Art Meets Insight: Eye Catching Visualization For Better Analytics By Paul Shapiro

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

ART MEETS INSIGHT EyeCatchingVisualizationForBetterAnalytics

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

ABOUT Paul Shapiro

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

WHAT IS DATA VISUALIZATION?

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

“Theuseofcomputer-supported,interactive,visualrepresentationsofabstractdatatoamplifycognition.”Source:ReadingsinInformationVisualization:UsingVisiontoThinkbyByStuartK.Card,JockD.Mackinlay,&BenShneiderman

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

IN OTHER WORDS…

USING VISION TO THINK

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

THIS IS THE DATA VISUALIZATION WE’RE TALKING ABOUT…

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS…

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

NUMBERS!

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

MARKETERS ARE INUNDATED WITH DATA

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

PROPERLY LEVERAGING DATA VISUALIZATION WILL…

1.  Enableyoutobetterconveyinformationtoyouraudienceandgetyourpointacrossfastandeffectively.

2.  Uncoverinsightsthatwouldotherwisegounnoticed.

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

VISUAL PERCEPTION IS POWERFUL!

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

Sources: http://bit.ly/2ayqCpV and http://bit.ly/2bhefeY

Most people read words at about 120 words per minute

(or 8.16 bits per second).

The brain receives 8.96mb of data from the eye every second.

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

PICTURE SUPERIORITY EFFECT

“Weareincredibleatrememberingpictures.Hearapieceofinformation,andthreedayslateryou'llremember10%ofit.Addapictureandyou'llremember65%.”

Source: http://www.brainrules.net/vision and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_superiority_effect

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

60-65% OF THE GENERAL POPULATION ARE

“VISUAL LEARNERS”

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_thinking#CITEREFDeza2009

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

“Thefirstandmaingoalofanygraphicandvisualizationistobeatoolforyoureyesandbraintoperceivewhatliesbeyondtheirnaturalreach”Source: The Functional Art by Alberto Cairo

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

MainWebsite Microsite

Male Female Male Female

542 694 491 613

634 829 764 551

AgeGroups

20-24

25-29

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

2 TYPES OF DATA VISUALIZATION

DISCOVERY STORYTELLING

•  Wedon’tyetknowwhatwe’relookingforyetinourdata.Datavisualizationhelpsusdetectpatterns.

•  Optimizedforpatterndiscovery.Typicallyshowsmoredata.

•  Wealreadyhaveastorytotellandwanttotellitmoreeffectively.

•  Morerefined,moredesigned,lessextraneousdatapresented.

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

OFTENTIMES, DISCOVERY TURNS INTO STORYTELLING

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

HOW TO GO ABOUT VISUALIZING YOUR DATA

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

STEP #1 Do you already know the story you’re trying to tell with your data?

NOLook at your data using “Shneiderman’s Mantra”

DISCOVERY

YES Determine what you would like to show and map to an appropriate chart type.

STORYTELLING

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

LOOKING AT YOUR DATA WITH SCHNEIDERMAN’S MANTRA

1. Overview

2. Zoom and Filter

3. Details on Demand

LET’S APPLY TO SEARCH TRENDS DATA PERTAINING TO SOME DIFFERENT SPORTS

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

OVERVIEW

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

ZOOM

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

FILTER

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

DETAILS ON DEMAND

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

STEP #1 Do you already know the story you’re trying to tell with your data?

NOLook at your data using “Shneiderman’s Mantra”

DISCOVERY

YES Determine what you would like to show and map to an appropriate chart type.

STORYTELLING

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

TYPES OF DATA

Comparison

Comparemagnitudes

Relationship

Showcorrelations,outliers,and

clusters

Distribution

Howvaluesare

distributedalonganaxis

Composition

Howpartsofawholerelatedtoeachother

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

MAP TO AN APPROPRIATE CHART TYPE

http://pshapi.ro/chartbytype

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

STEP #2 Make first attempt at creating a graph (most people stop at this step)

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

STEP #3 If graph seems suboptimal, try a different kind.

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

STEP #4 Refine the better graph using data visualization principles:

Preattentive attributes | Cleveland & McGill’s Research | Other rules-of-thumb

Moreofthislater

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

STEP #5 Make it beautiful or send to a designer

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

DATA VISUALIZATION PRINCIPLES

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

Source: https://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/ie/visual_perception.pdf

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

927428472847248248562009777477474710010477974974848025221112110956698424669629810921053

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

927428472847248248562009777477474710010477974974848025221112110956698424669629810921053

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

http://www.creativebloq.com/design/science-behind-data-visualisation-8135496 (derived from Information Dashboard Design by Stephen Few)

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

THE CLEVELAND & MCGILL HIERARCHY

More Accurate

1.  Position along a common scale

2.  Position along nonaligned scales

3.  Length/Direction/Angle

4.  Area

5.  Volume/Curvature

6.  Shading/Color saturation

Less Accurate

Source: https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~tmm/courses/cpsc533c-04-spr/readings/cleveland.pdf

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

Source: The Functional Art by Alberto Cairo

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

DATA VISUALIZATION RULES OF THUMB

AND TIPS!

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

“MAXIMIZE DATA-INK RATIO” -Edward Tufte

Source: http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/data-ink/di1

BetterBad

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

Sources: http://www.exceluser.com/blog/1152/oh-no-chart-junk-from-the-wall-street-journal.html

http://ergotmc.gtri.gatech.edu/dgt/Design_Guidelines/hndchb35.htm

“MINIMIZE CHART DATA” -Edward Tufte

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

8% OF MEN (0.5% OF WOMEN) ARE COLOR BLIND

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

AVOID RED + GREEN

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

USE COLOR-BLIND FRIENDLY PALETTES!

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

CHECK USING CHROMATIC VISION SIMULATOR http://asada.tukusi.ne.jp/webCVS/

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

DON’T USE PATTERN FILLS

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

AVOID LEGENDS IF POSSIBLE

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

BETTER!

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

USE HORIZONTAL BAR CHART WHEN…

•  Your category labels are too long

•  Your showing a notable ranking relationship in your data

Source: https://bi.luc.edu/ibi_help/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibi.help.ia%2Fsource%2Ftopic42.htm

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

WHEN DATA IS INCOMPLETE, DON’T DO THIS…

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan

Traffic

Traffic

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

DO THIS!

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan

Traffic

Traffic

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

SHOW UPWARD SLOPING GRAPHS WHEN POSSIBLE Research from Gattis and Holyoak, demonstrated that upward sloping graphs are

perceived as better.

0

5

10

15

20

25

Date Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Rank0

5

10

15

20

25Date Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Rank

✓X

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

DO YOUR SCALES RIGHT

•  When using a bar charts, begin the scale at zero, and end a little above the highest value.

•  With every type of graph other than a bar charts, begin the scale a little below the lowest value and a little above the highest value.

•  Begin and end the scale with round number, and make the interval round numbers as well.

Source: Now you see it: Simple Visualization Techniques for Quantitative Analysis by Stephen Few

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

WHEN MAKING COMPARISONS…

Try adding a “reference line” to make those comparisons clearer.

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

PICTOGRAPHS MAY HELP YOU REMEMBER DATA BETTER Says research from Haroz, Kosara and Franconeri

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

TRY TRELLISING DATA INSTEAD OF RESORTING TO 3D GRAPHS

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

A LOT OF WEB ANALYTICS DATA IS TIME SERIES DATA…

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

USE LINE GRAPHS FOR ANALYZING PATTERNS AND EXCEPTIONS

Seasonal Decrease

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

USE BAR CHARTS FOR EMPHASIZING & COMPARING INDIVIDUAL VALUES

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

YOU COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS…

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

ALTHOUGH, YOU’RE BETTER OFF SHOWING THE DIFFERENCE

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

YOU CAN USE RADAR GRAPHS AS AN OPTION FOR COMPARING CYCLES…

12-1am1-2am

2-3am

3-4am

4-5am

5-6am

6-7am

7-8am

8-9am

9-10am

10-11am

11am-12pm12-1pm

1-2pm

2-3pm

3-4pm

4-5pm

5-6pm

6-7pm

7-8pm

8-9pm

9-10pm

10-11pm

11-12pm

Average Visits by Hour

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

BUT THIS CAN ALSO EASILY BE A LINE GRAPH Average Visits by Hour

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

USE HEATMAPS FOR ANALYZING HIGH-VOLUME CYCLICAL PATTERNS AND EXCEPTIONS

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

USE BOX PLOTS FOR ANALYZING DISTRIBUTION CHANGES

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

USEFUL VISUALIZATION FOR SEARCH

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

NETWORK GRAPH Site Architecture

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

VENN DIAGRAM Overlapping Organic Keywords

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

TREEMAP Competitive Landscape

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

WORD CLOUD Social-Keyword Research

http://searchwilderness.com/semantic-keyword-research/

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

BUBBLE CHART

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

HTTP://DATAVIZCATALOGUE.COM

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

CONCLUSION

Follow the Discover to Storytelling Process

Make use of preattentive attributes

Utilize the Cleveland and McGill hierarchy

Follow best rules-of-thumb/best practices

Familiarize yourself with the different charts and graphs available for use

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

TL;DR

There’s no quick and easy way to make an ideal data

visualization, but with an understanding of some of the

basic data visualization principles we can make them a

whole lot better.

#SMX #32C2 @fighto

CatalystDigital.com

THANK YOU!

SEEYOUATTHENEXT#SMX

617-663-1247 | CatalystDigital.com © 2016 Catalyst | All Rights Reserved

See You At The Next #SMX