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How do you test and refine captions and legends to ensure they are effective and accurate?

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Captions and legends are essential elements of information graphics, as they provide context, explanation, and interpretation of the data and visuals. However, writing effective and accurate captions and legends is not a one-time task. You need to test and refine them to ensure they communicate your message clearly and correctly. In this article, you will learn how to do that in six steps.

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Stand-alone captions:

Ensure your captions can fully communicate the message even without the visual. This reinforces clarity and attracts readers to engage more deeply with the content.
Streamline your legends:

Keep legends concise and place extra details elsewhere, like footnotes. This prevents clutter and aids in quicker comprehension of your visuals.

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1 Define your purpose

Before you write or edit your captions and legends, you need to define the purpose of your information graphic. What is the main point you want to convey? Who is your audience and what do they need to know? How do you want them to react or respond? Your purpose will guide your tone, style, and content of your captions and legends.

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2 Write clear and concise captions

Captions are the text that accompanies your information graphic, usually below or beside it. They should summarize the main idea, provide some background or context, and highlight the key findings or implications. Captions should be clear and concise, using simple and precise language. Avoid jargon, acronyms, and technical terms that your audience may not understand. Use active voice and present tense as much as possible.

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Eric Schetselaar

Marketing & Business Development
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Well-written captions should communicate a clear message and should be able to stand on their own without having any supporting information from the adjacent article to get the full message across. Great, well-written captions convey the message so well that if its related image were removed, the reader would still comprehend the same message without needing the visual. The visual ends up supporting the caption and not the other way around. In addition, successful captions of images that support an adjacent article will draw casual readers just flipping through the pages into reading the entire adjacent article. Captions should never be: ? sentence fragments ? incomplete thoughts ? factless ? pointless ? empty words to fill space

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3 Use consistent and informative legends

Legends are the text that explains the symbols, colors, scales, or units used in your information graphic. They should be consistent and informative, using the same terminology and format throughout. Legends should help your audience interpret the data and visuals, not confuse them. Avoid unnecessary or redundant information, such as repeating the title or caption. Use abbreviations or symbols only if they are widely recognized or defined.

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Susan Mangiero, PhD, CFA, FRM, MBA, MFA

I help business, finance, and investment brands and executives grow their revenue by delivering "wow" thought leadership. Award-Winning Journalist | Content Strategist | Data Storyteller | Editor | Executive Ghostwriter
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Keep the legend simple. A lengthy legend clutters a visual, making it hard for the user to comprehend what information is being conveyed. Consider adding details as footnotes or present them in an adjacent text box. I have seen hundreds of unappealing business infographics that squeeze together investment return trend lines for three or more securities in a small presentation area. Making matters worse, the creators of those visuals add details about data sources, ticker symbols, and conversion formulas in tiny letters at the bottom of the crowded graph space. The net effect is a hard-to-read visual.

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4 Check for accuracy and reliability

Captions and legends should be accurate and reliable, reflecting the source and quality of the data and visuals. You should check for any errors, inconsistencies, or misrepresentations in your captions and legends, such as typos, wrong numbers, misleading comparisons, or biased language. You should also cite your data sources and provide any relevant disclaimers or limitations.

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5 Test for readability and comprehension

Captions and legends should be readable and comprehensible, using appropriate fonts, sizes, colors, and placements. You should test how your captions and legends look and sound on different devices, platforms, and media. You should also test how your audience reads and understands your captions and legends, using methods such as surveys, interviews, feedback forms, or eye-tracking.

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6 Refine based on feedback and results

Captions and legends should be refined based on feedback and results, using quantitative and qualitative data to measure their effectiveness and accuracy. You should analyze how your audience reacts and responds to your captions and legends, using metrics such as views, clicks, shares, comments, or conversions. You should also solicit and incorporate suggestions and criticisms from your peers, clients, or experts. You should revise your captions and legends until they achieve your purpose.

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Susan Mangiero, PhD, CFA, FRM, MBA, MFA

I help business, finance, and investment brands and executives grow their revenue by delivering "wow" thought leadership. Award-Winning Journalist | Content Strategist | Data Storyteller | Editor | Executive Ghostwriter
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In my experience, the purpose of creating a compelling visual is to make it easy for a specified audience to consume information. While it is worthwhile to get audience feedback, it is often cost prohibitive to assess every single chart, table, or graph. An alternative is to make sure everyone involved in data analysis and visual design understands the information needs of the audience. Production team members should apply their organization's style guide and regularly solicit feedback from users about a representative sample of the final infographics, not the entire population of visuals.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you test and refine captions and legends to ensure they are effective and accurate?

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1 Define your purpose

2 Write clear and concise captions

3 Use consistent and informative legends

4 Check for accuracy and reliability

5 Test for readability and comprehension

6 Refine based on feedback and results

7 Here’s what else to consider

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