APRIL 29, 2014
DATA VISUALIZATION
AMANDA MAKULEC | ERICA NYBRO
APLIC 2014
[IMPACT | INTRIGUE | VALUE ADD]
DATA NEWBIESTO DATA NINJAS
VISUALIZATION TO TELL A STORYAMPLIFY YOUR REACHMAKE DECISIONS
THE VISUALIZATION PROCESS
IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE &
CONTEXT
FIND THE STORY
IN YOUR DATA
BUILD YOUR VISUALIZATION
DISSEMINATE, SHARE & USE
WHAT?
DATAWHAT INFORMATION DO YOU HAVE TO SHARE?
WHO?
AUDIENCEWHO ARE YOU TRYING TO REACH WITH YOUR INFORMATION?
WHO?
AUDIENCE
• LITERACY
• NUMERIC/DATA LITERACY
• EDUCATION
WHO?
AUDIENCE
JOB FUNCTION• POLICY MAKERS• PROGRAM MANAGERS• RESEARCHERS/ACADEMICS• FUNDERS• JOURNALISTS• GENERAL PUBLIC
WHY?
WHAT IS THEIR CONTEXT?
WHO ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS?
WHAT INFO DO THEY NEED?
HOW WILL THEY USE IT?
WHY DO THEY CARE? WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE?
* a note on politics and perspective
WHO?
AUDIENCE EXAMPLE
Data available: population and urbanization in all countries
International Donor working in Urban Health
Objective: Effective use of funds for big impact
Data need: Where is urban health a big challenge? Where is there a service gap?
FIND YOUR DATA STORY
WHAT’S THE STORY?
LOOK FOR…
• Trends• Ranges• Patterns• Comparisons• Surprises
WHAT’S THE STORY?
AN EXAMPLE
• Audience• Context• Story
TIPS: • Sort your
data different ways
• Play with graphs/charts to find patterns
WHAT’S THE STORY?
ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR STORY CONCEPT
• Tweak for your audience
• Write a short headline to summarize
your story
• What do you want your audience to take
away? Is there an action point?
An increase in child malnutrition in Egypt coincides with the Avian Flu outbreak of 2006.
We hope to see this trend reverse in 2014.
WHAT’S THE STORY?
BUILDING A VISUALIZATIONTHE BASICS
AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT NOT TO DO
AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT NOT TO DO #2
WHAT WE DO WANT
YOUR GOAL: SHARING A MESSAGE
THE USER EXPLORES YOUR DATA AND CAN DRAW THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS.
YOU DECIDE THE STORY AND THE MESSAGE, GUIDING YOUR READER.
YOUR GOAL: PROMOTING EXPLORATION
UNDERSTAND THE STORY YOU WANT TO TELL
THINK ABOUT HOW YOU WANT TO VISUALIZE THAT STORY
CHART OR GRAPH?INFOGRAPHIC?FLOW CHART?
WHAT’S YOUR “AH HA!” MOMENT FOR YOUR
AUDIENCE?
START WITH A SKETCH
Sketch to start…
and you’ll work your way to something beautiful.
A STARTING GUIDE TO CHOOSING A CHART TYPE
CHART CHOOSER 2.O (JUICE LABS)
BEYOND THE BAR CHART: SOME IDEAS
tree map network map bubble chart
JUST SAY NO TO PIE CHARTS
DESIGN
CREATING FUNCTIONAL ART
DRAW ATTENTION TO WHAT’S IMPORTANT: PREATTENTIVE ATTRIBUTES
DRAW ATTENTION TO WHAT’S IMPORTANT: GESTALT PRINCIPLES
COLOR | SHAPES | SIZE
MAPS | SHADING
NUMBERS | SHORT TEXT
TIMELINE
MOBILE
TRADITIONAL GRAPHS AND CHARTS
A GUT-CHECK FOR VIZ
JunkCharts Trifecta Checkup
What is the practical
question?
What does the data
say?
What does the chart
say?
A RANDOM EXAMPLE
SKETCH TIMEAN ACTIVITY
AN EXAMPLE
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Find a partner.
2. Review your data tables.
3. Sketch your viz for the audience that you’ve been assigned.
A STARTING GUIDE TO CHOOSING A CHART TYPE
TAILORING YOUR DATA VIZ TO A SPECIFIC AUDIENCE AND CONTEXT
AN EXAMPLE FROM THE TANZANIA 2010DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEY
ACTIVITY
Example 1:A condom distributor in Tanzania wants to improve marketing and asks: who are the main users of condoms in Tanzania?
EXAMPLE 1
VERSION 1
EXAMPLE 1
VERSION 2
EXAMPLE 1
ATTEMPT 3
EXAMPLE 1
ATTEMPT 4
AN ACTIVITYSHARING TIME
AN EXAMPLE
DATA VIZ RESOURCES
PROCESS
RESOURCES
WHERE TO FIND…BOOKS & ARTICLESEXAMPLESTOOLSCOMMUNITIES
BOOKS
PEOPLE TO READ
Stephen FewShow Me the Numbers
Edward TufteThe Visual Display of Quantitative Information
Alberto CairoThe Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics
ColeNussbaumerStorytellingwithdata.com
ARTICLES
NEW DIRECTIONS IN EVALUATION
TOOLS
COLOR-HEX
COLOR ORACLECOLOR BREWER Simple tool for picking palettes
Originally for maps
Simulates color blindnessGreat for checking your viz
Technical info on color modelsGenerates CSS codes
TOOLS
INFOGR.AM
TOOLS
PIKTOCHART
TOOLS
EASEL.LY
TOOLS
TABLEAU 8.1
BUT A WORD OF CAUTION…
Just because you can built a graph doesn’t mean it’s the right fit.
NETWORK MAPS
GEPHINODE XLUCINET
COMMUNITIES
DATAVIZHUB.CO
COMMUNITIES
QUESTIONS
APLIC
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