Understand data visualization

Effective data visualizations

The beauty of visualizing

One of your biggest considerations when creating a data visualization is where you'd like your audience to focus.

Correlation and causation

Data grows on decision trees

Principles of design

The first is clear meaning, good visualizations clearly communicate their intended insight.

The second is a sophisticated use of contrast, which helps separate the most important data from the rest using visual context that our brains naturally look for.

The third essential element for effective visuals is refined execution. Visuals with refined execution include deep attention to detail, using visual elements like lines, shapes, colors, value, space, and movement.

Five phases of the design process

1. Empathize: Thinking about the emotions and needs of the target audience for the data visualization
2. Define: Figuring out exactly what your audience needs from the data
3. Ideate: Generating ideas for data visualization
4. Prototype: Putting visualizations together for testing and feedback
5. Test: Showing prototype visualizations to people before stakeholders see them

An example: online banking dashboard

Suppose you are an analyst at a bank that has just released a new dashboard in their online banking application. This section describes how you might explore this dashboard like a new user would, consider a user’s needs, and come up with ideas to improve data visualization in the dashboard. The dashboard in the banking application has the following data visualization elements:

• Monthly spending is shown as a donut chart that reflects different categories like utilities, housing, transportation, education, and groceries.
• When customers set a budget for a category, the donut chart shows filled and unfilled portions in the same view.