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Great Graphs
Welcome
What Makes a Great Graph? (23:37)
What We're Covering: The Data Visualization Design Process (6:21)
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Step 1: Understand Our Audiences
Who's Our Audience? (10:27)
Internal or External? (7:58)
What Actions Should Be Taken? (9:27)
Technical or Non-Technical? (4:35)
How Many Points in Time? (12:09)
What Types of Comparisons? (14:03)
Are Viewers Expecting a Story? (13:59)
Which Format is Best for Each Viewer? (18:02)
Checking In (9:22)
Bonus Tool: Communications Plan
Step 2: Choose the Right Chart
4 Exploratory Data Visualization Techniques (8:44)
7 Guidelines for Using Pies and Donuts (13:46)
5 Places to Find Icons (30:44)
Pie Chart Makeover: From a 7-Slice 3D Pie to Bars with Icons (12:28)
6 Considerations for Better Bar Charts (16:12)
Dot Plots & Lollipops (5:33)
Comparisons by Area: Circles, Squares, & Nesting (10:55)
Progress Towards Goals (4:24)
Histograms & Population Pyramids (2:47)
Sankey & Chord Diagrams (4:46)
Before/After Comparisons (Clustered, Deviation, Slopes, Dots) (4:31)
Lines & Spaghetti Lines (5:25)
Maps! Geographic, Pin Drop, Tile Grid, Hex, and Cartograms (12:00)
Visualizing Qualitative Data
How to NOT Visualize Qualitative Data... (2:51)
3 Scenarios Where It's Okay to Use Word Clouds (9:05)
How to Make Word Clouds (8:56)
Annotate Your Quant Charts with Qual Data (4:53)
Color-Coded Phrases (12:28)
Sample Quotes with Photographs (9:34)
How to Overlay Text on Photos--and Make Sure the Text is Actually Legible (18:47)
Add One Icon Per Paragraph, Takeaway Finding, or Theme (5:39)
Explain Complicated Processes with Diagrams (6:20)
Your Turn: Share Additional Examples & Resources
Visualizing Survey Responses
Yes/No Survey Questions (3:44)
Check All That Apply (5:50)
Rating Scales (4:13)
Open-Ended Survey Comments (3:36)
Demographic Data on Survey Respondents (3:36)
Pre/Post Results (7:01)
Chart-Choosing Clinic (53:31)
Step 3: Select a Software Program
Which Tools Are Available? (2:52)
Which Tool Do I Need for Which Chart??? (4:01)
Excel
Tableau
R
Power BI
Datawrapper
Canva (4:52)
Step 4: Declutter
Remove Unnecessary Ink & Apply the Squint Test (2:41)
Remove Borders (1:50)
Add White Outlines (2:05)
Remove 3D (3:02)
Remove Decimal Places (2:00)
Remove Decorative Clip-Art... and Add Icons (3:33)
Remove Redundant Labels (6:14)
Remove Legends... and Label Directly (6:33)
Makeover 1: Tables (4:37)
Makeover 2: Cluttered X-Axis Dates (5:07)
Makeover 3: Repetition Everrrrywhere! (8:21)
Makeover 4: Redundant Tables & Graphs (9:22)
Your Turn: Declutter this Map!
Your Turn: Declutter *Your* Visualization
Step 5: Clarify Your Message with Color
Brand Visuals with Custom Colors (2:59)
Brand Visuals with Custom Colors: Find Color Codes in Style Guides (6:13)
Brand Visuals with Custom Colors: Find Color Codes with Eyedroppers (5:40)
Brand Visuals with Custom Colors: Find Color Codes from a Website's Page Source (2:45)
Brand Visuals with Custom Colors: Find Color Codes with MS Paint (3:19)
Brand Visuals with Custom Colors: Enter Color Codes in Excel (6:00)
Brand Visuals with Custom Colors: Create Theme Colors in Excel (8:07)
Brand Visuals with Custom Colors: Color Inspiration If You Don't Have a Style Guide (13:38)
Ensure Legibility for People with Color Vision Deficiencies (9:26)
Ensure Legibility for People with Color Vision Deficiencies: How to Test It (8:09)
Ensure Legibility for Grayscale Printing (& How to Test Your Graphs for Grayscale Legibility with Free Tools) (7:18)
Ensure Foreground/Background Contrast (& How to Test Drafts for Contrast with Free Tools) (6:53)
Apply Colors to Make Data Feel Intuitive (3:17)
Apply Colors to Make Data Feel Intuitive: Binary (1:53)
Apply Colors to Make Data Feel Intuitive: Sequential (1:19)
Apply Colors to Make Data Feel Intuitive: Diverging (4:10)
Apply Colors to Make Data Feel Intuitive: Categorical (7:56)
Apply Colors to Make Data Feel Intuitive: Highlights and Warnings (5:39)
Apply Colors to Make Data Feel Intuitive: Preattentive Attributes (4:37)
Your Turn: Re-Color This Graph! (Easy)
Your Turn: Re-Color This Map! (Advanced)
Your Turn: Re-Color *Your* Visualization
Step 6: Clarify Your Message with Text
Brand Visuals with Custom Fonts* (3:42)
Find Fonts in Style Guides (5:42)
Find Fonts on Websites (5:30)
Use a Font-Finder (9:17)
Choose Fonts During a (Re)Branding Process (7:04)
Install Custom Fonts (10:03)
Set Up Theme Fonts* (8:54)
Add Takeaway Text* (11:40)
Provide Context with Annotations (11:40)
Left-Align Text & Right-Align Numbers (6:38)
Establish a Text Hierarchy (11:58)
Make Sure Text is Horizontal (3:17)
Avoid ALL CAPS (1:27)
Lower the Reading Level (14:12)
Before/After Data Visualization Makeovers
Reenvisioning a University's Annual Report (12:27)
Rotating and Re-Ordering an Unreadable Column Chart (7:58)
Detangling a Spaghetti Line Chart (9:06)
Making a Stacked Column Chart Easier on the Eyes (7:11)
The Power of Using Fewer Colors (6:09)
Adding Arrows to Agree-Disagree Scales (9:37)
10 Rules for Better Tables with Jon Schwabish (18:54)
Table Makeover with Jon Schwabish (8:46)
Bonus Skills
Accessible Dataviz: 10 Quick Wins (42:00)
Data Placemats (30:01)
Case Studies from Your Colleagues
Kharaam's Dashboard in Excel (61:44)
Guest Experts
Elissa Schloesser on Partnering with a Graphic Designer (21:56)
Amanda Makulec on Visualizing COVID-19 Data Responsibly (15:08)
Next Steps
6 Ways to Grow Your Skills After Great Graphs (7:07)
Recommended Resources
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Remove Unnecessary Ink & Apply the Squint Test
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