Telling Stories with Data

Amit Kapoor

me@amitkaps.com

We are all Storytellers

Choose a story

Outline your story

Use five frames

2 3 4 51

Story Spine

Beginning | Middle | End

Beginning | Middle | End

Base Reality, Setup

New Reality,

Resolution

Struggle, Complication,

Higher Stakes,

Development

Change/ Conflict

Inciting Event

Climax /Resoluti

on

Moment of Truth

Once upon a time, there was an old man who lived next to a beach

Everyday, in the morning, he would go for a run on the beach

But one day, as he was running, he could see a figure of a little girl far away, doing a strange dance on the beach

Because of that, he ran toward her and saw that she was not dancing but instead throwing a starfish into the ocean

Astonished, he asked the girl, “Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

The girl replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll all die”

Upon hearing this, the old man said, “But there is miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile. You can’t possibly make a difference?”

At this, the little girl bent down picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean.

As it met the water, she said, “It made a difference for that one.”

Base Reality

New Reality

Struggle

Change/ Conflict

Climax /Resolution

Context

Character

Change

Challenge

Credible

Concrete

Connect

A man is coming back home, tired from work on a late rainy evening. And he walks into his neighbourhood supermarket store.

As he is folding his umbrella and trying to get water off his jacket, he walks down to aisle 5.

He is looking for that one breakfast cereal box that his 5 year old has agreed to eat tomorrow morning.

He reaches the right shelf and starts looking for the cereal box. And he doesn't find it there.

He looks for help, walks around and finds a store employee who is busy stocking products in aisle 12.

He goes to him and asks, “Can you please help me find the cereal box?”

The employee looks at him, and says, “If it is not there, then it is not there. Go find it at another store.” And he goes back to stocking the shelf.

That is his moment of truth.

He walks out and decides never to shop at the supermarket again.

Base Reality

New Reality

Struggle

Change/ Conflict

Climax /Resolution

argument | STORY

analysis | SYNTHESIS

numbers | VISUALIZE

logic | EMPATHY

Hans Rosling – Joy of Stats

Solve the

Problem

Build the

Message

Tell the Story

• Define problem • Develop

hypotheses• Collect facts• Conduct

analysis• Synthesize

output

• Structure thoughts

• Develop message

• Map audience • Understand

outcome

• Apply story spine

• Develop storyboard

• Mock-up story and visual

• Develop the story /visual

• Practice - Retell and Relive

• Revisit the output

Develop the Story

Make the Case

Tablet Case Example

Tablets have emerged as a new device format with the success of the

iPad

As a smartphone ad company (SmartAds), I should be able to serve

ads on tablet devices

How big will the tablet market be by 2015?

Tablet device format provide a synergistic growth option for

SmartAds

Tablets installed base will be more

than 1/4th of smart phones base by 2015

Tablets will be the fastest growing device format in

2010-15

Three platforms will overlap and dominate both

tablet and smartphones

Why do you say that?

Annual Shipment by Device Format(In million units, actuals till 2010, estimates 2011-15)

Smartphones

Tablets

PCs

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

226 264 291 305 346 366 388 414 444 47782122 139 172

297

468

630739

898

1,105

16 63 103 148217

326

308386 430 477

659

897

1,121

1,301

1,559

1,908

3.7x

1.4x

Growth 2010 -15

20.4x

2.9xTotalDevices

Installed Base by Device Format(In million units, actuals till 2010, estimates 2011-15)

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

86%78% 77% 75%

69%60%

52% 47% 42% 38%

14%22% 23% 25% 31%

37% 42% 45% 47% 49%1%

3%6%

8%10%

13%

909 1,139 1,307 1,482 1,795 2,260 2,815 3,387 4,053 4,877

643

2,383

1,851

Break-up2015

Smartphones

Tablets

PCs

Total

Device Installed Base in 2015 by OS and Device Format(In million units, estimates for 2015)

334

Tablets (643 M units)

1,143

282

388

206

47

54

1,027

805

147Others

101

Smartphones (2383 M units)

PCs (1851 M units)

423

218

Android

iOS

WindowsPhone

Blackberry

Others

Windows Legacy

Windows 8

OS X/XI

In 2010, Apple iPad created this new category called tablets and has since redefined computing devices.

In the next five years, the overall device sales will growing by 3x, and smartphones will be growing by 4x, and the erstwhile PC will grow at 1.4x.

Tablets will be growing by 20x in the same period.

More people would start owning one of each devices – a PC, a smartphone and a tablet.

By 2013, more smartphone devices would exist than PCs in the world.

And by 2015, out of the 4.9 billion devices, nearly half of them will be smartphones. But also, there would be one fourth tablets as there are smartphones

There will be three platforms that would common across smartphones and tablets.

And with Android at 45%, iOS at 25%, and Windows at 15%, they will command nearly 85% of the market.

So SmartAds needs to be present on these three platforms across both smartphones and tablets.

Base Reality

New Reality

Struggle

Change/ Conflict

Climax /Resolution

Shows the Data

Focuses on Substance, not

Graphic

Makes the Insight Jump

Out

Allows the User to Engage

‘Killer’ Elements

Builds on Users’

Perspective

Shows the Data

Focuses on Substance,

not Graphic

Makes the

Insight Jump Out

Allows the User

to Engage

‘Killer’Elements

Builds on Users’

Perspective

Keep it Short and Simple

Practice and Play