Innovation Network's Veena Pankaj and ORS Impact's Mel Howlett share dataviz products that can be used throughout the evaluation lifecycle, including theory of change, social network analysis, data placemat, strategic debrief deck, H-form, visual report deck, visual executive summary, and timeline.

1. Products throughout the Evaluation Lifecycle
Articulating Theory/Strategy
Product Purpose How Used Considerations
Theory of
Change
To create a visual that
articulates the linkages
between activities and hoped-
for outcomes for arriving at
social impact
Used to help align
clients and
stakeholders
around
expectations for
change,
particularly
realistic timing
and order of
outcomes
 Can be developed or revisited at any point during the
lifecycle, but is particularly helpful during strategy
development or mid-course review/correction
 Outcome maps allow for complexity that can be
limited by the logic model format
 Important to fit the level of detail and visualization to
the client’s purpose/needs (e.g., not too in the weeds)
Social
Network
Analysis
(SNA)
To provide a visual of how
different individuals or
organizations within a field are
connected. Can be used as a
vehicle to quickly understand
the characteristics of the field
and identify central “hub”
individuals or organizations
Used to illustrate
the connections
and relationships
between players
within a field
 Can be used in conjunction with other frameworks
(e.g. Center for Evaluation Innovation’s Advocacy
Strategy Framework) to identify skills gaps and
potential areas for targeted capacity building
 Can be used by funders to inform strategic
grantmaking decisions
Facilitated Processes for Sense-Making
Product Purpose How Used Considerations
Data
Placemat
To engage stakeholders in
interpreting the data
Used by evaluator
to facilitate a
debrief of
evaluation data
with client and/or
stakeholders
 Intended to be an interim product that includes
stakeholders in sense-making to build ownership
 Context, interpretations, and implications generated
by debrief participants should be used to inform final
reporting
 Particularly useful when there is a high amount of
quantitative data that needs interpretation
 Important to only include graphs/charts or other
visualizations, not narrative or evaluator
interpretations
Strategic
Debrief Deck
To facilitate a debrief/
discussion of key findings and
implications
Used with a client
and/or
stakeholders to
discuss
implications and
think critically
about, revise, and
improve the
strategy that is
being evaluated
 Highlights a prioritized subset of evaluation findings
that would benefit from discussion
 Can occur mid-point or at the end of a strategy to lift
up decision points most critical for the stage of work
 Evaluator plays an expert role vis a vis the data and
facilitates the discussion about what the data/findings
mean for the work moving forward
 Discussion can be used to inform a final deliverable

2. 2
H-Forms To capture the degree to
which stakeholders agree or
disagree with a selected
concept, and why. The process
of publically rating each
concept promotes discussion,
identifies areas of consensus
and divergence among
stakeholders, and allows for
the interpretation of
information
Used as a
facilitative tool to
gather and
document
stakeholder
opinions and
capture in-the-
moment
reflections
 Evaluator plays a facilitative role during this process
 H-Forms can be used to gather perspectives on
multiple concepts simultaneously
 Evaluator creates an H-Form display for each concept
being rated
 H-Forms should include a rating scale (preferably a 5-
point scale) with anchor points clearly labeled
 Dot stickers can be used to enable stakeholders to rate
each concept
Communication and Reporting to Stakeholders
Product Purpose How Used Considerations
Visual Report
Deck
To share findings from an
evaluation using data
visualization to enhance
understanding and promote
evaluation use
Used as a
communication
tool to share
evaluation
findings
 Visual reports take time to create
 Evaluator needs to follow basic dataviz guidelines
when creating a visual report
 Evaluator needs to ensure that the report is well-
organized
 Visual reports need to be a stand-alone product
Visual
Executive
Summary
To complement a traditional
evaluation report
Used as a
communication
tool to share
evaluation
findings with
audiences that
have a limited
appetite for data
or limited time
 Data are highly synthesized; should be no more than
1-2 pages
 Product may have a life of its own and should tell a
story of the highest priority data/findings
Timeline To chronologically document
events related to an initiative
or program to help
stakeholders identify patterns,
themes, and trends that may
otherwise be difficult to see;
Promotes a shared
understanding of the
contextual factors that may
have contributed to or
detracted from a desired
outcome
Used as a
communication
tool to help
stakeholders
digest multiple
levels of
information across
a specified
timeline
 Important to identify the purpose, audience, and time
horizon of the timeline at the beginning of the process
 Evaluator needs to be selective about the categories of
information included in the timeline
 Important to be purposeful in selecting the format and
visualization style for the timeline
 Timelines are especially relevant when evaluating
advocacy and policy change initiatives where
contextual elements play a role in shaping policy
outcomes