same way that I think about the storytelling with data process. Because of this and because later chapters do build on and in some cases refer back to earlier content, I recommend reading from beginning to end. After you’ve done this, you’ll likely find yourself referring back to specific points of interest or examples that are relevant to the current data visualization challenges you face.
To give you a more specific idea of the path we’ll take, chapter summaries can be found below.
Chapter 1: the importance of context
Before you start down the path of data visualization, there are a couple of questions that you should be able to concisely answer: Who is your audience? What do you need them to know or do? This chapter describes the importance of understanding the situational context, including the audience, communication mechanism, and desired tone. A number of concepts are introduced and illustrated via example to help ensure that context is fully understood. Creating a robust understanding of the situational context reduces iterations down the road and sets you on the path to success when it comes to creating visual content.
Chapter 2: choosing an effective visual
What is the best way to show the data you want to communicate? I’ve analyzed the visual displays I use most in my work. In this chapter, I introduce the most common types of visuals used to communicate data in a business setting, discuss appropriate use cases for each, and illustrate each through real-world examples. Specific types of visuals covered include simple text, table, heatmap, line graph, slopegraph, vertical bar chart, vertical stacked bar chart, waterfall chart, horizontal bar chart, horizontal stacked bar chart, and square area graph. We also cover visuals to be avoided, including pie and donut charts, and discuss reasons for avoiding 3D.
Chapter 3: clutter is your enemy!
Picture a blank page or a blank screen: every single element you add to that page or screen takes up cognitive load on the part of your audience. That means we should take a discerning eye to the elements we allow on our page or screen and work to identify those things that are taking up brain power unnecessarily and remove them. Identifying and eliminating clutter is the focus of this chapter. As part of this conversation, I introduce and discuss the Gestalt Principles of Visual Perception and how we can apply them to visual displays of information such as tables and graphs. We also discuss alignment, strategic use of white space, and contrast as important components of thoughtful design. Several examples are used to illustrate the lessons.
Chapter 4: focus your audience’s attention
In this chapter, we continue to examine how people see and how you can use that to your advantage when crafting visuals. This includes a brief discussion on sight and memory that will act to frame up the importance of preattentive attributes like size, color, and position on page. We explore how preattentive attributes can be used strategically to help direct your audience’s attention to where you want them to focus and to create a visual hierarchy of components to help direct your audience through the information you want to communicate in the way you want them to process it. Color as a strategic tool is covered in depth. Concepts are illustrated through a number of examples.
Chapter 5: think like a designer
Form follows function. This adage of product design has clear application to communicating with data. When it comes to the form and function of our data visualizations, we first want to think about what it is we want our audience to be able to do with the data (function) and create a visualization (form) that will allow for this with ease. In this chapter, we discuss how traditional design concepts can be applied to communicating with data. We explore affordances, accessibility, and aesthetics, drawing upon a number of concepts introduced previously, but looking at them through a slightly different lens. We also discuss strategies for gaining audience acceptance of your visual designs.
Chapter 6: dissecting model visuals
Much can be learned from a thorough examination of effective visual displays. In this chapter, we look at five exemplary visuals and discuss the specific thought process and design choices that led to their creation, utilizing the lessons covered up to this point. We explore decisions regarding the type of graph and ordering of data within the visual. We consider choices around what and how to emphasize and de-emphasize through use of color, thickness of lines, and relative size. We discuss alignment and positioning of components within the visuals and also the effective use of words to title, label, and annotate.
Chapter 7: lessons in storytelling
Stories resonate and stick with us in ways that data alone cannot. In this chapter, I introduce concepts of storytelling that can be leveraged for communicating with data. We consider what can be learned from master storytellers. A story has a clear beginning, middle, and end; we discuss how this framework applies to and can be used when constructing business presentations. We cover strategies for effective storytelling, including the power of repetition, narrative flow, considerations with spoken and written narratives, and various tactics to ensure that our story comes across clearly in our communications.
Chapter 8: pulling it all together
Previous chapters included piecemeal applications to demonstrate individual lessons covered. In this comprehensive chapter, we follow the storytelling with data process from start to finish using a single real-world example. We understand the context, choose an appropriate visual display, identify and eliminate clutter, draw attention to where we want our audience to focus, think like a designer, and tell a story. Together, these lessons and resulting visuals and narrative illustrate how we can move from simply showing data to telling a story with data.
Chapter 9: case studies
The penultimate chapter explores specific strategies for tackling common challenges faced in communicating with data through a number of case studies. Topics covered include color considerations with a dark background, leveraging animation in the visuals you present versus those you circulate, establishing logic in order, strategies for avoiding the spaghetti graph, and alternatives to pie charts.
Chapter 10: final thoughts
Data visualization – and communicating with data in general – sits at the intersection of science and art. There is certainly some science to it: best practices and guidelines to follow. There is also an artistic component. Apply the lessons we’ve covered to forge your path, using your artistic license to make the information easier for your audience to understand. In this final chapter, we discuss tips on where to go from here and strategies for upskilling storytelling with data competency in your team and your organization. We end with a recap of the main lessons covered.
Collectively, the lessons we’ll cover will enable you to tell stories with data. Let’s get started!
chapter 1
the importance of context
This may sound counterintuitive, but success in data visualization does not start with data visualization. Rather, before you begin down the path of creating a data visualization or communication, attention and time should be paid to understanding the context for the need to communicate. In this chapter, we will focus on understanding the important components of context and discuss some strategies to help set you up for success when it comes to communicating visually with data.
Exploratory vs. explanatory analysis
Before we get into the specifics of context, there is one important distinction to draw, between exploratory and explanatory analysis. Exploratory analysis is what you do to understand the data and figure out what might be noteworthy or interesting to highlight to others. When we do exploratory analysis, it’s like hunting for pearls in oysters. We might have to open 100 oysters (test 100 different hypotheses or look at the data in 100 different ways) to find perhaps two pearls. When we’re at the point of communicating our analysis to our audience, we really want to be in the explanatory space, meaning you have a specific thing you want to explain, a specific story you want to tell – probably about those two pearls.
Too often, people err and think it’s OK to show exploratory