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What Exactly is Happening in this 3D Chart?
When giving advice about chart styles, one of my friends likes to say “save 3D for the movies.” She’s right – research shows that 3D charts actually slow reader comprehension. I’ve long advocated for...
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Proper Placement of Chart Legends
In my dissertation study (probably the most boring four words to start any blog post), I saw a lot of evaluation reports that grouped all tables and graphs into the appendix. Tables, graphs, and other...
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How to Keep Parents in the Dark
Report card time in the Evergreen household! We have a kindergartener, so this is our first venture into decoding the marks representing his progress. Among other assessments, he’s given a standardized...
View ArticleThe Cost of Bad Design
The next time someone asks me how good data visualization actually contributes to a better bottom line, I’m going to retell this story. Some time ago, I sat in a meeting with 11 other people. We were...
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More Images: The Dissertation Breakdown
At this time last year I was putting the final touches on my dissertation manuscript and preparing for my defense. I looked at the extent of graphic design use in evaluation reports. I gathered about...
View ArticleBonus Post: Online Data Visualization and Reporting Classes
I’m taking my normal in-person speaking engagements online and you can come. I’ll be presenting one 90-minute class per month and repeating this entire series every 4 months. You’ll even get a sneak...
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Making Back-to-Back Graphs in Excel
Let’s say we’re interested in comparing how two groups – oh, teachers and principals – responded to a survey. One way to visually display that comparison would be a bar graph, where each question had...
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Before & After Slides: Stay on the Side of Simplicity
My friend, Kurt Wilson, and I just wrapped up a contract to revise a set of slides – and the graphs within – for a big international client I can’t name. Here I’ll walk through one of the original...
View ArticleHow Do I Fix the Alignment of the Labels in my Excel Graph?
I’m starting a new installment on my website – an Advice Column. I get random questions from lots of lovely people and I don’t mind taking a few minutes to answer but might as well share the advice,...
View ArticleHow Do I Visualize Data from a Table?
Hi Stephanie, I recently purchased your book (yay!) and will be doing an internal brown bag PD session with my coworkers to help revamp our reporting of findings. A lot of what we report out on is...
View ArticleHow a Dashboard Changes the Conversation
Presenting data effectively changes the kinds of conversations that can happen inside organizations. Better presentations shape an improved culture of decision-making. Let me tell you about a recent...
View ArticleVisualize Branching Questions with Nested Area Graphs
This, my friends, is a nested area graph. I got this idea from the smart people at Innovation Network, including my frequent copresenter in crime, Ann Emery. And it is super amazing at visualizing the...
View ArticleThe Most Important Question in Data Visualization
What’s your point? Seriously, that’s the most important question to ask when creating a data visualization. And its the first thing I ask a client who sends me data for redesign. What’s your point? The...
View ArticleVisualizing Tiny Trends Over Time
I say: Trend over time? You say: Line graph! I know, that’s how it goes, right? We are so used to seeing trends over time visualized as line graphs that even my 3rd grader can interpret them with ease....
View ArticleWhen I Don’t Mind Radar Graphs
Most of the time, I think radar graph are deployed wrong. They are designed to show percentages along several categories – like a bar graph could – but the axis are distributed around a central point,...
View ArticleHow a Dashboard Changes the Conversation
Presenting data effectively changes the kinds of conversations that can happen inside organizations. Better presentations shape an improved culture of decision-making. Let me tell you about a recent...
View ArticleVisualize Branching Questions with Nested Area Graphs
This, my friends, is a nested area graph. I got this idea from the smart people at Innovation Network, including my frequent copresenter in crime, Ann Emery. And it is super amazing at visualizing the...
View ArticleThe Most Important Question in Data Visualization
What’s your point? Seriously, that’s the most important question to ask when creating a data visualization. And its the first thing I ask a client who sends me data for redesign. What’s your point? The...
View ArticleVisualizing Tiny Trends Over Time
I say: Trend over time? You say: Line graph! I know, that’s how it goes, right? We are so used to seeing trends over time visualized as line graphs that even my 3rd grader can interpret them with ease....
View ArticleWhen I Don’t Mind Radar Graphs
Most of the time, I think radar graph are deployed wrong. They are designed to show percentages along several categories – like a bar graph could – but the axis are distributed around a central point,...
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