Turn A Good Viz Into A Great One

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Data Viz UX, Episode 4

Four weeks ago, I promised to show you how to apply some UX (User Experience) tips to keep your viewers awake, engaged, and wielding data from the data visualizations (aka data viz) you create. So far, I’ve covered the first three steps: knowing your users, choosing the right data, and choosing the right type of visualization (chart, map, graph). The next leg of the journey is to turn a good viz into a great one.

There are lots of suggestions out there about what makes a visualization easy to read and engaging. I’ve culled them down to a list of ten. Each of my “10 Data Viz Suggestments” appears in a previous tip. Please follow the links below to learn more.

  1. Encode Thoughtfully

  2. Consider Your Axes

  3. Highlight What’s Important

  4. Show Order

  5. Clarify With Color

  6. Simplify

  7. Flatten Your Data

  8. Compare Side-By-Side

  9. Zoom In

  10. Stick With A Table (Sometimes)

Stay tuned for the last step in the UX process: testing the viz.

See other data tips in this series for more information on how to effectively visualize and make good use of your organization's data.