data visualization: cognitive psychology and design principles

Data Visualization

Cognitive Psychology and Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication

Dan SweetMarch 2012

Finance & Accounting Challenges

• Communication• Influence others more senior than you• Effectively and persuasively share analysis

However, the bulk of the people we work with are human. Humans are emotional creatures of habit and don’t always listen to reason.

F&A’s role

• Rational objective analysis• Accurate• Impartial• Dispassionate

ASSUMPTION: Objective Reality Exists

Does it?

Deciding on having surgery…

90% chance of survival

10% chance of death

Will you have the surgery?

Problem with humans

• Action preferred over accuracy• Ambiguity is inherent in life• Ambiguity ≈ Risk• Risk Negative Emotions• Motivation: Pursuing Gains or Avoiding Losses• Avoiding Losses > Pursuing Gains

Result is a tendency to make decisions on feelings instead of knowledge

“Human Based Visual Communication” presentation by Dan Young – Corporate CMK

Much Information Processing is:

•Holistic•Low Involvement•Habitual•Affect/Emotion Driven•Driven by past experiences

“Human Based Visual Communication” presentation by Dan Young – Corporate CMK“Human Based Visual Communication” presentation by Dan Young – Corporate CMK

Low Involvement Logic

Benefits of graphics that can be processed at this level:

• Fluent Processing Of Highly Accessible Information• Feelings of Familiarity• Approach Behavior

Key Question: Given the question and the broader communication context, is your graphic “message” intuitive?


Tell a Story

• Integrate information presented• Create a more concrete and familiar context • Lead to increased fluency/ease of processing the

information• Create relevant emotions/affect• Help link to existing knowledge

Make your message more memorable and likely to impact behavior


Design Principles

Data-Ink Ratio

2D vs. 3D

Why is 3D “harder”?

“Human Based Visual Communication” presentation by Dan Young – Corporate CMK

http://www.slideshare.net/janwillemtulp/data-visualization-5724069

Accessibility

UsingColor

Application

Redesigned credit: www.perpetualedge.com

Credits

Cognitive psychology elements from a Dan Young (Corporate CMK) presentation titled “Human Based Visual Communication” presented at the 2011 Statistics Symposium.

Books written by Edward Tufte and Stephen Few

Stephen Few’s site: perceptualedge.comhttp://www.slideshare.net/janwillemtulp/data-visualization-5724069

data visualization: cognitive psychology and design principles

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