How to choose the right chart for your data?

Have you seen a similar chart for health or medical data visualizations?

Qlik Adapted from Dr. Andrew V. Abela, The Extreme Presentation(TM) Method

Which information graphics, such as charts, graphs, tables, diagrams, or maps, communicate your message best? Your selection depends on:?

What are you trying to communicate?

• Comparison
• Distribution
• Composition
• Relationship?

What are the characteristics of your data?

• Static
• Changing over time
• Number of periods
• Number of variables, items, or categories?

What are your operational purposes?

• Analyzing problems, distribution, trends, or relationships
• Monitoring process, project status, or reports
• Improving efficiency, effectiveness, or quality
• Planning budget, finances, or ideas
• Teaching, training, or studying?

Common information graphics can communicate correlation, magnitude, deviation, distribution, ranking, part-to-whole, spatial, and flow. A comprehensive illustrated reference of Information Graphics of visual tools for analyzing, managing, and communicating focus on their uses for operational purposes.

Information graphics help you communicate numeric data in a graphical format. The challenge is to identify an effective and sometimes efficient visual format to convey your message effectively.

A decision tree to “Choose the Right Chart”, charted by Dr. Andrew V. Abela, The Extreme Presentation(TM) Method, is a flowchart-like structure in which each internal node represents selection criteria about your communication objective and data characteristics. Each branch represents the best-fitted information graphics to visualize your data.

This decision support tool visually organizes data information graphics.

The “Choose the Right Chart” was inspired by the form and function table, from Gene Zelazny's book “Saying It With Charts,” of basic chart forms to compare functions with suggested charts presented in a matrix.

To select the right information graphics, start from the center of the map and follow the flowchart structure route based on what are you trying to communicate, the characteristics of your data, and your operational purposes. Your selection criteria might require drawing multiple data visualization graphics.

The same data can be visualized differently for multiple reasons. You can determine your data visualizations based on reasons on the explore/explain spectrum [Kat Greenbrook]. In business, data is visualized to:

• Discover insight through analysis charts
• Inform about a data-driven decision by utilizing an interactive dashboard, detailed report, or exploratory infographic
• Educate about data's significance by employing data storytelling, executive summary report, or explanatory infographic

Chart Chooser, an online tool, categorizes data visualizations based on your communication objective (comparison, distribution, composition, trend, relationship, or categorization). You can filter the data visualization based on these categories and download Excel or PowerPoint templates.

Contact me if you have seen a similar chart for health information graphics or medical data visualizations or if you are interested in researching and designing this poster.