The document discusses using visuals to present information and stories in data. It explains that visuals help make ideas more complete, find relationships, make points vivid, emphasize key material, and present information compactly. Different types of visuals like tables, charts, graphs and flowcharts are best suited for certain types of stories and relationships. Design conventions like clear titles, labels, legends and sources should be followed. The best visual depends on whether the reader needs exact values or to see relationships and changes. Matching the right visual to the story is important for effective communication.

1. USING VISUALS
WEEK 6

2. WHY DO
WE NEED
TO USE
VISUALS?
TO SEE THAT IDEAS ARE PRESENTED
COMPLETELY
TO FIND RELATIONSHIPS.
TO MAKE POINTS VIVID.
TO EMPHASIZE MATERIAL THAT
MIGHT BE SKIPPED IF IT WERE BURIED
IN PARAGRAPH.
TO PRESENT MATERIAL MORE
COMPACTLY AND WITH LESS
REPETITION
TO FOCUS ON INFORMATION THAT
DECISION MAKERS NEED.

3. SELECT VISUALS FOR
STORIES.

4. WHAT ARE STORIES, AND
HOW DO I FIND THEM?
 A STORY IS SOMETHING THAT IS HAPPENING, ACCORDING
TO THE DATA.
 TO FIND STORIES, LOOK FOR RELATIONSHIPS AND
CHANGES.
NOT A STORY: U.S. SALES, 1999-2005
POSSIBLE STORIES:
FORTY PERCENT OF OUR SALES WERE TO NEW
CUSTOMERS
GROWTH WAS GREATEST IN THE SOUTH
SALES INCREASED FROM 1999-2005

5. TO FIND
STORIES
Focus on a topic
Simplify the data on that topic and convert
the numbers to simple, easy-to-
understand units.
Look for relationships and changes.
•E.g. Do men and women have the same attitudes?
•Look for changes over time.
•Look for items that can be seen as part of the
same group.
•For example, to find stories about TV ads, you
might group ads in the same product
category – ads for cars, for food, for beverages.

6. PAIRED GRAPHS TELL A COMPLEX
STORY

8. DOES IT MATTER
WHAT KIND OF
VISUAL I USE?
• YES! THE VISUAL MUST MATCH THE
KIND OF STORY.
• USE TABLES WHEN THE READER
NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY
EXACT VALUES.

9. USE A CHART OF A GRAPH
WHEN YOU WANT THE
READER TO FOCUS ON
RELATIONSHIPS.
To compare a part to the
whole, use a pie chart.
Line graph is used to show
trends over time or the
relationship between two
variables.
Bar charts are useful in a
variety of situations: to
compare one item to
another, to compare items
over time, and to show
correlations.
Flowchart illustrates a
sequence of events from
start to finish; it is
indispensable when
illustrating processes,
procedures, and sequential
relationships.

10. WHAT DESIGN
CONVENTIONS
SHOULD I FOLLOW?
1. A TITLE THAT TELLS THE STORY THAT THE
VISUAL SHOWS.
2. A CLEAR INDICATION OF WHAT THE DATE ARE.
3. CLEARLY LABELED UNITS.
4. LABELS OR LEGENDS IDENTIFYING AXES, COLORS,
SYMBOLS, AND SO FORTH.
5. THE SOURCE OF THE DATA, IF YOU CREATED THE
VISUAL FROM DATA SOMEONE ELSE GATHERED
AND COMPILED.
6. THE SOURCE OF THE VISUAL, IF YOU REPRODUCE
A VISUAL SOMEONE ELSE HAS CREATED.

11. TABLES
- Use tables only when you want the audience
to focus on specific values/numbers.
 Use common, understandable units and
clearly identify them: dollars,
percentages, price per ton, and so on.
 Express all items in a column in the same
unit and round off for simplicity.
 Label column headings clearly and use
subheads if necessary.
 Separate columns or rows with lines or
extra space to make the table easy to
follow. Make sure the intended reading
direction – down the columns or across
the rows – is obvious too.
 Don’t cram so much information into a
table that it becomes difficult to read.
 Document the source of data using the
same format as a text footnote.

12. CHOOSE THE VISUAL TO FIT THE
STORY
2000 2002 2004
Northeast 10.2 10.8 11.3
South 7.6 8.5 10.4
Midwest 8.3 6.8 9.3
West 11.3 12.1 13.5
Totals 37.4 38.2 44.5
Millions of dollars
U.S sales reach $44.5 million
Tables show exact values.

13. LINE GRAPHS
• Are commonly used to show trends
over time or the relationship
between two variables.
• Label both horizontal and vertical
axes.
• When time is variable, put it on the
horizontal axes.
• Avoid using more than three
different lines on one graph. Even
three lines may be too many if they
cross each other.
• Avoid using perspective. Perspective

14. LINE CHARTS COMPARE ITEMS OVER TIME OR
SHOW DISTRIBUTION OR CORRELATION.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005
Sales increased from 1995 to 2005.

15. PIE CHARTS
• Use a pie chart only when you are
comparing one segment to the whole.
• Start at 12 o’clock with the largest
percentage or the percentage you want
to focus on. Go clockwise to each
smaller percentage or to each
percentage in some other logical order.
• Make the chart a perfect circle.
Perspective circles distort the data.
• Limit the number of segment to five or
seven. If you have more divisions,
combine the smallest or the least
important in a single category labeled
as ‘other’.
• Label the segment outside the circle.

16. PIE CHARTS COMPARE A COMPONENT TO THE
WHOLE.
Forty percent of our 2002 sales were to new
customers.
New Customers
Old Customers
Old
Custome
rs
60%
New Customers
40%

17. BAR CHARTS
• Are useful in a variety of situations: to
compare one item to another, to compare
items over time, and to show correlations.
• Order the bars in a logical in a logical or
chronological order.
• Put the bars close enough together to
make comparison easy.
• Label both horizontal and vertical axes.
• Put all the labels inside the bars or
outside them.
• Make all the bars the same width.
• Use different colors for different bars
only when their meanings are different.
• Avoid using perspective. Perspective
makes the values harder to read and

18. BAR CHARTS COMPARE ITEMS OR SHOW
DISTRIBUTION OR CORRELATION
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
West
South
Midwest
Northeast 11%
38%
12%
19%
Growth was greatest in the South.

19. FLOWCHARTS AND
ORGANIZATION
CHARTS
• FLOWCHART ILLUSTRATES A SEQUENCE OF
EVENTS FROM START TO FINISH; IT IS
INDISPENSABLE WHEN ILLUSTRATING
PROCESSES, PROCEDURES, AND
SEQUENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS.
• ORGANIZATIONAL CHART ILLUSTRATES
THE POSITIONS, UNITS, OR FUNCTIONS IN
AN ORGANIZATION AND THE WAYS THEY
INTERRELATE.

20. CAN I USE CLIP ARTS?
• Use color carefully.
• Avoid decorative clip art in memos
and reports.
• Use no more than five colors when
colors have meanings.
• Be aware that colors on a computer
screen always look brighter than
same colors on paper.

21. WHAT ELSE DO I
NEED TO CHECK
FOR?
• Be sure that the visual is accurate
and ethical.

22. MATCHING
VISUALS WITH
STORIES

23. WHAT VISUALS WOULD MAKE IT
EASIEST TO SEE IN EACH OF THE
FOLLOWING STORIES?
Canada buys 20%
of U.S exports.
Undergraduate
enrollment rises,
but graduate
enrollment
declines.
Open
communication
ranks number
one in reasons to
take a job.
The production
of paper
Women and
men’s life
expectancy
The percentage
of expatriates in
Singapore’s
population
Exact number of
population
growth per state.
The rise of
imported
products
(clothing, foods,
etc.) in Malaysia
in 2010.
The inclining
number of
tourists coming
to Malaysia from
2000-2014.

24. HOW WOULD YOU INTERPRET
VARIABLES IN;
Line graph Bar chart Pie chart
Table
Flow chart
• (process, man-
made or natural)

25. VISUAL STORY TELLING
4D
•distil to the most critical insights
distil
•display data using the best visualization type to
showcase your insights.
display
•declutter and remove any distracting or unnecessary
components from your visualization.
declutter
•direct your audience to the components of your
visualization that support your key insights.
direct