Data visualizations have been around for a long time. After all, for centuries we’ve been mapping the world around us and charting stars. From pie charts to graphs, complex data sets have been communicated through visual presentations because for most people images are easier to understand than reading through copy.
With the rise of the popularity of infographics and certainly the vast array of data we have been consuming about COVID-19 and politics over the past year, more and more people are wanting nonprofit communications professionals to have data communications skills in their already overpacked toolboxes.
First, you don’t need to be a graphic designer to create effective data communications. That’s not to say that if you have a graphic designer on staff you shouldn’t collaborate or delegate. But to be effective the communications tool needs to be grounded in the same principles of any communication- understanding your audience, recognizing their needs, and crafting the story to motivate them to action. You already have those skills!
Second, recognize that data is more than numbers. I just recently got unstuck about this. For me, data was all about quantitative information. I wanted to get survey data so that I could craft data stories with hard numbers. I was overlooking the value of qualitative data which was actually a lot more accessible to me. Both are important and have different uses.
Finally, own the fact that believing myth “the numbers don’t lie” won’t serve you. What data you collect, how you select it, and the story it tells is a narrative. People manipulate data and they also manipulate the way that data is displayed to provide evidence for their case. Your integrity and that of your organization are just as much at stake in a data visualization story as it is in a false claim in a press release. Professionalism and organizational values should guide you in your decisions about how you use data stories in your work.
To start with, let’s look at some data stories that just don’t work.
Here’s the recent graph showing the effectiveness of the new Johnson and Johnson COVID 19 vaccine.
Does it tell the story of the vaccine? - yes
Is that what people are going to remember about this graph?- nope
As a communications professional you can bring context to the table and certainly help avoid the unintended consequences of bad data visualizations.
Here’s another one that falls short. This is from Stephen T. Tracy’s blog Analythical https://analythical.com. He shares that this graphic was created by Blueberry Labs to communicate about the colors used by major brands. Tracy goes into more detail in his commentary, but I think you can easily see some major issues regarding storytelling right off the bat.
While you may want to inspire your audience to ask questions to learn more when they see your data visualization, you don’t want them to be even more confused. As Tracy points out, “ there’s more than one right way to go about visualizing data, but there are many, MANY wrong ways to do it.” Just go to Google or Pinterest and type in “bad data visualizations” and you will get plenty of examples to learn from.
Speaking of variety, it’s a jungle of choices when it comes to data visualizations.
For fun, here’s a visualization of visualizations (chuckle).
One of the most challenging parts of developing data visualizations is knowing where to start. Both the Financial Times and Severino Ribecca have created a great overviews about how to conceive what type of visualization to use depending on what type of story you are interested in telling. After considering what story you want to tell, I recommend starting with these great resources.
Tools for Data Visualizations
No one wants to have to learn a whole new program to create data stories, and luckily there are some simple tools that you can use. These include:
MS Office or G-Suite: Both have some tools baked in to different programs that can be simple to use and allow you to import data into spreadsheets
Canva: From pre-formatted templates to many drop and drag tools, Canva has many easy to use features to create data stories.
Piktochart and Infogram are two online offerings that have been around for awhile and offer pretty simple templates and tools.
If you want to take things a step further, you might want to look at Tableau and/or Power BI. There are also online classes you can take to further your understanding and application of these more powerful tools.
With the arrival of data-driven nonprofit management and the growing desire to use Big Data the role of communications will continue to evolve and include the demand for assistance in translating data into compelling stories. Taking time now to improve your understanding of why, how and when data visualization and storytelling can further your mission-centered communications goals is time well spent.
Note: NTEN’s Data Workshop led by Kord Davis was instrumental in helping me further my understanding data visualization and stories. I highly recommend learning more about Kord and NTEN.
Additional Resources:
Comments