Data visualization design is both an art and a science, which makes it difficult for beginners to learn. It is, nonetheless, a necessary ability if you wish to master data storytelling and make a powerful effect through visualization.
Humans are hardwired to respond to visual stimuli, and our brains digest images 60,000 times quicker than words. Images may be recognized in just 13 milliseconds, which is why advertising relies so heavily on logos and visuals.
A single basic chart or graphic may give near-instant comprehension and grasp of complex data sets. As a result, corporations have utilized charts and infographics to enhance data displays for years.
It aids in a multitude of areas, from corporate intelligence to journalism, by providing superior information and communicating the vision contained inside data. Displaying data in visual form makes it easier to understand and evaluate, and is considered the best practice.
It also aids in speedier decision-making and the discovery of patterns, both new and hidden, to better grasp tough subjects. However, it does not require any technical knowledge and is simple to master using tools such as Power BI and Tableau.
This article will assist you in making your data visualization for data analysis and analytics more interesting and successful.
1. Pick the Appropriate Data:
Businesses must be picky when deciding which data points to visualize and should only select the most crucial and pertinent information. Incorporating too much data will just clog the visualization and make it harder for the audience to understand. You could wind up with a bunch of nodding heads who didn’t learn anything useful from your presentation.
Here are some queries to ask to ensure that you’re picking the appropriate data points for your presentation to prevent that situation from happening:
- Is the data convincing enough?
- Is the information correct and up to date?
- Evaluate if the facts you’ve chosen are critical to the narrative you’re attempting to convey.
- Evaluate the implications of your findings in the real world to confirm them.
2. Anything Not Essential to the Story Should be Removed:
This does not mean that you discard half of your data points, though. But remember to avoid items like unnecessary text, needless photos, drop shadows, decoration, and chart clutter. The nice thing about data analysis & visualization is that the story can be enhanced and told better with design.
Use Pertinent and Instructive Data Annotations and Labels:
Data labels and annotations must be included when creating visualizations. As a result, the audience’s comprehension of what they are observing is made simple. Annotations give extra information about the data, while data labels assist you to identify the data points on the display.
These two parts are critical for ensuring that the viewer understands the visualization’s goal. When labeling data points, be concise and precise. You may guarantee that your custom data visualization is straightforward to comprehend and interpret by these best practices.
3. Utilizing Size and Location in your Presentation to the Max:
The size and positioning of your data visualizations have a significant influence on the appearance and impression of your presentation. Use size to attract attention to crucial data points or to highlight a specific aspect. Placement can be utilized to create a feeling of balance in the design or to direct the viewer’s attention around the presentation.
4. Alignment is Key:
To develop a visually pleasing design, elements in a data visualization should be precisely aligned. Incorrect alignment can make data difficult to read and interpret, potentially leading to incorrect conclusions.
- Make sure the x- and y-axes are appropriately aligned.
- Double-check that the data points are properly aligned with the axes.
Finally, ensure that any text or labels are correctly aligned with the other elements. By taking care to align all components appropriately, you can generate a convenient and analytical graphic.
5. Don’t Crowd Your Audience:
Give your audience a moment to catch their breath and process what you’re saying. Just remember that “less is more.” Cut back on the number of unnecessary chart labels. Eliminate any unnecessary boxes or lines that split the data. Use white space to help people perceive and digest your material clearly by avoiding visual clutter to provide better data reporting and visualization.
6. Use the Predictable Pattern for Layouts:
Human eyes are capable of detecting clues that aid in the comprehension of critical information. You normally catch patterns, and if they are arbitrary or do not make sense, it might be difficult to understand what the image is trying to say. To learn about human thought, we must portray facts in a way that makes sense to viewers, whether it is sequential or numerical.
If you don’t use graphs, make sure the chart is visible and the links between data are evident. Allowing your visitors to become confused is not one of its best practices, and users can rapidly transition from one point to another.
7. Combining Motion and Interactive Components to Keep your Audience Interested:
Your audience can be more engaged and your presentation’s visual appeal may be increased by using interactive and motion elements. Its main goal is to maintain your audience’s attention on what you’re saying, which might be difficult to do in a dull presentation with dull slides.
- Animations can be utilized to emphasize a particular design element or draw attention to important data points.
- Charts and graphs, on the other hand, enable your audience to engage with the data and gain a better knowledge of the information you’re presenting.
8. Apply Text Carefully and Intentionally:
Since the human eye is initially pulled to the top or upper left corner, place all of the crucial information there. Possessing three or four views on a single dashboard is among the best practices. Because too many graphs will make it difficult to understand. If you’re using a lot of filters, group them and add a border around them to make them stand out.
9. Select the Appropriate Graphs and Charts for the Task:
Because one size does not fit all, carefully analyze and select the correct format for your visualization that will best tell the narrative and answer crucial questions created by data—all while remaining connected to your core objective. Combining similar charts may sometimes be beneficial; it can encourage deeper research, which leads to useful business insights and solutions that drive action.
Here are the popular formats:
- Bar charts:
Bar charts, one of the most popular types of data visualization, are helpful for contrasting groupings within a single statistic. When you have data that can be categorized into multiple different categories, they are extremely helpful.
- Bullet charts:
By comparing measurements, bullet charts, which were developed to replace dashboard gauges, meters, and thermometers, show progress made toward a goal.
The line graph combines a great deal of different data points and shows them as one continuous path. There is a straightforward approach for visualizing changes in one number about another as a consequence.
- Histograms and box plots:
Box plots and histograms can be used to evaluate categories and show how your data is organized.
- Maps:
Maps are an obvious choice for visualizing regional topics or assisting with geographical exploration.
- Pie charts:
Pie charts aren’t as useful on their own, but they can be used to provide insight into other visualizations.
10. Choose the Right Color Theme to Make Visualization More Effective:
Color is crucial as it can make a lot of points without using words. However, using color effectively necessitates a delicate balance; keeping things simple is optimal. Information may be emphasized and amplified using color. While using only one hue or too many shades of it may make the data merge, applying too many colors will generate chaos.
To help the viewer understand the information more quickly, use colors that are intuitive to them. Red denotes heat, blue denotes cold when dealing with temperatures. Additionally, the way you use color has a big influence on data visualization development. It is helpful to highlight data disparities or to show consistency across values.
Wrapping It Up:
At the heart of data visualization is the creation and design of a presentation based on meaningful data points that tells a story worth telling. Aside from the suggestions we’ve provided, there’s a lot more to learn. If you apply the correct principles and practices, data visualization will alter the way your firm manages data, resulting in process improvement throughout the organization. It can assist you in telling a story with your data and making incomprehensible figures more understandable.