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AlexanderSkorka-February2016

UsingIcons(InstantInfographics)–DataVisualisation’snextleapinevolution!Aesthetics,clarityandexpressivenessarethecornerstonesofsuccessfulvisualisation.Sincetheirinventionin1786byScotsmanWilliamPlayfair,barcharts,piecharts,andlinegraphshavebecomethestandardindatavisualisation.Ifusedproperly,theyofferclaritybut,alltoooften,thisisattheexpenseofaestheticsandexpressiveness.Alongsidetheresultsoftheactualdataanalysis,attractivevisualisationscanhelpyoutomakemoreinformeddecisions.Communicatingcriticalinformationtotheintendedtargetgroupisessential.Dataanalysisisnolongerreservedsolelyforbusinessanalystsasagrowingnumberofstakeholdersisdemandingactionableinformation.Analyticalandmarketingknowledge,whichisoftenonlyavailableinlimitedcircumstances,requirestheclearandsimplevisualpresentationofcomplexissues.Atthesametime,modernmediaaresettingnewstandardsininfotainment,againstwhichmoderndashboardsmustbemeasured.It'snotsurprisingthatanincreasingnumberofcompaniesareplacingmoreandmorevalueonprofessionalinformationdesigns.TheresultsofacurrentstudybytheBARCconsultationandmarketresearchinstituteshowthatmorethanthree-quartersofthecompaniesinterviewed(78percent)rateinformationdesignas'important'or'veryimportant'.Takingthesefactsintoconsiderationitiscrucialtocometogripswiththedifferentoptionsofdatavisualisation.ClassicformsofdatavisualisationCharts,apresentationformwhichissupportedbyalmostalldashboardapplications,arestillthemostwidelyusedformofdatavisualisation.Theyofferonedecisiveadvantage:theyhelpyouvisualiseproportions.Noticeableanomaliesareeasilyrecognised.Theimportanceofindividualpartialaspectsisclearlyvisibleandtrendscanbeidentifiedimmediately.However,theanswerstoquestionssuchas"Whatinformationisbeingpresentedhere?Whatexactlyisbeingcompared,whatpartialaspectsareshown?"onlyspringtotheobserver'smindafterintensivescrutiny.Inthecaseofcomplexpresentationswithalotofdatapoints,attentionissplitastheeyemustdartbetweenthechartitself,thelabelsonthe

axesandthelegend.Theresult?Manyusersfocusonindividualanomaliesonlyandfindithardtoseethebigpicture.Inaddition,amisuseofcolourcanconfusetheusersanddistractthemfromrevealingrelevantinsights.

Figure1:Chartsvisualiseproportionsbutitisdifficulttoseewhatthechartisallaboutataglance.Infographicshavebeenpartofthevisualisationmethodforsometimenow.Theirstrengthliesshowingtheoverallcontextinagraphicallyappealingandclearmanner.Infographicsillustrateconceptsandcoherenciesbyusingdifferenttechniques.Theviewerisabletounderstandataglancewhatthevisualisallaboutandhowindividualpartialaspectsarerelated.Thevisualisationoftheassociateddatatakesabackseatandfiguresarebroadlyshownastext.

Figure2:Infographicshelptheviewerstoorientatethemselvesquickly.Unfortunately,theactualvisualisationofthedataand,withit,thevisualisationofproportions,isoftenlost.Thischangedpriorityiscausedbyanever-increasinggroupofstakeholderswhopossesslittletonoknowledgeofthesubjectoranalysismethods,butwhomusthowevermakedecisionsbasedonfacts.

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Thistargetgrouprequiresanappealingandeasytounderstandinformationdesign.Theywanttounderstandwhat'sgoingonquickly.Insteadoftraditionalcharts,attractiveandinformalgraphicsarerequired.Manystakeholderssufferfrominformationoverload,meaningtheinformationmustbepresentedinacompellingway.Themorevisuallyappealinginformationispresented,themoreapersonislikelytoengagewithit.Diagramsandinfographicsaremergingtogethertobecomeanewtypeofvisualisation:"InstantInfographics".Mergingthebestofbothvisualisationtechniquesintoone,new,moderninformationdesignisalogicalstepforward.Ifyoucombinebothmannersofthinking,yougetinstantInfographics.Iconsallowbothconceptsandproportionstobevisualisedattractivelyandinaneasytounderstandway.Inaddition,memoryretentionisincreased.Evenifpeoplerarelycomeintocontactwiththisinformation,theywillrememberwhatthey'veseenforlonger.

Figure3:Ontheonehand,thesymbolsizeillustratestheproportionsandaffordstheviewerwithaquickrésuméofstrengthsandweaknesses.Ontheotherhand,thesymbolsonthecolumnlabelssupportthereadersbyallowingthemtoquicklyunderstandwhat'sallabout.Goodinformationdesignshouldnotonlysafeguardusersfromcontent-relatedmistakes,itshouldalsomaketheirworkeasier.Manydashboardstendtopacktoomuchinformationinajumbleofchartsandtexts,whichhasanegativeeffectonintelligibilityandeaseofinterpretation.Thesearetwoaspectswhichareessentialforextrapolatingeffectivemeasures.Thesheeramountofinformationmakesitdifficultforviewerstounderstandandtodecidewhenandwheretheyshouldact.Goodinformationdesign,therefore,guidestheuserthroughtheinformation.Onewayisthecorrectuseofcolour,e.g.:atraffic-lightsystemishelpfulwhenclassifyingthings.Theviewernolongerhastoconsiderwhetheravalueobtainedisturningoutwellorbadlyandwhetheritisnecessarytoact.

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Pleasebeawareofanoftenunderestimatedproblem.Fivepercentofthepopulationfindsithardtotellthedifferencebetweenredandgreenandhave,therefore,aconditioncommonlyknownasred-greencolourblindness.Alongsidethis,thereareapproximatelytwentyothervariantsofcolourblindness,whichcanmakeitdifficultfortheaffectedusertointerpretachart.Thenewgenerationofinfographicscanhelpthesepeople.Comparethefollowingpresentationvariants.Thesameinformationwillbepresentedeachtime,yettheinformationdesignusedwillbedifferent.Thescoperangesfromtheclassiccharttothemoderninstantinfographic.1.Iconsizevariesdependingonthevalue(figureontheright)

2.Iconsizeandcolourconformtotherelevantvalue(figureontheright)

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82% 76% 63%

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82% 76% 63%

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82% 76% 63%

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3.Iconispartiallyfilledcorrespondingtoeachvalue(figureontheright)

4.Iconshapeandcolourchangesdependingoneachvalue(figureontheright)

Asalways,thecorrectmixmakesthedifference.Goodinformationdesignmakesuseoftheentirerangeofpossibilities.Whereasinfographicspresentcentralkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs)inaneye-catchingandeasytounderstandmanner,chartsaremoresuitableforvisualisinglargeamountsofdata.Abouttheauthor

AlexanderspentmorethanthreeyearsworkingasheadoftechnicaloperationsatTNSGermanymanagingtheentireproductionchainfromdatacollectingtoinformationdelivery.Priortothat,heservedasamemberofthemanagementboardatKantarHealthheadingtheoperationalunitsaswellasmarketresearchteams.Hestartedhisprofessionallifeasamanagingdirectorofaserviceandtrainingproviderforvisualcommunication,datavisualization,andpresentationdesign.Assuch,heishighlyexperiencedinthemarketresearchindustryandanexpertininformationvisualizationanddelivery.InhisroleasChiefEvangelistofDapresyGrouphehelpscustomerstomakethemostoutofDapresy’sproductsbybothcreatingsolutionsbasedontheDapresyproductportfolioandconsultingcustomersonhowtotransformdataintoimpactandmaximizeoutcomes.

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