Data are ugly.

Opinions on data visualisation from the media agency world. Views expressed herein are of my own.

[wtf-viz]

There are some pretty WTF things going on at NodeXL http://nodexl.codeplex.com/

[porkchopriot]

Good god

[wtf-viz]

Venn-ception

HT @nickschurch

[porkchopriot]

Delivery is everything

This is especially true for bad news as it needn’t be a wholly negative experience. Arrange your message poorly and risk disheartening your audience. Sometimes it’s better to serve the dessert first.

Against every instinct to deliver cold, hard math we could instead recast a problem as an opportunity or to cushion the bad with a bit of good. Tone, flow and balance are key.

Above is an example of a presentation rearranged for a recent client meeting.

[thumbsupviz]

[porkchopriot]

Tiles belong on bathroom floors, not dashboards

Because it relies on proportionality to express relative size among categories, tile charts fail when there are simply too many to show, forcing the viewer to make inefficient judgements about two blocks each sitting in far flung corners of the map

If a data viz complicates more than it simplifies, then it’s a sure fail

[porkchopriot]

Data don’t make stories - you do

A sterling example of why data alone can’t be relied upon to deliver. Collect your facts, join the dots and stitch it all up with a story. Your audience will love it.

[porkchopriot]

Bump, bump, bump

Sometimes it’s just easier to leave the data out.

If it’s ranking you want to show, stick with the bump chart. You’ve all seen it before in one form or another, most likely in the context of sports or horse racing.

Clean and uncomplicated, the bump tells a simple story of winners and losers, furthering the agenda for whatever cause you need to champion.

[porkchopriot]

Data viz guys get bored, and we aren’t above taking a piss on Omniscope or Tableau for lolz. Playing with random data and kicking about settings is part of learning.

But to spend 90% of one’s time pimpin’ up a view, the sort that does nothing beyond playing up the aesthetics, is simply a waste of time. Experts (including the self-styled) who advocate this as best practice are simply irresponsible - I’m talking to you, Timo.

His advice to “get out there and introduce some eye candy”, advocating visual wow over focus and clarity - the very kind that obscures stories and brings about migraines - is immensely unhelpful to the business minded audience (though if intended as low art or whimsy as many books and infographics now feature I’m less inclined to object).

Clearly, that the most physically attractive among us can do with sloppy dress does not portend hope for the reverse. Can’t put lipstick on a pig, you know

Clarity and elegance has served me well thus far. Best angle for finesse, not visual mess.

[clientsfromhell]

How much extra do you charge for subliminal messages?

(via clientsfromhell)

Premium service

[porkchopriot]

When there’s just too much

Tables are fine but a wall of numbers does not a story make. Best not let the data talk - take control by speaking for the data.

Go the extra mile: sort, group, highlight and curate to spotlight the real stories. Cut the fat ruthlessly. Your audience would be grateful.

[porkchopriot]

Don’t just report, tell a story

When producing reports take into consideration the storyboard – that is, the sequence in which data and other elements appear. Communication experts generally agree that employing a (western) storytelling construct, executed verbally or visually, is best at committing material to your audience’s memory.

Check out this campaign debrief. The oscillation between good and bad news creates a sense of up and down, lending it bit of drama. This could serve as an interesting intro to an otherwise lengthy deck.

[porkchopriot]

Better than bars

Bar charts are awesome, but let’s aim for awesomer. Give them something they could steal with pride. Above is another anonymized before-and-after from actual client work.

Without sacrificing clarity the so called ‘bump’ chart offers a clever alternative. It conveys not only magnitude but also rank through relative positioning. Arranged this way the audience is left with nothing else to calculate or decipher, and that’s what data viz is all about.

[porkchopriot]

Where’s the gold?

Illustrations often don't speak for themselves, so use headlines to surface the message. The example above is inspired from real client work.

Why draw attention to the minority (30%) when the story sits in the majority (positive 70%). And pie charts can be greedy bastards, hogging up valuable real estate.

At the end of the day it's the nuggets of truth - or insight - that really matter. Take a quick pause next time and ask if ever more charts is the way forward.

[porkchopriot]

The evils of Excel

There’s a special place in hell for people who love 3D/tilted/exploded charts. Include them and risk cheapening a solid deck, and for a bad deck it’s like polishing a turd. Stop it - you’re trying too hard.

The reasons you’ve heard countless times: tilted pies are misleading in the depiction of shares; bars are hard to read against a third axis. Those stamped with a scarlet X above are also bad ideas. Resist the urge to over report and over zhuzh. Less is always more.

[porkchopriot]

Less is more

Our six golden rules for PowerPoint report design (which differs from presentations in that the latter affords space for curation and drama). The guiding principle behind this is simple: less is more.

Challenge yourself by condensing a 20 slide deck into just 5 - not as an exercise in cramming but one of thoughtful editing, trimming the non sequitur and merging bits where sensible. Toy with word choice and craft headlines so poignant that copy is simply unnecessary. Having the courage to revisit your own work is a laudable start.

[porkchopriot]

Seldom does educational meet entertaining in literature. Made to Stick is one of those gems. This is a book about effective interpersonal communication - with your boss, kids, congressman - to connect and influence for the purpose of good. Despite its classification as popular psychology it doesn’t at all read like a wonky management piece or preachy self-help book. In it are stories-a-plenty, with lessons for educators, politicians and even captains of industry. It is a reminder that storytelling has been the most effective means of propagating ideas and messages throughout human history. So why don’t we use it more often?

[porkchopriot]

Lipstick can’t fix ugly

Always watch for red herrings: 3 factoids here are about intensity of use while the last is about recruitment (in dark blue). The assertion here is that celebs can’t be loud mouths. I doubt that.

Does the use of men and women toilet icons also express gender split? We’re not sure.

Courtesy of informationisbeautiful.net, this a perfect example of where numbers and descriptions alone can be infinitely more informative than imagery. Without the helpful call outs I’d be required to do head math, and that would test my patience.

Color choice is the last issue: hues should befit the nature of data represented. ‘Dead’ Twitter accounts should be shadowy black; ‘loud mouths’ deserve a diva neon yellow. And what of the unexplained 20 light grays, the online Stasi? Fail.

[porkchopriot]

Web of confusion

Had you been my staff responsible for this monstrosity I’d straight fire you, punch you in the face, then fire you again.

These cluster-f text network diagrams leave the audience wondering what the key takeaway should be, though I can appreciate their usefulness in sparking discussions around brand or thought association. As a summary piece it could do with more clarity and packaging.

Grow a pair and offer up your interpretation or opinion on this - this is what your audience wants to know.