Effective data visualisation
Maarten
Lambrechts
CFO Top
21 November 2019
Data visualisation?
| Year | Imports | Exports |
|---|---|---|
| 1700 | 71,1 | 32,8 |
| 1705 | 74,5 | 40,9 |
| 1710 | 82,6 | 59 |
| 1715 | 87,2 | 77,9 |
| 1720 | 96,8 | 75,2 |
| 1725 | 102,6 | 71,3 |
| 1730 | 96,4 | 64,7 |
| 1735 | 93,7 | 60,5 |
| 1740 | 92,9 | 65,1 |
| 1745 | 92,5 | 74,3 |
| 1750 | 90,1 | 77,4 |
| 1755 | 79,9 | 82,8 |
| 1760 | 76,6 | 117,5 |
| 1765 | 79,6 | 151,8 |
| 1770 | 83,8 | 163,8 |
| 1775 | 90,4 | 175,7 |
| 1780 | 92,7 | 185,4 |
Explanatory data visualisation
Exploratory data visualisation
You have a message
You want people to understand
You want people to take action
Explanatory data visualisation
using an appropriate chart type
using text on charts smartly
designing your charts well
using storytelling techniques
Help your data message to get across by
Chart types
Save the pies for dessert
Don't cut bars
Show evolution over time with line charts
Don't break time axes
Compare 2 moments in time with slopecharts
Treemaps can show numbers in a hierarchy
Use small multiples to avoid spaghetti charts
Introducing:
the Benchmark Plot™
🛠️
Text & charts
Tell your message in the chart title
"The annotation layer is the most important thing we do. Otherwise it's a case of here it is, you go figure it out."
Amanda Cox, The New York Times
Use direct labelling
Chart design
Use colors deliberately
Use colors sparingly
Don't let the data compete for attention
Avoid chart junk
The width:height ratio of a chart matters
🛠️
Storytelling
"You have to be like the worst tabloid newspaper in the front and the Academy of Science in the back."
Hans Rosling
1 chart,
1 message
Data story patterns
Intersections
Outliers
Components
Repetition
Gradual visual reveal
