start with… audience  who’s the data display for? who will be looking at, reading, and interpreting it? purpose  what does your audience want? what do you want from them? what’s the most crucial point you need to convey with the particular data display you’re working on? context  in what sort of larger document will your audience experience your data display?

physical context  will they use the document onscreen (e.g., computer, PDA, cell phone)? in print (e.g., hard-bound document, spiral-bound document, fold-out, pamphlet)? attitudinal context  will they be frustrated? pissed off? desperate? inquisitive? use context  will they be using this document at work? in their home? for leisure? to achieve a specific task

always keep in mind… arrangement emphasis contrast repetition alignment proximity

anatomy of a chart Average Precipitation (Inches) Average Low (Degrees F) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Average Precipitation (Inches) Average Low (Degrees F) Axes axis x (value axis) axis y (category axis)

Data Points

Trend Lines or Plots

Average Precipitation (Inches) Average Low (Degrees F) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Labels

Average Precipitation (Inches) Average Low (Degrees F) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Title Weather Data for Cambridge, MA (source: Weather.com)

Average Precipitation (Inches) Average Low (Degrees F) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec font size in axis labels is too small for a presentation crossing ticks in corners are distracting (“chartjunk”) overlap of label with lines causes an info jumble Clutter

represent complex data in columns and rows or as an underlying grid to arrange information tables

show pieces of a whole; represent percentages Figure 2: Leading Causes of Death for Youth and Adults (2003) pie charts

used to represent one data group simple bar charts

used to represent more than one data group complex bar charts

used to plot interval data line graphs

used to plot data points scatter plots

organizational charts used to reflect/show hierarchy

follow spatial contours; used to geographically/spatially represent data data maps

data represented by pictures pictograms or pictographs

bad, bad data displays labels are almost impossible to read arrangement of information makes no sense

just because you can does not mean you should… 3D effects and arrangement completely obscure information flattened text is difficult to read and associate with the data

pie charts are used to show percentages, but there are no percentages here size of pies makes it difficult to interpret data

what’s the point? what is this telling us? if this chart is supposed to reveal trends in overall consumption, a pie chart should be used to reveal percentages if this chart is supposed to compare consumption across the week, a bar chart would work best

if this chart is supposed to reveal trends in overall consumption, a pie chart should be used to reveal percentages

if this chart is supposed to compare consumption across the week, a bar chart would work best

different types of plot lines (i.e., black line and red line) not explained equations clutter the chart is “Surveyor vs. RIPE” the title of the chart? if so, it should be in a different font face and size from the axis labels > there’s no contrast here to cue us in

bar chart is absolutely unnecessary scale is too large for data displayed

too much data!

how to lie with data displays large scales hide changes

drastic scaling emphases changes

level of detail can obscure or reveal important information

good, descriptive labels are crucial to reveal meaning and purpose

certain formatting options can visually overemphasize information

1.launch Microsoft Word 2.in a new document, select Insert  Picture  Chart 3.create displays for the following data: –the number of men and the number of women in this class –Available chairs and tables –Some way of combining the data to represent something (up to you) creating data displays

a few considerations for module 5… the tasks in this module are tricky—be sure to give yourself the time you’ll need to work on them refer back to this PowerPoint to make sure you’re using the correct display for your data make sure to title and label your data displays appropriately (Word, Excel, and whatever other applications you use might provide some template/help with this, but you might have to access deeper features to add labels not default-offered by the application) all five files are due uploaded to your wikispace page by class time on Tuesday March 15