Data Visualization Refining information for a presentation
Page 1
Janne Pyykkรถ / 29-Sep-2011
A Consultant (C) and Junior Consultant (J) are discussing J: Hey, do you have a minute or two? C: Sure, what's up? J: I gave yesterday a 30-minute seminar presentation, for which I had made a couple of slides. Some of the slides were criticized for poor data visualization. C: Ah, show me one example? J: This is one of them.
C: Hmm, who was the audience? J: The seminar was targeted to public sector decision-makers and dealt with e-services for citizens. C: What did you want to achieve with the presentation? J: I wanted to compose an overall picture of how things are in Finland. Then I told about the solutions our company has done and can do so that we can get more clients from the public sector. C: It sounds like your presentation is well structured. J: Exactly, that's why I wonder why one of the audience drew attention to this slide. It seemed petty. C: Maybe so, but information deserves to be highlighted clearly. J: That's why I came to ask you this. I've heard that you can advise? C: Perhaps I can. But before that please explain how this slide relates to the topic of your presentation?
Data Visualization Refining information for a presentation
Page 2
Janne Pyykkรถ / 29-Sep-2011
J: I showed the slide to clarify that in Finland, 83.5% of people have the opportunity to access internet on a daily basis. It's quite a high figure. If citizens have access to internet and they have a good use of electronic services, they can manage their affairs autonomously, without the need to take a personal contact in the public sector employees. Thus, in the long run, it's possible to streamline the public sector and save money. C: That's a relevant message. Why then there are so many countries in the slide? J: The European Union countries are a good point of comparison. In Italy, for example, less than half of the population can access internet, so the time is not ripe yet for e-services. C: OK. In order to understand the matter further, please tell me how did you get these numbers? J: I gathered the figures from the CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/. C: What year? J: The CIA World Factbook gives internet user statistics by country for 2009. The population is an estimate for 2011. I divided them in order to get the percentage. C: Good work. The data source and date information should also be put clearly. J: I told them in the lecture. C: Okay. J: And I was not criticized for the missing source. C: I do not believe that's why. J: So can you now explain how to improve this slide? C: I am sorry, if I have not gone to the matter immediately, but I can't. In order to compose a meaningful diagram for the presentation, you must first be familiar with the audience and decide what is your message. Only then can I suggest what works. J: Okay, so how can we improve this? C: Do you accept two different answers? J: What do you mean by two? C: A presentation should be compact in order to convey an essential message. However, as background information, you might require more data. J: So? C: It seems that the information is quite comprehensive there, but I would also like to know what is the EU average? And perhaps also the United States, Japan, China, India, Brazil and Russia. As well as Norway, our neighbouring country. J: Oh, but then the amount of information will only increase. Is it good? C: Not per se, but it's important to understand the context. You must often gather more information, so that it can refine its core, which is distributed to the public. J: Okay, I'll be back, as soon as I have collected that information.
Data Visualization Refining information for a presentation
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Janne Pyykkรถ / 29-Sep-2011
(Junior Consultant collects the data and returns in the afternoon.) J: Hi again, do you have any time now? C: Of course. J: I have collected the requested information in the table. Internet Country users % Austria 74,8 Belgium 77,8 Brazil 37,4 Bulgaria 47,9 China 29,1 Cyprus 38,7 Czech Republic 65,6 Denmark 85,9 Estonia 75,7 EU 66,9 Finland 83,5 France 69,3 Germany 79,9 Greece 46,2 Hungary 61,9 India 5,2 Ireland 65,1 Italy 47,9 Japan 78,4 Latvia 68,2 Lithuania 55,6 Luxembourg 84,3 Malta 58,9 Netherlands 88,3 Norway 94,4 Poland 58,4 Portugal 48,0 Romania 35,5 Russia 29,4 Slovakia 74,2 Slovenia 64,9 Spain 60,1 Sweden 92,4 United Kingdom 82,0 United States 78,2 C: You were fast. Make a graph of them.
Data Visualization Refining information for a presentation
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Janne Pyykkรถ / 29-Sep-2011
J: OK, here.
Internet Users % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Austria Belgium Brazil Bulgaria China Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia EU Finland France Germany Greece Hungary India Ireland Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norw ay Poland Portugal Romania Russia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sw eden United Kingdom United States
C: Now, the extreme ends stand out clearly, which is good, but Finland's rank is not clear among other countries. Sort the diagram in descending order, and display the numbers.
Data Visualization Refining information for a presentation
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Janne Pyykkﾃｶ / 29-Sep-2011
J: Here you go.
Internet Users % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Norw ay Sw eden Netherlands Denmark Luxembourg Finland United Kingdom Germany Japan United States Belgium Estonia Austria Slovakia France Latvia EU Czech Republic Ireland Slovenia Hungary Spain Malta Poland Lithuania Portugal Italy Bulgaria Greece Cyprus Brazil Romania Russia China India
94,4 92,4 88,3 85,9 84,3 83,5 82,0 79,9 78,4 78,2 77,8 75,7 74,8 74,2 69,3 68,2 66,9 65,6 65,1 64,9 61,9 60,1 58,9 58,4 55,6 48,0 47,9 47,9 46,2 38,7 37,4 35,5 29,4 29,1 5,2
C: Better. Now, It's easy to see that Finland has quite high position. The next phase will be to emphasize the data. Remove distracting lines. Reduce the intensity of the color and make bars a bit thicker. Remove the value axis, because it's not required here. Round the number to the nearest integer窶電ecimal precision is an exaggeration, because the original data is not accurate.
Data Visualization Refining information for a presentation
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Janne Pyykkรถ / 29-Sep-2011
J: Here you go.
Internet Users % Norw ay Sw eden Netherlands Denmark Luxembourg Finland United Kingdom Germany Japan United States Belgium Estonia Austria Slovakia France Latvia EU Czech Republic Ireland Slovenia Hungary Spain Malta Poland Lithuania Portugal Italy Bulgaria Greece Cyprus Brazil Romania Russia China India
94 92 88 86 84 84 82 80 78 78 78 76 75 74 69 68 67 66 65 65 62 60 59 58 56 48 48 48 46 39 37 36 29 29 5
C: Almost done. Highlight with a different color the bar, which the audience is interested in, that is, Finland. Place the number on the bar.
Data Visualization Refining information for a presentation
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Janne Pyykkรถ / 29-Sep-2011
J: Here you go.
Internet Users % Norw ay Sw eden Netherlands Denmark Luxembourg Finland United Kingdom Germany Japan United States Belgium Estonia Austria Slovakia France Latvia EU Czech Republic Ireland Slovenia Hungary Spain Malta Poland Lithuania Portugal Italy Bulgaria Greece Cyprus Brazil Romania Russia China India
94 92 88 86 84 84 82 80 78 78 78 76 75 74 69 68 67 66 65 65 62 60 59 58 56 48 48 48 46 39 37 36 29 29 5
C: Great. This is the best we get, if we use all the data. Now, let's do the analysis. J: So, we begin to weed out information, because all countries do not fit into a slide? C: Exactly. What do you think? Which countries make a good comparison with Finland? J: Hmm, it depends on how many countries I can choose? C: The rule of thumb says you remember 6 to 8 things at a time. In addition to Finland, take 5-7 countries. J: So, Sweden, the EU average, Italy, Russia, the United States, India. C: Well chosen. Visualize it!
Data Visualization Refining information for a presentation
Page 8
Janne Pyykkรถ / 29-Sep-2011
J: Here you go.
Internet Users % Sw eden 92 Finland 84 United States 78 EU 67 Italy 48 Russia 29 India 5
C: That communicates your message well. Now fit it into the slide. J: Here you go.
C: That's it. J: Thank you for your help!