Practical Principles on Presenting Data in Charts

Author

Help the Eye Compare Data Easily1

Use Gentle Color in Charts2

Use Fewer Figures Whenever possible3

Don't Make Slides Look Too Cramped4

Comparison in Column is Easier than Row5

Principles on Presenting Data in Charts

Present data in visual charts and graphs for more effective communication.

Created by Edraw – All-in-one Diagramming Software

Help the Eye Compare Data Easily

Judging relative height is easier than width.

As regard to data comparison, bar charts and plot charts are

optimal choices.

100

80

60

40

20

90

Cat

egor

y 1

53

Cat

egor

y 2

72

Cat

egor

y 3

33

Cat

egor

y 4

80

Cat

egor

y 5

Created by Edraw – All-in-one Diagramming Software

Use Gentle Color in Charts

To distinguish different series, use differentiated colors because

eyes are highly attentive to colors.

Generally, corporate audiences favor conservative and

inoffensive color.

colors applied should be eye-friendly. Avoid excessive color contrast, which can make eyes

feel uncomfortable.

240

120120

120

120

Category 1

Category 2

Category 3

Category 4

Category 5

240

120120

120

120

Category 1

Category 2

Category 3

Category 4

Category 5

Created by Edraw – All-in-one Diagramming Software

Use Fewer Figures Whenever Possible

Too many digits will make the brain and eye feel tired soon.

Analyze and prune data before presenting.

Use unit to simplify numbers on axis.

For those large value numbers, present them in breviary format

which is easier to recognize.

19,000,000

Normal format

19 million

Breviary format

See an example in the next page.

Created by Edraw – All-in-one Diagramming Software

Don't Make Slides Look Too Cramped

Remember that you are allowed to use more slides.

Apply minimalism method. Put less words in slides.

The audience will also feel overloaded if there are too much

information in 1 slide.

< = >Less is more.

Created by Edraw – All-in-one Diagramming Software

$12K

$10K

$8K

$6K

$4K

$2K

1.61K

Atti

re &

Acc

esso

ries

124

Bea

uty

& S

pa

1.23K

Ent

erta

inm

ent

1.51K

Flow

ers

& D

ecor

atio

ns

817

Invi

tatio

ns

641

Gift

s &

Fav

ors

3.92K

Jew

elry

2.67K

Pho

togr

aphy

& V

ideo

1.54K

Pla

nner

/Con

sulta

nt

11.23K

Venu

e, C

ater

ing

&R

enta

ls

Statistics show that the average wedding costs a whopping

$25,200 in 2015. In these difficult economic times, it is NOT only the bride and groom are paying

the price.

Weddings are expensive for all people involved.

Till Debt Do Us Part!

United States Average Wedding Cost in 2015

Breviary format data looks concise and

are easy to recognize.

Slanting texts leave more

space.

Comparison in Column is Easier than Row

When comparing numbers in a row, eyes have to move back

and forth.

right alignment is the "right" alignment for digits.

If presented in a row and right justified, eyes can identify value difference easily by glancing at

the length of digits.

Category 1 159865

Category 2

89666

Category 3

72563

Category 4

352

Category 1 159865

Category 2 89666

Category 3 72563

Category 4 352

Created by Edraw – All-in-one Diagramming Software