Designing Effective Briefs and Graphics

NCSL Fiscal Analyst Seminar

October 11, 2018

Portland, Oregon

Kate Watkins

Chief Economist

Colorado Legislative Council

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Presentation Overview

• Five pathways to effectiveness

Art and ‘theory’ of information visualization

• Information visualization tools and resources

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Evidence is evidence, whether words, numbers, images,

diagrams, still or moving. It is all information after all.- Edward Tufte (2006: 83)

Source: Charles Joseph Minard (1869), reproduced in Tufte’s (2001) The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.

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Source: Charles Joseph Minard (1864), reproduced in Tufte’s (2001) The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.4

Five pathways1 to effective briefs and graphics

1) Simplify complexity

2) Know your audience

3) Build credibility

4) Maximize visual appeal

5) Leverage others

1While not exhaustive, these pathways provide a good start.5

Simplify complexity

Step one: Become an expert.

Know the information well enough to be able to identify and explain complicated elements.

Anticipate questions and build answers into you your work.

Step two: Simply let the information speak.

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Simplify complexity

Put the bottom line first.

Get to the point.

Eliminate unnecessary information.

Get rid of extraneous words and ‘chart junk’.

Provide references and links to other resources.

Tell a story.

Lead your audience through topic sentences and visuals.

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Get to the point

Eliminate unnecessary information

Tell a story

Safe Baby Handling Tips by David Sopp & Kelly Sopp

Simplify complexity

Get to the point

Eliminate unnecessary information

Tell a story

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Organizing an Effective Briefing

Summary. Answer the question first.

Topic sentence. Supporting documentation.1

Topic sentence. Supporting documentation.2

Topic sentence. Supporting documentation.2

1,2Footnotes for those who like digging into the weeds.

11https://www.wsj.com/articles/going-going-gone-banksy-artwork-shreds-itself-after-sale-1538827181

Get to the point

Summary up front, followed by supporting

information

Visual explanation

Know your audience

Who is your audience?

Novice Expert

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CEO Uber Geek

Exploratory: Provide information for exploration.

Explanatory: Lead your audience to a conclusion.

What are their needs?

Expertise

Time/Interest

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Know your audience2

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Chart illiteracy

or

The wrong chart?

Know your audience2

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Build credibility

Give your audience the tools to chart their own adventure

• Ask what your audience wants, but provide them with what they need to be informed

• Cite your sources

• Annotate: embed helpful documentation and provide links to supporting resources

• Hand over the source data

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Writing and consuming information is a moral act for both the

author and audience. We must appraise information for its

quality, relevance, integrity. (Paraphrased from Tufte 2006: 83)

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Leonardo da Vinci, The Bones and Muscles of the Arm (1510-1511). 16

‘Mapped pictures’ provide information through annotation,

composition, evidence, instruction, and inspiration (Tufte 2006)

Simply let the information speak.

Source: Darrell Huff’s (1954) How to Lie with Statistics. Illustrations by Irving Geis.

Build credibility: Tell a true story3

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Simply tell an effective and true story

Anticipate chart illiteracy.

Lead your audience visually, while allowing information to speak for itself.

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60

70

2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018

Data source: Institute for Supply Management.

Manufacturing Activity Continues to Expand

Manufacturing

Diffusion Index

Business Activity

Contracting

Expanding

Source: Charles Joseph Minard (1869), reproduced in Tufte’s (2001) The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.

Maximize visual appeal4

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How do we achieve ‘graphical excellence’?

Simplify: Eliminate extraneous details (‘chart junk’)

Tell a story: Use color, not texture

Composition: Alignment, balance are key

When guiding the eye, everything matters

Maximize visual appeal4

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Maximize Visual appeal: Simplify4

Eliminate ‘chart junk’

Maximize the data-ink ratio

Data-ink ratio = Ink used on data

Total ink used

Sparkline

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Maximize Visual appeal: Simplify4

Eliminate ‘chart junk’

Maximize the data-ink ratio

Remove grid lines, other junk,unless it adds value

Image reproduced from Tufte (2001: 113). 22

Maximize Visual appeal: Simplify4

Eliminate ‘chart junk’

Maximize the data-ink ratio

No ducks allowed

Image reproduced from Tufte (2001: 117).

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Eliminate ‘chart junk’

Maximize the data-ink ratio

No ducks allowed

Image reproduced from the Professional Business Development website (pbi-now.com).

Maximize Visual appeal: Simplify

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The eye predictably reads left to right.

Color and emphasis draw the eye.

Left aligning content frames and tidies its visual appeal.

Maximize Visual appeal: Alignment is Key4

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2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018

Data source: Institute for Supply Management.

Manufacturing Activity Continues to Expand

Manufacturing

Diffusion Index

Business Activity

Contracting

Expanding

Alignment is key.

The eye predictably reads left to right.

Left aligning content frames and tidies its visual appeal.

Maximize Visual appeal: Color4

Color and emphasis draw

the eye elsewhere.

Color is superior to texture.

The moiré effect is not your friend.

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Avoid red-green color combinations

Maximize Visual appeal: Color4

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Use contrast

Source: https://colormax.org/color-blind-test/

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Best Practices: Color

2) Be aware of the emotion and culturally-specific connotations of color

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Be mindful of color connotations

(Color can make or break your visualization)

Maximize Visual appeal: Composition, Balance & Symmetry4

Jan Van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece (1432).

For more on composition, visit: https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-balance-in-art-182423 29

For more on art theory, visit: http://gracierb.blogspot.com/p/teaching-art.html

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Maximize Visual appeal: Composition, Balance & Symmetry

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For more on art theory, visit: http://gracierb.blogspot.com/p/teaching-art.html 31

Maximize Visual appeal: Composition, Balance & Symmetry

Leverage others

Peer review and pilot test your visualizations and briefings with others.

We see things differently.

Visualizations, like clothing, go out of style…

…sometimes we need the fashion police to tell us when we’ve gone out of style.

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The Colorado State BudgetFY 2017-18: $28.8 Billion1

Data source: Joint Budget Committee Staff. 1FY 2017-18 budget operating appropriatins prior to supplementals.

General Fund

36.8%

Cash

Funds 27.2%

Federal Funds 30.0%

Reappropriated

Funds 6.0%

Health Care 34.5%

K-12 Education 19.4%

HigherEducation 14.9%

Human Services 7.1%

Spending by DepartmentFund SourceCorrections 5.5%

Five* pathways to effective briefs and graphics

1) Simplify complexity

2) Know your audience

3) Build credibility

4) Maximize visual appeal

5) Leverage others

*While not exhaustive, these pathways provide a good start.

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Writing and consuming information is a moral act for both the

author and audience. We must appraise information for its

quality, relevance, and integrity. (Paraphrased from Tufte 2006: 83)

Some Information Visualization Tools

Licensed, for Purchase

• ArcGIS (advanced mapping)

• Adobe Creative Cloud (graphic design)

• Tableau (interactive data visualization)

• Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint for information visualization)

Open Source

• Tableau Public (interactive data visualization)

• R (advanced data visualization, statistical analysis)

• Google Charts

• Google Maps

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Books for Inspiration & Guidance

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Websites for Inspiration

Edward Tufte’s Bloghttp://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/

Tableau Visual Gallery

http://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/gallery

Other Inspirations

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/

http://www.visualcapitalist.com/

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