faded slightly. The surrounding ocean comes into view. Zooming out more, the fish is just a few splashes of color amongst a school of fish. Maps work in a similar way. Looking at a section of the National Zoo, we can see paths, buildings, and even animal enclosures! Zoomed out a little, and now it’s about neighborhoods—parks, stores, and streets. Keep zooming out and you’re looking at a city, with just the highways and terrain. Each level gives you completely different information, depending on what Google thinks the user might be interested in. Maps are a true masterclass for visualizing the same information in a variety of ways. So far, these are familiar examples. What if we applied the same principles to text? Let's take a look at the opening paragraph of The Metamorphosis. As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himse

Fish eyes We often think of the same information at different levels or abstraction. Here's a simple example: Here's a close-up of a fish— we can see the scales, the texture of the fins, the faint reflection in the eye. Zoomed out a bit, the details are faded slightly. The surrounding ocean comes into view. Zooming out more, the fish is just a few splashes of color amongst a school of fish. Maps work in a similar way. Looking at a section of the National Zoo, we can see paths, buildings, and even animal enclosures! Zoomed out a little, and now it’s about neighborhoods—parks, stores, and street

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