Cormac Reynolds on October 25, 2017
The best data in the world won’t be worth anything if no one can understand it. The job of a data analyst is not only to collect and analyze data, but also to present it to the end users and other interested parties who will then act on that data. Here’s where data visualization comes in.
Many data analysts are not necessarily experts in data communication or graphic design. This means a lot of them can be lost in the translation of data from the collection to the presentation in the boardroom. I often find myself teaching data visualization classes to more and more data science teams, who recognize this as an area of weakness.
If your job entails presenting findings from a set of data or analysis to a group of laymen, then it’s part of your job to present it to them in such a way that it’s easy to understand and therefore take appropriate action.
In this post, I’ll share a few tips to help you turn data into actionable insights that people will understand.
Keep your Audience in Mind
Any data visualization should be designed in such a way that it meets the needs of the audience and their information needs. As such, you need to determine exactly who is in that audience, and the kind of questions they may need answers to.
Choose the Chart Wisely
Not all charts are equal, and some will do a better job at displaying certain kinds of information than others. Check out the following flowchart to help you choose the best type of chart to display your information.
Think Beyond the PowerPoint Templates
PowerPoint is by far the most popular visualization tool, but the built-in templates in the program might not be doing your data any favors. Rather than trying to get fancy (yeah, this is directed at 3D pie charts), try to keep your visualizations as simple and uncluttered as possible. If you really want to go for it Design Bundles has a great selection of tools for infographics. These can look spectacular and really make data sing.
Form follows Function
How will your audience use the data? Consider this and let it determine how you will present the data. Think of your audience as the dashboard of a cockpit, and be sure to only present the most useful, relevant information and in the clearest way possible.
Direct Attention to the Important Details
As you design your visualizations, be sure to leverage the sensory details like size, color, graphics, and fonts to direct the attention of your audience to the most important pieces of the information.
Use Tables and Graphs Appropriately
Tables should be used when you want to display precise values. Graphs should be used to present information with regards to data patterns, relationships, and how things change over time. From my experience, it’s best to reduce the use of tables and focus more on the graphs.
Provide Context
A well-done presentation should prompt the user to act on the presented data. However, this is hard to achieve if the context for that action has not been provided. Use size, color, and other visual cues to provide context, and be sure to include some short narratives to highlight the key insights.
Align the Data and the Displays Right
Ensure that your displays of information are vertically and horizontally aligned, to make sure that the can be compared accurately. This also helps to prevent misleading optical illusions with your presentation.
Choose the Right Colors
You should us color to draw the attention of the audience to key data pieces, not just to brighten your presentation. Moreover, choose your color combinations wisely. For instance, you don’t want to use red and green in the same diagram, since they will appear brown to color blinded people.
Pay Careful Attention to Titles
Give your graphs and charts useful, explanatory titles. This helps to highlight the focus of that presentation. View titles as the headline that draw people in, give them a snapshot of key insights and focuses them on the right questions.
Use Clear Axis Labels and Numbers
Steer away from fancy gauges and labels that can affect the clarity. Always start at zero when labeling the axis of a graph or chart, unless there’s a strong reason not to, such as when the data has been clustered at unreasonably high values.
Leverage Interactivity When Appropriate
The newer generations of data visualization tools allow you to build interactivity into visualizations that can benefit the end user. However, remember that this is more of a parlor trick, which should be used when the interactivity helps to clarify, and not confuse the data presentation.
These basic principles should help you increase the effectiveness of your data presentation and communication. This way, key stakeholders will be in a better position to make better, and more informed decisions based on the data you have gathered and presented.
Collected at: https://datafloq.com/read/the-12-basic-principles-of-data-visualization/3848