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Effective data visualization sketches should be executed quickly, should communicate information, and are meant to be exploratory.
Effective Data Visualization Sketches
- Executed quickly
- Communicate information
- Exploratory
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[MUSIC]
0:00
Way back in the first
stage of this course,
0:09
we covered four steps to go through
before starting a data visualization.
0:12
If you'll recall, those steps
are identifying your audience, deciding on
0:17
your story, double-checking your data,
and choosing the right amount of data.
0:21
Once you've completed these
steps, however,
0:28
it isn't always obvious what method of
visualization best tells your story.
0:30
In her article How to Sketch, Doodle, and
Draw Data Visualization Drafts by Hand,
0:36
author Ann K Emery presents a set
of data to sketch from in the form
0:42
of a chart of numbers representing
online, phone, and
0:46
in-person ticket sales by a performing
arts group over a five year period.
0:50
By itself, this chart isn't useful
to most audiences.
0:55
Large numbers are intimidating,
and being presented with so
1:00
many large numbers at once makes
it difficult to spot trends.
1:03
Emery then presents a variety of
visualization solutions as quick sketches,
1:08
using only a black marker and a blue one.
1:13
She starts with a line graph, allowing
viewers to examine the trends over time in
1:16
all three methods of ticket sales at once.
1:21
Those trends are made even more
obvious in Emery's slope graph sketch.
1:24
This sketch is for
audiences who require less detail and
1:29
more emphasis on the bigger picture.
1:32
For an audience interested in cumulative
sales rather than examining trends
1:36
over time, Emery's bar chart sketch
demonstrates that online sales are much
1:40
more common than in-person or phone sales.
1:45
Emery also tries presenting her
data as three separate sketches,
1:49
rather than combined into one graph.
1:53
This allows her to introduce new
information into her charts.
1:56
How did actual ticket sales compare
to the company's annual goals?
2:00
As a single chart,
this would look pretty cluttered.
2:05
But as three separate charts, this
visualization tells a meaningful story.
2:08
In her seventh sketch, Emery switches
her focus to parts of a whole.
2:13
In other words, what percentage of
total ticket sales came online,
2:18
versus in-person or over the phone?
2:23
These stacked columns
demonstrate the percentages for
2:26
each year from 2011 through 2015.
2:30
Again, if the audience were
interested only in cumulative sales,
2:33
a pie chart could represent each
ticket sale method as a percentage of
2:37
total sales,
without examining trends over time.
2:42
So what can we learn from these sketches?
2:46
Effective data visualization
sketches should be executed quickly.
2:49
Emery's sketches use simple tools,
two blue markers and
2:54
a black one, and
never get bogged down in tiny details.
2:58
Sketching is for getting ideas down
quickly, and for weighing the pros and
3:02
cons of different approaches.
3:06
We can worry about fine details once
we are in front of the computer.
3:09
Data visualization sketches also
need to communicate information.
3:13
It's not necessary to be great at
drawing to make useful sketches.
3:18
But your sketches do need to be drawn
cleanly and labeled clearly enough that
3:22
they could be presented to a client or
a teammate for discussion.
3:27
Finally, data visualization sketches
are meant to be exploratory.
3:32
Your first sketch will often be
the most obvious solution, but
3:37
innovations come from
pushing past that first idea.
3:41
I really like Emery's sketch
of three separate line charts,
3:46
in which the trends and ticket sales
are measured against annual goals.
3:49
But that was Emery's sixth sketch.
3:53
If she'd stopped at her first idea,
3:55
she would have missed out on a really
compelling and meaningful visualization.
3:57
For some really cool data
visualization sketches,
4:02
by the way, check out the work
of data journalist Mona Chalabi.
4:05
Chalabi's visualizations are
hand-drawn, and
4:09
many of them promote safe practices
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
4:12
Chalabi also takes advantage of
the peculiarities of sharing
4:17
visualizations on social media.
4:21
Such as this multi-panel Instagram
post comparing the response
4:23
times by the American government
to two major events of 2020.
4:28
The first case of COVID-19 on United
States soil, and the Black Lives Matter
4:33
protests erupting in the cities across the
country after the death of George Floyd.
4:38
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