Observable
Notebooks for building charts in the browser, with a public gallery of thousands you can fork and pull apart.
Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.
How to get the most from it
Observable sits in Data Visualisation under Learn, filed as coffee break.
- Set aside five to fifteen minutes and give it your proper attention.
- Use a laptop or desktop computer — we file it as desktop only.
- It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
- No account needed — you can start without signing up.
- Go in expecting something brainy, useful and clever.
About this category: Visual journalism and open data done properly — charts you can interrogate rather than just look at. The argument is in the interaction.
Good for
- Filling a coffee break properly
- Giving your brain a workout
- Getting something practical done
- Being impressed by a clever idea
- A quiet break at your desk
- Trying it with zero commitment
Observable: quick answers
Is Observable free?
Yes. Observable is free to use and needs no account.
Do I need an account to use Observable?
No. You can use Observable without signing up for anything.
Does Observable work on a phone?
Not well. We file Observable as desktop only, so open it on a laptop or desktop computer.
Is Observable safe for work?
Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.
How long does Observable take?
We file it as "Coffee break": Five to fifteen minutes of proper attention.
More in Data Visualisation
All 15 in Data VisualisationOxford's open charts on poverty, energy, health and war, with the underlying data downloadable from every single one.
MIT's ranking of historically famous people by how many language editions of Wikipedia bother to carry them.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Age pyramids for any country from 1950 to 2100, which settles most demographic arguments in a single shape.
Paste a spreadsheet, pick from chart types most tools refuse to offer, and export an editable vector file.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Same mood: brainy
All brainy sitesPhysically modelled sea you can retune — wind speed, swell, choppiness — rendering waves that behave properly.
- <1 min
- Desktop
Tagged great whites ping their position whenever a fin breaks the surface, each shark named, weighed and given its own profile page.
An encyclopedia of the world's writing systems, including the invented, the extinct and the barely attested.
Where English words came from, sourced and dated, compiled by one man who has been at it since 2000.
- <1 min
Keep exploring
Category
Time and mood
Have a site of your own? Suggest it for Detour or browse the AltFTool backlinks hub.