Fact or Fiction: Learn About The Common Downfalls of Data Vi

Business, politics, and socioeconomic data are just some areas where visuals are increasingly used to convey information in a time when attention spans are shorter than ever. Information is frequently displayed in the form of charts, tables, and other visual aids in the media and in business reports and presentations. They can win over an audience, relay information, or tell a story with just a glance. 

Visuals can be manipulated to alter narratives in the same way that filters can alter a photograph. Similarly, overly complex visualizations can be misleading.

Many believe a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if that's not the case? Find out the 5 bad data visualization examples.

• Truncated graphs

Leaving out baselines or starting the y-axis of a graph at some arbitrary number other than zero is a common technique used to influence the story. This makes the difference between the data points appear larger than it actually is.

• Scale distortion

Line charts, which are frequently used to show rates of change over time, are extremely easy to manipulate in favor of a preferred narrative. However, a zero baseline is not required here, unlike the bar graphs up top.

• Incorrect Extraction

Perception can be drastically altered if only a subset of relevant data is extracted in order to support a preconceived theory, rather than the whole story being presented. This can be compared to making a slight exaggeration with the numbers.

It's impossible to make a good choice if only some of the information is provided. However, providing deceptive statistics and limited information leads to misunderstanding and poor choices.

• Reversing popular notions

It is understood that in monetary discussions, green represents gains, and red represents losses. If you stray from these generally accepted practices, readers may become confused and give the wrong impression of the facts.

If you change the colors or the order of your data visualizations, readers may interpret the information differently than you intended.

• Pie Charts

The total of a pie chart's parts must equal the whole. You can tell something is wrong when the figures don't check out, whether due to careless calculations or deliberate exaggeration. Always ensure that the percentages in a pie chart add up to 100%.

In addition, 3D pie charts may be visually appealing, but they contribute little to communicating the information clearly and, in many cases, lead to poor data visualization.

Why Use Data Visualization

The creation of data visualization may appear simple at first glance, but in reality, it takes a lot of work to pull off successfully. Finding the sweet spot and steering clear of pitfalls are both essential. To improve your data visualizations, consider these suggestions:

There are numerous graph types to choose from when developing a data visualization. It's up to you to determine which one works best with your information and the point you want to make. 

Refrain from overwhelming viewers with too much data at a time. Because of that, the audience will lose focus on what you really want to say. You should not include any visual elements that are not necessary, such as illegible text, extra grid lines, or other clutter.

Labeling will aid in communicating your message. For instance, give your graph a name and label its axes. It's important that the labels can be read easily.

Make good use of color schemes when representing data. Use a variety of color tones to indicate a range of intensities, or keep to the same palette for related pieces of information. However, it's important to remember that too many colors in visualization can be distracting.

What Can Data Visualization Do For A Business?

Because businesses are constantly gathering more and more information, it can take time to sort through it all to determine what's truly vital. Data visualizations are a fantastic tool for isolating the important information hidden within large amounts of data.

As an entrepreneur, data visualizations can help you see patterns and connections that would otherwise be hidden. Data visualizations can be used for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to sales forecasting, explaining customer trends, and outlining operational bottlenecks.

Take care not to confuse the audience with too complicated or inaccurate images, and avoid making misleading data visualization. While numerical data cannot be deceived, the methods used to display their might. Wondering what value Business Intelligence - Data Visualization Services can bring to your Organisation? Get in touch at [email protected], we are just a click away!

Author Bio: 

Amisha Chauhan, Data-Nectar is a Business Associate and Digital marketing manager at Data-Nectar, which is Data Analytics and Consulting services company, helps our clients to optimize the use of data assets to make profitable, well-informed, faster, and proactive business decisions - be it long-term, short-term or strategic. I work with a handful of companies writing

compliance-specific content and more broadly informational materials.