A few weeks ago, I ran a storytelling with data workshop for the IMPACT Planning Council in Milwaukee. It was a fun session (hosted by the School of Public Health at the University of Wisconsin, which is housed by a beautifully renovated former Pabst brewery building) with a super engaged group (plus my mother-in-law in attendance!). Last week, IMPACT shared with me a reconstruction of the workshop using the tweets published live during the event.

I found this pretty cool, so thought I'd share the bite sized morsels from my session here.

Cole Nussbaumer, kenote speaker at data viz wrkshp takes podium
Nussbaumer blogs about data viz at Storytelling w Data
Cole says understanding the situational context of the data is key
Who do you want to communicate to? What do you want to communicate? How can you communicate?
Keep in mind what background info is relevant? What sound bite could you use to clearly articulate ur message? No more than 3 minutes
Ur big idea must be a complete sentence that tells the audience abt the context of ur data
V imp to choose the right way to display ur data. Sometimes plain text is best option
Table or graph? Tables interact w our verbal system. Graphs interact w our visual system
Line graphs are for continuous data, usually across time. Bar graphs are for noncontinuous data
Bar charts shld always start from zero
Exploding 3D pie charts misrepresent the relationships btwn the sections. Don't use them. Our eyes have difficulty judging size of areas
There are many diff types of graphs. Always use the type that makes the most sense for your data and audience.
@laurynbb:And kill the 3D bar chart - data viz wkshp “@planningcouncil: Give your graph to a friend to see if they understand it”
You know you've achieved perfection in design when you have nothing more to take away
Gestalt principles of visual perception: proximity, similarity, enclosure, closure, continuity, connection
Eliminate clutter from your graphs.
Get rid of anything that makes the audience work . Make it easy for audience to understand the point you're trying to make with the data
@HelenBaderFound: RT @planningcouncil: Eliminate clutter from your graphs. #zentweets
To focus attention where you want it, understand how ppl perceive info
@HelenBaderFound:Follow @planningcouncil for tips on presenting your nonprofit's data, beautifully and effectively.
Nussbaumer recommends Stephen Few's book as a good resource on data viz
Ppl can keep abt 4 pieces of data in their memory at one time so design your graphs accordingly
@HelenBaderFound Thx for following our live tweets of Cole Nussbaumer & Thx for your support of this wrkshp!
@laurynbb: VizComm tenets “@planningcouncil: You have 8 secs to get audience's attention”
The most effective data viz will still fall flat if you don't have a story to go with it.
Stories stick in our minds in a different way than facts do.
Use text to highlight key points in your graph
Plot, twists and ending are components of your data story. If there's no twist - if it's not interesting, don't share the data
Tactics for making story clear: horizontal & vertical logic, repetition, reverse storyboarding, fresh perspective
Your graph is the evidence that backs up your story
Cole says Excel can be used to make good graphs. It's not the default charts but a good user can make excel work
Light backgrounds on graphs are easier on the eyes (and ink) than dark backgrounds
Any time you cut out info be sure to think abt what context you might be losing
Everything in a data viz (text & visuals) needs to reinforce the same message
Rather than hope the data will tell you what it's about, be clear what your question is & then organize the data to answer the question
Cole asks what distinction do you make btwn data viz and infographics?
Infographics came out of journalism but have changed over time so now they are more glitz than data
Just putting in a graph or infographic in to fill white space is not a good reason
Donut graphs are even more difficult to read than pie charts; don't use them

One of the makeovers we discussed in the workshop.

@MilwaukeeStat:@planningcouncil and @storywithdata – thanks for putting on the best data viz gathering Milwaukee has ever seen. Well done!
@storywithdata Thanks, Cole, for inspiring 50 Milwaukee data geeks today with your advice on good data visualization!
@storywithdata:@planningcouncil Thank you for the invitation to speak to your group - an engaged and lively bunch - I had a fantastic time with you all!

Another visual makeover from the workshop.

The full PDF (that puts my session back into the context of the rest of the afternoon, including a brief segment by Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett) can be found here. Big thanks to the IMPACT Planning Council for hosting the event and allowing me to post their recap here!

storytelling with data in 140 characters or less

student makeovers

the right amount of detail