dale peet - golden rules of data visualisation
TRANSCRIPT
Golden Rules of Data Visualisation
About me
Dale PeetSenior Business Intelligence Analyst @ Cranewarehttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/dale-peet
What is the purpose of a chart?
?
What is the purpose of a chart?
To turn Data into Knowledge
What is the purpose of a chart?
Quickly!
Rule #1Avoid things our
eyes aren’t good at
What are our eyes bad at?
▪Areas▪Angles▪Lengths
Think you’re good at judging area?
Think you’re good at judging area?
So why would we be good with tree charts
Or area charts
Particularly area charts
We’re bad at judging lengths
We’re bad at judging lengths
Don’t use this chart!
3D is misleading
3D is misleading
3D is awful
3D is awful
Yellow: 4Red: 4Blue: 3
In fact Pie Charts are just terrible!
Which segment is biggest?Which is the second biggest?
The only useful Pie Chart!
So what are our eyes good at?
▪Relative Height▪Trend of a line– Is it going up or down.
So is this a good chart?
No!
Bike
s
Hel
met
s
Lock
s
Bike
s
Hel
met
s
Lock
s
Bike
s
Hel
met
s
Lock
s
Bike
s
Hel
met
s
Lock
s
Sum of Jan Sum of Feb Sum of March
Sum of April
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Yellow BikesSturdy LocksSmall HelmetsRed BikesMedium HelmetsLarge HelmetsBlue BikesBlack BikesBasic Locks
Rule #2Less is More
Less is more
1 second example
Jan Feb March April0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Red Bikes Blue Bikes Yellow Bikes Black Bikes
?
Jan Feb March April0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Red Bikes Blue Bikes Yellow Bikes Black Bikes
Sum of Jan Sum of Feb Sum of March Sum of April0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Bike Sales
Sum of Jan Sum of Feb Sum of March Sum of April0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
National Bike Sales per month for all
colours
Rule #3Always start at
the beginning
Sum of Jan Sum of Feb Sum of March Sum of AprilBikes
100
105
110
115
120
125
130
135
140
Bike Sales
Sum of Jan Sum of Feb Sum of March Sum of April0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Bike Sales
So should we do this?
Jan Feb Mar Apr May0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Quota Attainment
Think of a better way to show the data!
Jan Feb Mar Apr May
-4%
-3%
-2%
-1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
Variance from Quota
Rule #4Don’t go mad with
colour
Looks pretty right?
Sum of Jan Sum of Feb Sum of March Sum of April0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Yellow BikesRed BikesGreen BikesBlue Bikes
Not so pretty now…
Sum of Jan Sum of Feb Sum of March Sum of April0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Yellow BikesRed BikesGreen BikesBlue Bikes
8% of men are colour blind
Everyone loves traffic lights!
So how should we
use colour?
Much better
Sum of Jan Sum of Feb Sum of March Sum of April0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Yellow BikesRed BikesBlue BikesBlack Bikes
Use colour as a highlight
Jan Feb Mar Apr May0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Rule #5Think about
what decision the chart will
enable
?
Summary
▪ Avoid things our eyes aren’t good at▪ Less is more▪ Start at the beginning▪ Don’t go mad with colour▪ Think about what decisions the chart will enable