2. Making great charts isn’t easy.
Pop Quiz:
Which is better?

3. Source: http://research.schev.edu/enrollment/E2_Report.asp

4. Source: http://research.schev.edu/enrollment/E2_Report.asp

5. Source: http://www.virginia.edu/facts

6. Source: http://www.virginia.edu/financialreport/

7. Source: http://www.virginia.edu/financialreport/

8. Source: https://www. reddit

9. Source: https://www. brandwatch

11. Here’s how great data visualizations can change minds:

12. There are 10 Easy Things you can do to make your charts more:
attention-grabbing,
understandable,
and
impactful.

13. Set Clear Goals
Define an Audience
Choose Your Chart
Pick Your Story
Up Your Title Game
Use Color Carefully
Stop With The Fonts
Use Labels (Or Don’t)
Get Rid of Grids
Simplify

14. Which one are you doing, and why?
Set Clear Goals
There are three main reasons why we visualize data:
Exploratory – looking for patterns or outliers
Reporting – showing results
Persuading – make a decision
Which one are you doing, and why?

15. Set Clear Goals Exploratory
Looking for patterns, outliers, or trends for points of further analysis

16. Showing polished, professional results
Set Clear Goals
Reporting
Showing polished, professional results

17. Providing data-driven reasons to help someone make a decision
Set Clear Goals
Persuading
Providing data-driven reasons to help someone make a decision

18. Define An Audience
The information people want to see depends on their jobs.
People consume information in different ways.
Think about who you’re presenting to and what they might want to see.

19. Who Might Want to See This?
Define An Audience
Dean or Fiscal Tech?
Who Might Want to See This?

20. Who Might Want to See This?
Define An Audience
Dean or Fiscal Tech?
Who Might Want to See This?

21. Choose Your Chart

22. Choose Your Chart

23. Choose Your Chart

24. Choose Your Chart
For most of our purposes, the classics – presented simply and elegantly – will do.
Bar Chart: for comparing values
Line Chart: for time or other sequential series
Pie Chart: for showing relative proportion
Others: Scatter plot, histogram, bubble chart, heat map, tree map

25. Measure and compare values
Choose Your Chart
Bar Chart
Measure and compare values

26. Measure a value over time, or sequentially
Choose Your Chart
Line Chart
Measure a value over time, or sequentially

27. Show proportion of a whole. Use cautiously!
Choose Your Chart
Pie Chart
Show proportion of a whole. Use cautiously!

28. Choose Your Chart
NO!!!

29. Choose Your Chart
NO!!!

30. Ok: Choose Your Chart Categories, not numbers No negatives
Few categories
Single point in time
Adds to 100%

31. What’s your point? Pick Your Story Furthermore:
Is it truthful and contextual?
Is it zoomed in (or out) enough?
What are some other ways you could show it?

32. Pick Your Story
What’s Your Point?

33. Pick Your Story

34. Up Your Title Game A great title: Gets your point across
Uses as few words as possible
Is aligned with all other elements
Bonus: Don’t forget to include source(s) at the bottom, if applicable

35. Up Your Title Game

36. Up Your Title Game

37. Use Color Carefully Default colors are a problem.
Colors can have different meaning depending on context

38. Use Color Carefully Default colors are a problem.
Seeing the same colors in every chart means trouble distinguishing between them all!

39. Use Color Carefully Think about why you’re using color.
Different colors=different data
Bright colors draw attention
Contrast can be powerful
Not all colors print well, go together, or can be seen by those who are colorblind

40. Use Color Carefully

41. Stop With The Fonts
Use restraint, choose fonts thoughtfully, and keep things simple:
Don’t go crazy with bolding; you’ll lose your impact
Same goes for font colors
Sans serif fonts (calibri, arial) are most legible, but serif fonts (times new roman) can be useful for titles

42. Stop With The Fonts
Please Don’t Do This.

43. Stop With The Fonts
Keep It Simple!

44. Use Labels (Or Don’t) What’s More Important?
That your reader knows the trend or relationship in your data?
That your reader knows every exact data point?
If they do, use a table instead!

45. Use Labels (Or Don’t) Overuse of labels can visually confuse readers.
Label only what’s most important
Consider not using a legend
Align labels vertically to limit eye travel

46. Use Labels (Or Don’t)
Berinato, Scott. Good Charts: The HBR Guide to Making Smarter, More Persuasive Data Visualizations. Harvard Business Review Press, Print. 

47. Get Rid of Grids
Grid lines default into many charts, but are distracting and aren’t useful.
If your audience needs to be that exact, consider a table instead
Grids are only needed for very long x-axes or to help distinguish small differences
If you do use them, alter the color to light gray to limit distraction

48. Get Rid of Grids

49. Get Rid of Grids

50. Simplify Leave your chart and come back to it later.
What’s your story?
Is there a balance of chart to white space?
Where do your eyes go?
Could titles be more direct?
Is there anything that could be removed without affecting the reader’s understanding?

51. Simplify

52. Simplify

53. Simplify

54. Simplify

55. Simplify

56. Simplify

57. Simplify

58. Simplify

59. Simplify

60. Questions?
Thank you!
Shannon Wampler