Communication of statistics through visualisation

Statistics explained visually

June 10

2020

Maarten

Lambrechts

Eurostat

Luxembourg

Maarten Lambrechts?

www.maartenlambrechts.com

@maartenzam

Today

What do users want?

Why data should be visualised and how

Lunch

Datavisualisation pitfalls & the Dataviz Checklist

Making make-overs

Q&A

9:30-11:00

11:15-12:30

12:30-14:00

14:00-15:30

15:45-16:30

16:30-17:00

Disclaimer

To those of you who have made charts for Statistics Explained

My apologies

What do users want?

I

Users want answers to their questions

Lisa

16 year old schoolgirl

Addicted to her mobile phone

Assignment on SDG poverty in EU

'Pfff.... Poverty? What do I know about that?'

'What? A scatterplot? I thought someone spilled her latte over that page 😂'

Jonathan

37 years old journalist

Reads 3 economical newspapers each day

Needs story for a special on European SDG targets

'Ok, chef, article will be ready in 2 hours'

'Yes, I'll find the data for the chart to illustrate the article'

SDG 1 - No poverty

Version 2017

What are sustainable development goals?

What is poverty?

Is poverty a big problem in Europe?

Where in Europe is poverty the worst?

What is the goal and how will we reach it?

SDG 1 - No poverty

Is the EU going to reach the poverty SDG?

What aspect of poverty is doing the worst?

Which countries are the worst performers?

What groups of people are most at risk?

Where is the data for my chart?

Margareth

42 years old business analyst

Consulting for the Japan Chamber of Commerce

'Where is the data? I need the data!'

'A visualisation is worth a 1000 words'

Alan

63 year old professor

Research: 'Japan-UK trade: a good marriage?'

'Wait, let me get my reading glasses'

'Right mouse click... How do I do that again?'

Japan-EU – international trade in goods statistics

What kind of products are traded between Japan and EU?

How is this changing?

Which countries are most connected to Japan with trade?

How is this changing?

Where can I get the data?

Japan-EU – international trade in goods statistics

How much are Japan and UK trading?

How is this changing?

What products are Japan and UK trading?

Takeaways

Chart Design

Add a clear and descriptive chart title

Use appropriate chart type

Use color smartly

Respect hierarchies in the data visually

Be consistent (colors, chart types, ...)

Targets are often the story

Sort on the data

One chart, one message

Takeaways

CHART INTEGRATION

Element of the page a lot of people look at first

Charts should be self sufficient: have a title, units, keys

Don't bury the lead, support it with a visualisation

Ensure good interplay between text and charts

When you use visual language ('clusters', 'outliers', 'big gap', ...), think about making a visualisation

Offer data link in all views

Why data should be visualised

and how

II

Why visualisation?

Interpreting numbers becomes easier
Trends become clearer
Let users contextualise themselves
Message is supported and amplified
Augments reliability
Makes long text breath
Replaces lengthy paragraphs full of numbers
Easy sharing of message
Can be aesthetically pleasing
Draws attention

Chart integration

Take a Stats Explained article

With the different users and their possible questions in mind, answer the following questions:

If you would have to pick 1 chart to go with the text, which one would it be? Why?
What charts are missing from the article in your view? Are there claims or explanations in the text that lend itself well to be visualised?
Look for 'Figure 1', 'Figure 2', ... in the text. What does the text say about what you see on the chart? Is that clearly visible in the chart?
Do the charts tell a story? Or are they just meant for looking up values or countries?

When not to use visualisation

When you want to offer quick lookup of values. Use a table for that

When you don't have a clear goal for the chart. Ask yourself: 'For whom and why am I making this visualisation? What questions does the chart answer?'

When you have too little data