SIX BASICS STEPS FOR EFFECTIVE DATA PRESENTATION
Southeast Michigan Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
October 11, 2018
Sheila Flanagan, General Motors Company
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Understand and apply six basic steps for effective data presentation to enhance communication with your audience
SIX BASIC STEPS Step 1 – Understand the context Step 2 – Select an effective visual Step 3 – Remove the clutter Step 4 - Focus on your audience Step 5 - Think like a designer Step 6 – Tell your story
SIX BASIC STEPS FOR EFFECTIVE DATA PRESENTATION
Step 5 Think like a Designer
Consider what we want our audience to do with the data (function) and help create a visualization (form) with ease)
Step 1 Understand the context
Understand the situational context, including audience, communication method and tone
Step 3 Remove the clutter
Identify the key components needed to convey your message. Remove irrelevant and duplicative information.
Step 2 Select an eeffective visual
Determine the best visual to show what you want to communicate. This may be a picture, table, line graph, etc.
Step 4 Focus on your audience Leverage preattentive attributes like size, color, and font to strategically direct your audience’s focus.
Step 6 Tell your story
Adding a story to illustrate key points and aids the audience’s retention
STEP 1 UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT
STEP 1 – UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT (WHO, WHAT, HOW)
Spend time upfront understanding the context. You can only move forward with how to present the data if you understand your audience and what you want your audience to know or do.
THE COMPONENTS OF CONTEXT (WHO, WHAT, HOW)
Your Audience Who are you communicating with?
You How will your audience perceive you?
Action What do you need your audience to know?
Mechanism How will you communicate with your audience?
Tone What tone do you want your communication to set?
Data What data is available to help make your point?
STEP 2 SELECT AN EFFECTIVE VISUAL
THREE COMMON VISUAL METHODS
Simple Text Use when you have a number or two to share
Tables Use when you have a mixed audience. Each audience member will look for their row of interest
Graphs Use to interact with audience members’ visual systems. The right graph for a given situation helps an audience process information quickly.
THREE COMMON VISUAL METHODS – SIMPLE TEXT
Source: Excerpt from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report tote NATIONS 2018 GLOBAL STUDY ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE, page 4.
THREE COMMON VISUAL METHODS -- TABLES
Source: Excerpt from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report tote NATIONS 2018 GLOBAL STUDY ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE, page 25.
THREE COMMON VISUAL METHODS – EFFECTIVE GRAPHS
Source: Excerpt from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report to the NATIONS 2018 GLOBAL STUDY ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE, page 28.
2 Dimensional Line Graph
THREE COMMON VISUAL METHODS – EFFECTIVE GRAPHS
Source: Excerpt from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report tote NATIONS 2018 GLOBAL STUDY ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE, page 32.
Horizontal Bar Graph
THREE COMMON VISUAL METHODS – INEFFECTIVE GRAPHS
Source: Excerpt from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report to THE NATIONS 2018 GLOBAL STUDY ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE, page 20.
Donut Graph Pie Graphs/3D Graphs
STEP 3 REMOVE THE CLUTTER
WHAT IS CLUTTER? Clutter makes visuals appear more complicated. Clutter is comprised of visual elements that occupies unnecessary space in an audience member’s mind and does not increase understanding. Our audience will not take the time to understand our message.
HOW CAN WE REMOVE CLUTTER FROM GRAPHS?
DECLUTTERING GUIDELINES FOR GRAPHS & CHARTS
Remove unnecessary borders Remove gridlines Remove data markers Clean up axis labels Label data directly Get rid of unnecessary information
HOW CAN WE REMOVE CLUTTER FROM GRAPHS?
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ADD VISUAL ORDER TO CHARTS AND GRAPHS
Alignment Consider using left-or-right justified text to make reading easier on the eyes. Avoid center aligned text
White Space Preserving white space provides an opportunity for your eyes to pause. Keep margins free of text and visuals. Add space where appropriate to promote pauses
EXAMPLE OF DECLUTTERED CHART
Source: Excerpt from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report to THE NATIONS 2018 GLOBAL STUDY ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE, page 20.
No borders No gridlines No data markers Simplified axis labels Data labeled directly Contains only information
STEP 4 FOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE
OUR MEMORY – HOW DO WE RETAIN INFORMATION?
Iconic Memory Unconscious processing of information. Pre-attentive factors such as color, shape, and size of objects grab our attention. Is something worthy of our attention?
Short Term Memory
Once something has your attention, your brain begins to process information in chunks. Typically, we can process about 3-5 chunks of information at a time. If something becomes too complex, we stop paying attention.
Long Term Memory
If something captivates our interest, we pay attention to visual and verbal cues and store them in our memory. We retain information.
GOAL: Leverage size, color, and text in our visuals to gain and captivate our audience’s attention
STEP 4 - FOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE
HOW MANY 9S IN THE GRID BELOW?
IS IT EASIER TO COUNT NOW?
STEP 4 – USE TEXT TO GRAB YOUR AUDIENCE’S ATTENTION
Bold “Categories of Occupational Fraud Of the three primary categories of occupational fraud, asset misappropriations are by far the most common, occurring in 89% of the cases in our study.”
Color “Categories of Occupational Fraud Of the three primary categories of occupational fraud, asset misappropriations are by far the most common, occurring in 89% of the cases in our study.”
Italics “Categories of Occupational Fraud Of the three primary categories of occupational fraud, asset misappropriations are by far the most common, occurring in 89% of the cases in our study.”
“Categories of Occupational Fraud Of the three primary categories of occupational fraud, asset misappropriations are by far the most common, occurring in 89% of the cases in our study.” “2018 Report to the Nations. Copyright 2018 by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc.”
STEP 4 – USE TEXT TO GRAB YOUR AUDIENCE’S ATTENTION
Size “Categories of Occupational Fraud Of the three primary categories of occupational fraud, asset misappropriations are by far the most common, occurring in 89% of the cases in our study.”
Outline (Enclosure) “Categories of Occupational Fraud Of the three primary categories of occupational fraud, asset misappropriations are by far the most common, occurring in 89% of the cases in our study.”
Underline (Added Marks)
“Categories of Occupational Fraud Of the three primary categories of occupational fraud, asset misappropriations are by far the most common, occurring in 89% of the cases in our study.”
“Categories of Occupational Fraud Of the three primary categories of occupational fraud, asset misappropriations are by far the most common, occurring in 89% of the cases in our study.” “2018 Report to the Nations. Copyright 2018 by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc.”
STEP 4 – USE TEXT TO GRAB YOUR AUDIENCE’S ATTENTION
“Categories of Occupational Fraud Of the three primary categories of occupational fraud, asset misappropriations are by far the most common, occurring in 89% of the cases in our study.” “2018 Report to the Nations. Copyright 2018 by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc.”
STEP 4 – A QUICK NOTE ABOUT SIZE
SIZE MATTERS! Think about the level of importance for information /data. Use smaller sized text / images for items that do not need to be stressed. If everything is equally important, keep the text / images similar.
Use BIG TEXT to indicate an item is very important
STEP 4 – FOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE: THE BASICS OF COLOR
Limited use of color is one of the most powerful tool to grab your audience’s attention Use color consistently. Shades of gray when contrasted with an attention grabbling color with various shades of blue stand out more. Gray / Blue color combinations print well in black and white. Design with the colorblind in mind. Consider the tone that color conveys
STEP 4 – FOCUS ON YOUR AUDIENCE – TEXT, SIZE, & COLOR FOR GRAPHS
Source: Excerpt from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report to THE NATIONS 2018 GLOBAL STUDY ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE, page 27.
STEP 5 THINK LIKE A DESIGNER
STEP 5 – THINK LIKE A DESIGNER – TEXT TIPS
Group Exercise: Review graphs in prior slides Provide feedback on what works well in the graph and how you might improve the overall look of the graph
STEP 5 – THINK LIKE A DESIGNER – TEXT TIPS
6-12 word descriptive title is left justified in the upper corner Use subtitles and / or annotations to provide additional information Text size is hierarchical and readable Data are labeled directly next to data points (e.g. on top of bars in barograph) Use labels sparingly
STEP 5 – THINK LIKE A DESIGNER – DATA ARRANGEMENT TIPS
Proportions are accurate Data are intentionally ordered Axis intervals are equidistant Graph is two-dimensional Display is free of decoration
STEP 5 – THINK LIKE A DESIGNER – COLOR TIPS
Color scheme is intentional Color highlights key patterns Color is legible when printed in black and white Color is legible for people with color blindness Text sufficiently contrasts with background
STEP 5 – THINK LIKE A DESIGNER – LINES IN GRAPHS & CHARTS
Gridlines, if present, are muted. Graphs does not have a borderline Axes do not have unnecessary tick mars or axis lines Graph has one horizontal and one vertical axis. Text sufficiently contrasts with background
STEP 5 – THINK LIKE A DESIGNER – THE OVERALL LOOK
Graph highlights significant finding or conclusion The type of graph is appropriate for the data Graph has the appropriate level of precision Individual chart elements work together to reinforce the main message
STEP 6 TELL YOUR STORY
STEP 6 – TELL YOUR STORY
Craft a story with clear beginning (plot), middle (twists), and end (call to action) Use conflict and tension to grab and maintain your audience’s attention Consider the order and manner of your story Utilize repetition to help your stories stick
Presenting Data Effectively, Communicating Your Findings for Maximum Impact (Second Edition) by Stephanie D. H. Evergreen Storytelling with data, a Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals by
Cole Nussaumer Kanflic Association of Cert if ied Fraud Examiners Report to the Nations
2018 Global Study ON Occupational Fraud and Abuse. 2018 Report to the Nations. Copyright 2018 by the Association of Cert if ied Fraud Examiners, Inc
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES