Clutter shows up as all the unnecessary little things in your graph – anything that isn’t contributing to engagement with the data. You might think the little stuff can be overlooked but when you accumulate multiple graphs and their clutter into a dashboard, it feels too busy and overwhelming and…
This is one of the best worst graphs of all time. It was published, no surprise, in an academic journal. It used to be that mediocre data viz was acceptable for academics because journals had limitations on what they could do with color and…
Tameeka emailed me this: “I’ve been a researcher for 10+ years but my passion and strength really is data viz. I’m trying to figure out how/where I can do that more than other research stuff. Should I start my own data viz business? Any chance you’d be down for like…
Hiring consultants to conduct studies can be an excellent means of turning problems into gold, your problems into their gold.– Martin Marietta Cheeky, Martin. But there’s some truth to that – consultants are expensive. In 99.98% of my consulting projects, my clients get so much value that…
This is my A+ #1 100% best time-saving hack for making graphs in Excel. When you go through the process of making that one graph that’s totally perfect, you can save it as a template so it becomes, essentially, your new default graph. Here’s how. Right-click somewhere in…
I wish that every awesome data viz presentation ended with each coworker blasting a confetti popper over your head. The reality is that when your data viz sucks, you know it loud and clear. When it sings, you often can’t tell. This post is not going to provide an anatomy…
You might have landed here because you thought this was going to be a post full of snarky commentary on mediocre graphs. It isn’t. In fact, I’m not going to include a single data viz. Because what makes a data viz suck or sing isn’t just about its outward…
I was vacationing lake-side with my family, awake at 3am with an idea for a brand new business. I just couldn’t shake it and get back to sleep. I found a stack of rainbow colored post it notes in the kitchen drawer of the Airbnb and by the time…
Everyone wants a dashboard. But making a GOOD dashboard can be as hard as snagging a selfie with Beyonce. The friction I see most often is because the dashboard software is confusing to use. It’ll get you feeling like you’re groping around in the dark for the light switch.
When people aren’t 100% sure you are talking to them, they ignore you. (Heck, when I’m jogging and the dude in the car is clearly talking to me, I still ignore him.) You want your audience to immediately see themselves in your data and how that data story is relevant…
