Storytelling with Data book, by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
a data visualization guide for business professionals
I would like to introduce you to the wonderful book I have just finished, Storytelling with Data , a super useful guidance on how data can help tell your stories.
We frequently make a confusing chart. This can happen in any sector and by all sorts of well-meaning people.
One way to avoid this problem is to never just show data, but to tell a story with it.
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic teaches people how to turn data into high-impact visual stories that engage audiences.
In her book, Cole presents the power and impact of Storytelling with Data.
It is a Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals.
In this book we find powerful strategies and practical guidance to better communicate visually with data by covering key lessons such as:
✔Understand the context: Build understanding of who you are communicating to, what you need them to know, how you will communicate to them and what data you have to backup your case
✔Choose an appropriate visual display: number in cards, line charts for continuous data, bar charts for categorical data, avoid pie charts, donuts,..
✔Eliminate clutter: Eliminate distraction, remove elements that don't add informative value to your visulas. Use Gestalt Principles of visual perception. Use contrast strategically. Employ alignments, white spaces to help provide a comfortable user experience
✔Focus attention where you want it: highlight the important staff, employ color, size, position to signal what's important
✔Think like designer: Work to gain audience acceptance of your visual designs by not over complicating and leveraging text to label and explain.
✔Tell a story: Construct stories with beginning (plot), middle (twist) and end (call to action). Use conflicts and tension, narrative techniques with chronological order and manner , repetition,... to grab audience attention
==>A guide for success when communicating with data, which includes very useful examples for understanding these concepts.