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Designing Dashboards & Data Visualisations in Web Apps

Des Traynor
October 11, 2011

Designing Dashboards & Data Visualisations in Web Apps

Supporting blog post: http://blog.intercom.io/data-visualisation-in-web-apps/

I have given variations of this presentation at conferences such as WebVisions 12, Beyond Tellerand, MIX 11, MidwestUX.

You can find a video recording of it at
http://vimeo.com/34784156
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/MIX/MIX11/OPN04

Des Traynor

October 11, 2011
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Transcript

  1. Data visualisations and Dashboard Design

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  2. Des Traynor
    @destraynor,
    COO of @intercom

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  3. TOPIC
    TIME REMAINING
    INTRO
    KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
    KNOW YOUR DOMAIN
    KNOW YOUR DATA
    KNOW YOUR VISUALS
    KNOW YOUR STYLE
    CLOSING POINTS
    FIN
    TRO

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  4. We are drowning in data.

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  5. Useful
    Readable
    Meaningful
    Better than
    text
    Adaptable
    IT’S HARD TO MAKE VISUALS

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  6. Be clear first and clever
    second. If you have to throw
    one of those out, throw out
    clever.
    — Jason Fried

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  7. VISUALS CAN CONFUSE

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  14. Visualising the Gulf Oil Spill...

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  16. Okay, lets try with football...

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  17. If the Gulf of Mexico - the 7th largest body of water
    in the world, containing approximately 660
    quadrillion gallons of water (that's 660 with 15
    zeros) - was represented by Cowboys Stadium in
    Dallas - the largest domed stadium in the world -
    how would the spill stack up? In this example, the
    amount of oil spilled - if the Gulf of Mexico was the
    size of Cowboys Stadium - would be about the size of
    a 24 ounce can of beer. Cowboys stadium has an
    internal volume of approximately 104 million cubic
    feet, compared to the just over 50 cubic inches of
    volume in a 24-ounce can.
    Just like the can, the spilled oil represents only .
    00000002788% of the liquid volume present in the
    Gulf of Mexico, although as the oil is dispersed, the
    amount of water affected becomes substantially
    greater.

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  18. If the Gulf of Mexico - the 7th largest body of water
    in the world, containing approximately 660
    quadrillion gallons of water (that's 660 with 15
    zeros) - was represented by Cowboys Stadium in
    Dallas - the largest domed stadium in the world -
    how would the spill stack up? In this example, the
    amount of oil spilled - if the Gulf of Mexico was the
    size of Cowboys Stadium - would be about the size of
    a 24 ounce can of beer. Cowboys stadium has an
    internal volume of approximately 104 million cubic
    feet, compared to the just over 50 cubic inches of
    volume in a 24-ounce can.
    Just like the can, the spilled oil represents only .
    00000002788% of the liquid volume present in the
    Gulf of Mexico, although as the oil is dispersed, the
    amount of water affected becomes substantially
    greater.

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  19. The “anti-infographic
    movement”
    No data was harmed in the
    making of these info-
    graphics

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  20. View Slide

  21. TOPIC
    TIME REMAINING
    INTRO
    KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
    KNOW YOUR DOMAIN
    KNOW YOUR DATA
    KNOW YOUR VISUALS
    KNOW YOUR STYLE
    CLOSING POINTS
    FIN
    KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

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  22. WHO ARE WE DESIGNING FOR?

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  23. WHAT ROLE?
    The role defines the level of abstraction required.

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  24. CEO Level Detail
    Strategic view
    Focus on the long term
    High level overview
    Simple summary

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  25. Query driven analysis
    Precision required
    Emphasis on trends,
    and correlations
    Analyst role

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  26. Operations/Logistics
    Focus on current status
    Issue & Event driven
    e.g. Alerts, spikes, trouble

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  27. WHAT DEPARTMENT?
    The department defines the domain knowledge

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  28. SALES DEPARTMENT
    Leads, conversions, avg. value per sale, etc

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  29. MARKETING DEPARTMENT
    Impressions, loyalty, awareness, share

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  30. NETWORK & IT
    Issues, tickets, lead time, open cases, uptime

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  31. SALES MARKETING
    CUSTOMER
    SUPPORT
    MANAGEMENT
    * Satisfaction Rating
    * Trend per quarter
    * Comparison with
    competitors
    ANALYST
    * My Active leads
    * Value per lead
    * Progress towards
    target
    OPERATIONS
    * Active campaigns
    * Current CPM/CPC
    * Landing page
    Role + Department = Information needed

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  32. SALES MARKETING
    CUSTOMER
    SUPPORT
    MANAGEMENT
    * Satisfaction Rating
    * Trend per quarter
    * Comparison with
    competitors
    ANALYST
    * My Active leads
    * Value per lead
    * Progress towards
    target
    OPERATIONS
    * Active campaigns
    * Current CPM/CPC
    * Landing page
    Role + Department = Information needed
    1st
    Takeaway

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  33. TOPIC
    TIME REMAINING
    INTRO
    KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
    KNOW YOUR DOMAIN
    KNOW YOUR DATA
    KNOW YOUR VISUALS
    KNOW YOUR STYLE
    CLOSING POINTS
    FIN
    KNOW YOUR DATA

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  34. $ Sales today
    # Unit sales
    Avg $ per sale
    This period vs last
    period
    Us vs Competitor
    Total this
    month
    Popular
    products
    % Change
    in sales
    Avg. $ per
    customer
    WHICH OF THESE?

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  35. WHICH OF THESE?
    TOTAL SALES
    $12,240.65
    CHANGE
    5.32%
    Top grossing items
    % TOTAL REV.
    10
    20
    30
    40
    100
    200
    300
    11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
    400
    500
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
    Top selling items
    Item name Unit sales % of total
    Oak tree (special edition) 803 16%
    Pet Kitten 607 12%
    Skyscraper (high rise) 511 11%
    Sycamore tree 430 9%
    Dancing disco. 203 4%
    Other items 2495 52%
    Change
    11.52%
    100%
    1.52%
    5.23%
    1.20%
    --
    100
    200
    300
    400
    500
    Ybarra Bow Broadsword Dagger Eclipse Mace BattleAxe Magic wand Crossbow Poison
    Revenue
    5
    10
    15
    20
    25
    Unit sales

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  36. 6 THINGS TO COMMUNICATE

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  37. 1. COMMUNICATE A SINGLE FIGURE
    Used when context is obvious, precision is required, and
    past/future is irrelevant to user.
    BALANCE
    $23.00
    BALANCE
    $11.32
    BALANCE
    $11.32
    Examples:
    AA clerk with a waiting list
    Checking bank balance
    Sys admin checking current status
    Notes:
    Single numbers can have states

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  38. 2. SINGLE FIGURE WITH CONTEXT
    “How are we doing lately? Any problems on
    horizon?”
    Examples:
    How were this months sales?
    Is the network performing well?
    Hows our user figures looking?
    Notes:
    Spark-lines can save space, and
    READERS
    12,247
    CHANGE
    0.32%
    READERS
    15,231
    CHANGE
    9.52%

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  39. 3. ANALYSIS OF A PERIOD
    “Show me all the key moments this month”
    Examples:
    Looking for patterns in longer data sets
    Looking ahead based on current data
    Comparison with previous period

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  40. 10
    20
    30
    11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
    40
    50
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
    Work best with precise data (e.g. day to day)
    GOOD LINE CHART

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  41. 10
    20
    30
    40
    50
    Jan Feb Mar Apri May
    BAD LINE CHART

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  42. 10
    20
    30
    40
    50
    Jan Feb Mar Apri May
    BAR CHART
    Never imply precision you don’t have.

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  43. 10
    20
    30
    40
    50
    Jan Feb Mar Apri May
    BAR CHART
    Never imply precision you don’t have.
    2nd
    Takeaway

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  44. 4. ANALYSIS OF PERIOD, WITH TARGET
    Did we hit our sales figures?
    Are we fulfilling our five nines quota?
    Examples:
    Are sales were they should be?
    Are all our employees performing okay?
    Is our response time better than industry standard?

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  45. 0
    12500
    25000
    37500
    50000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    Actual
    Target
    BAD LINE CHART

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  46. A common error in visualisation is leaving
    all the processing to the reader. At a
    glance it looks like we’re doing okay here.
    In this case, we’re talking about a delta, but
    we’re not showing the delta...

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  47. A common error in visualisation is leaving
    all the processing to the reader. At a
    glance it looks like we’re doing okay here.
    In this case, we’re talking about a delta, but
    we’re not showing the delta...
    3rd
    Takeaway

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  48. -40%
    -30%
    -20%
    -10%
    0%
    10%
    20%
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    FOCUS ON THE DELTA
    Same data, big difference

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  49. 0
    12500
    25000
    37500
    50000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    BAD LINE CHART
    This guy is getting a bonus

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  50. -40%
    -30%
    -20%
    -10%
    0%
    10%
    20%
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    FOCUS ON THE DELTA
    This guy is getting fired.

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  51. JUL
    JUN
    MAY
    APR
    MAR
    FEB
    JAN
    NOV
    OCT
    SEP
    AUG
    DEC
    29%
    100%
    23%
    38%
    7%
    28%
    24%
    100%
    7%
    100%
    21%
    100%
    20%
    23%
    24%
    31%
    17%
    17%
    41%
    27%
    17%
    21%
    35%
    40%
    24%
    34%
    18%
    18%
    16%
    100%
    33%
    22%
    23%
    23%
    17%
    33%
    17%
    16%
    25%
    18%
    100%
    15%
    17%
    21%
    35%
    100%
    18%
    26%
    32%
    20%
    100%
    26%
    17%
    100%
    32%
    19%
    18%
    100%
    18% 17%
    100%
    22%
    28%
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
    48%
    Showing: % of total % of prev. month Highlight drops over: 5%
    A full cohort analysis
    24% 23%
    % Active in months after signup
    Sign
    Up
    18% of January sign ups
    are still active in July

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  52. 23%
    7%
    24%
    7%
    21%
    20%
    23%
    24%
    17%
    17%
    27%
    17%
    21% 18%
    18%
    16%
    22%
    23%
    23%
    17%
    17%
    16%
    18%
    15%
    17%
    21% 18%
    32%
    20%
    17%
    19%
    18%
    18% 17%
    22%
    28%
    4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
    signup
    18% of January sign ups
    are still active in July

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  53. JUL
    JUN
    MAY
    APR
    MAR
    NOV
    OCT
    SEP
    AUG
    DEC
    29%
    23%
    38%
    28%
    24%
    100%
    100%
    21%
    100%
    23%
    24%
    31%
    41%
    27%
    35%
    40%
    34%
    100%
    33%
    23%
    23%
    33%
    25%
    100%
    17%
    21%
    35%
    100%
    32%
    100%
    26%
    100%
    32%
    19%
    18%
    100%
    22%
    28%
    48%
    Showing: % of total % of prev. month

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  54. How many stick around for a second month?
    35%
    30%
    25%
    20%
    15%
    10%
    5%
    January February March April
    32.4%
    Signed
    up:

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  55. Retention using a cycle plot
    35%
    30%
    25%
    20%
    15%
    10%
    5%
    0%
    Month 2
    Retention
    Month 3
    Retention
    Month 4
    Retention
    Month 5
    Retention

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  56. 35%
    30%
    25%
    20%
    Signups in April 2011
    26% Still Active in June
    101 retained - 290 lost.

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  57. 5. BREAKDOWN OF A VARIABLE
    “What age groups are buying our stuff? What countries
    are we big in?”
    Examples:
    Who are our customers?
    Whats our awareness like in each demographic?
    What browsers are people using these days?

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  58. America
    Ireland
    U.K.
    Canada
    Australia
    Spain
    France
    BAD PIE CHART

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  59. America
    Ireland
    U.K.
    Canada
    Australia
    Spain
    France
    YOU COULD ADD THE DATA...
    9%
    15%
    9%
    11%
    18%
    23%
    15%

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  60. 0%
    7.500%
    15.000%
    22.500%
    30.000%
    Ireland U.K. America Spain Canada Australia
    SORTED BAR CHART

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  61. LYING WITH GROUPINGS
    The 100K to 200k is where we need to tax!

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  62. LYING WITH GROUPINGS
    Or maybe not...

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  63. O! "#$% &'?
    http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/05/fun-charts-making-rich-look-poor
    LYING WITH GROUPINGS

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  64. LYING WITH ROTATIONS

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  65. LYING WITH DIMENSIONS

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  66. BAD: AREA PLOT
    D
    C
    B
    A
    E

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  67. BAD: AREA PLOT
    D
    C
    B
    A
    E
    Which would you pick?

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  68. A B
    BAD: AREA PLOT
    - =
    How “big” is this?

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  69. BAD: AREA PLOT
    D
    C
    B
    A
    E

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  70. BAD UNIT PLOT

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  71. 5. BREAKDOWN OF A VARIABLE
    “Bar charts aren’t sexy, but they rely on an
    innate skill, following a line. ”

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  72. If you had to fight one of them...

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  73. If you had to fight one of them...
    4th
    Takeaway

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  74. 6. BREAKDOWN OVER TIME
    “How has the composition changed over the
    last year?”
    Examples:
    How has the browser market changed?
    Has our revenue sources shifted recently?

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  75. 0
    17500
    35000
    52500
    70000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    Ireland U.K America
    STACKED BAR CHART

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  76. 0
    17500
    35000
    52500
    70000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    STACKED BAR CHART
    A($!&)* +$,-$" &. J/01?
    America peaked in July?

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  77. 0
    17500
    35000
    52500
    70000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    STACKED BAR CHART
    A($!&)* +$,-$" &. J/01?
    How has U.K. done?

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  78. 0
    17500
    35000
    52500
    70000
    Jan
    Feb
    Mar
    April
    May
    June
    July
    August
    September
    October
    November
    December
    LYING WITH DIMENSIONS
    Lots more yellow pixels here now...

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  79. LET’S TRY A LINE CHART
    0
    12500
    25000
    37500
    50000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    Ireland U.K America

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  80. LINE CHART OF SAME DATA?
    0
    12500
    25000
    37500
    50000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    A($!&)* #. 23$ 4+. 5K .$6$! 73*.8$"?
    Same data. Different story.

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  81. 0
    12500
    25000
    37500
    50000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    Ireland U.K America
    BAR CHARTS AGAIN?

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  82. 0
    12500
    25000
    37500
    50000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    BAR CHARTS AGAIN?

    View Slide

  83. 0
    12500
    25000
    37500
    50000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    BAR CHARTS AGAIN?

    View Slide

  84. 0
    12500
    25000
    37500
    50000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    BAR CHARTS AGAIN?

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  85. 0
    12500
    25000
    37500
    50000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    INTERACTIVE, REMEMBER?
    You can adapt based on Interctions

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  86. 0
    17500
    35000
    52500
    70000
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    STACKED BAR CHART
    Why is it so hard to follow the U.K here?

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  87. If it was easy, we’d all be great at billiards

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  88. View Slide

  89. View Slide

  90. View Slide

  91. View Slide

  92. TOPIC
    TIME REMAINING
    INTRO
    KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
    KNOW YOUR DOMAIN
    KNOW YOUR DATA
    KNOW YOUR VISUALS
    KNOW YOUR STYLE
    CLOSING POINTS
    FIN
    KNOW YOUR VISUALS

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  93. Visuals communicate 2 things.
    Category Quantity

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  94. WAYS TO VISUALISE QUANTITY
    Line length Line width Colour intensity
    Size Quantity Speed

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  95. WAYS TO VISUALISE QUANTITY
    Line length Line width Colour intensity
    Size Quantity Speed

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  96. WAYS TO VISUALISE QUANTITY
    Line length Line width Colour intensity
    Size Quantity Speed5th
    Takeaway

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  97. HOW TO VISUALISE CATEGORY
    Le type Colr
    Locn
    Spe

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  98. You’ve just taken over a hotel. You’re
    handed the accounts. Excel hell. Where
    do we start?
    HOW TO USE ALL THIS?

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  99. Q: Are we making any money?
    Profit is the delta between costs and
    revenue. Let’s see that for the year.
    -€9,000.00
    -€6,750.00
    -€4,500.00
    -€2,250.00
    €0
    €2,250.00
    €4,500.00
    €6,750.00
    €9,000.00
    Jan Feb Mar April May June July August September October November December
    Profit and loss

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  100. Q: What makes us money?
    Rms Wdgs Cfc
    Buss
    Rtaurt
    B Gym/Spa
    10%
    20%
    30%
    40%
    50%
    Let’s compare the percentage of revenue
    generated by each category.

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  101. King suite Junior Suite Standard Room Hostel
    €50
    €75
    €100
    €150
    €175
    Deluxe Room
    Q: What sort of prices do we charge per room?
    Let’s look at the price range the median value

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  102. REPORT
    REVENUE
    TYPE
    ROOMS & EXTRAS
    ROOM TYPE
    KING SUITES
    PERIOD
    LAST YEAR
    MIDWEST HOTELZ
    PROFIT
    LOYALTY
    INCIDENTALS
    GUEST REPORT
    WEDDINGS
    CONFERENCES
    GUEST TYPE
    ALL GUESTS
    Design to support analyst queries...

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  103. Another example.
    What the hell is going on in Europe?

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  104. View Slide

  105. View Slide

  106. View Slide

  107. View Slide

  108. View Slide

  109. Credit: S. Few & Tom Watkins

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  110. TOPIC
    TIME REMAINING
    INTRO
    KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
    KNOW YOUR DOMAIN
    KNOW YOUR DATA
    KNOW YOUR VISUALS
    KNOW YOUR STYLE
    CLOSING POINTS
    FIN
    KNOW YOUR STYLE

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  111. A WORD ON CONTEXT

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  112. This is a car.

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  113. This is a Nuclear power station.

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  114. This is a space shuttle

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  115. This is none of those things...

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  116. Chances are this is where your user is

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  117. The point is, we’re not
    always fighting for
    attention.

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  118. Top products
    Product Orders $ Revenue
    Books Electronics Magazines Appliances e-goods Other
    10
    20
    30
    40
    Revenue per product
    Sales Report Jan 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    CHANGE
    0.32%
    ACCOUNTS
    7,343
    CHANGE
    4.32%
    SITE LIVE
    PAYMENT LIVE
    FULFILLMENT ON

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  119. Top products
    Product Orders $ Revenue
    Books Electronics Magazines Appliances e-goods Other
    10
    20
    30
    40
    Revenue per product
    Sales Report Jan 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    CHANGE
    0.32%
    ACCOUNTS
    7,343
    CHANGE
    4.32%
    SITE LIVE
    PAYMENT LIVE
    FULFILLMENT ON
    Let’s use this strawman

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  120. Let’s take 3 points from Tufte

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  121. Chart junk: the stuff that doesn’t change
    when the data changes

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  122. Data Ink Ratio: what percentage of your ink
    shows data

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  123. Smallest Effective Difference: the least you
    can do to highlight

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  124. Smallest Effective Difference: the least you
    can do to highlight
    These colours would get very
    loud. Unnecessarily so.

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  125. Smallest Effective Difference: the least you
    can do to highlight
    These are far quieter.

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  126. Top products
    Product Orders $ Revenue
    The girl with the dragon tattoo 11 88.50
    Inception 9 72.50
    The girl who kicked the hornet's nest 15 54.05
    Books Electronics Magazines Appliances e-goods Other
    10
    20
    30
    40
    Revenue per product
    Sales Report Jan 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    CHANGE
    0.32%
    ACCOUNTS
    7,343
    CHANGE
    4.32%
    SITE LIVE
    PAYMENT LIVE
    FULFILLMENT ON
    Gradients, shadows, colors, gridlines. All non-content

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  127. Top products
    Product Orders $ Revenue
    The girl with the dragon tattoo 11 88.50
    Inception 9 72.50
    The girl who kicked the hornet's nest 15 54.05
    Books Electronics Magazines Appliances e-goods Other
    10
    20
    30
    40
    Revenue per product
    Sales Report Jan 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    CHANGE
    0.32%
    ACCOUNTS
    7,343
    CHANGE
    4.32%
    SITE LIVE
    PAYMENT LIVE
    FULFILLMENT ON
    Let’s kill the gradients

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  128. Top products
    Product Orders $ Revenue
    The girl with the dragon tattoo 11 88.50
    Inception 9 72.50
    The girl who kicked the hornet's nest 15 54.05
    Books Electronics Magazines Appliances e-goods Other
    10
    20
    30
    40
    Revenue per product
    Sales Report Jan 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    CHANGE
    0.32%
    ACCOUNTS
    7,343
    CHANGE
    4.32%
    SITE LIVE
    PAYMENT LIVE
    FULFILLMENT ON
    Let’s kill the colours

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  129. HTML has a
    tag but no
    tag.
    As a result, we
    forget to think
    about what’s less
    important on the
    screen.
    — Ryan Singer

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  130. Top products
    Product Orders $ Revenue
    The girl with the dragon tattoo 11 88.50
    Inception 9 72.50
    The girl who kicked the hornet's nest 15 54.05
    Books Electronics Magazines Appliances e-goods Other
    10
    20
    30
    40
    Revenue per product
    Sales Report Jan 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    CHANGE
    0.32%
    ACCOUNTS
    7,343
    CHANGE
    4.32%
    SITE LIVE
    PAYMENT LIVE
    FULFILLMENT ON
    Let’s adjust the shading.

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  131. Top products
    Product Orders $ Revenue
    The girl with the dragon tattoo 11 88.50
    Inception 9 72.50
    The girl who kicked the hornet's nest 15 54.05
    Books Electronics Magazines Appliances e-goods Other
    10
    20
    30
    40
    Revenue per product
    Sales Report Jan 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    CHANGE
    0.32%
    ACCOUNTS
    7,343
    CHANGE
    4.32%
    SITE LIVE
    PAYMENT LIVE
    FULFILLMENT ON
    Let’s add the necessary differences

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  132. Top products
    Product Orders $ Revenue
    The girl with the dragon tattoo 11 88.50
    Inception 9 72.50
    Books Electronics Magazines Appliances e-goods Other
    10
    20
    30
    40
    Revenue per product
    Sales Report Jan 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    CHANGE
    0.32%
    ACCOUNTS
    7,343
    CHANGE
    4.32%
    SITE LIVE
    PAYMENT LIVE
    FULFILLMENT ON
    From here we could begin to style

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  133. This isn’t about visual design

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  134. Top products
    Product Orders $ Revenue
    The girl with the dragon tattoo 11 88.50
    Books Electronics Magazines
    Appliances
    e-goods Other
    10
    20
    30
    40
    Revenue per product
    SALES REPORT MAY 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    SITE
    PAYMENT
    FULFILLMENT
    0.4%
    ACCOUNTS
    2,323 1.4%

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  135. 40
    Revenue per product
    SALES REPORT MAY 2012
    ORDERS
    12,247
    PA
    FULFIL
    0.4%
    ACCOUNTS
    2,323 1.4%

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  136. 4 Points on Visual Design
    1. Remove Chart Junk
    2. Maximise your data ink ratio
    3. Use the “least effective difference” to highlight
    4. Remember to quieten down less important parts.

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  137. 4 Points on Visual Design
    1. Remove Chart Junk
    2. Maximise your data ink ratio
    3. Use the “least effective difference” to highlight
    4. Remember to quieten down less important parts.
    6th
    Takeaway

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  138. TOPIC
    TIME REMAINING
    INTRO
    KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
    KNOW YOUR DOMAIN
    KNOW YOUR DATA
    KNOW YOUR VISUALS
    KNOW YOUR STYLE
    CLOSING POINTS
    FIN
    CLOSING POINTS

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  139. 1. VISUALS SHOULD SAY SOMETHING
    The worst visualisations are the
    ones you look at just think “Heh.”

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  140. Looks great, but makes very little sense.

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  141. 2. DASHBOARDS & VISUALS EVOLVE
    Revisit them as your data increases

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  142. VANITY DASHBOARDS

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  143. START WITH THE BASICS

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  144. ADD INSIGHT AS YOU NEED IT

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  145. ADD A YEARLY VIEW, AFTER A YEAR

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  146. INCLUDE INSIGHTS & ACTIONS

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  147. CONSIDER ADDING PROJECTIONS

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  148. GET INSIGHTS INTO ENGAGEMENT
    What types of users do we have?

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  149. INSIGHTS INTO ENGAGEMENT
    2 main clusters it appears.

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  150. INSIGHTS INTO BUSINESS MODELS
    How’s that Freemium model working out for us?

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  151. 3. PRESENTING AN ARGUMENT
    It’s okay to add visuals if your goal is more than
    the factual presentation of information

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  152. The world is not filled with
    professional statisticians.
    Many of us would like a quick glance
    just to get a good idea of something.
    If a graph is made easier to
    understand by such irrelevancies as
    a pile of oil cans or cars, then I say
    all the better.
    — Don Norman

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  153. 0
    5
    10
    15
    J Feb M Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
    Get your data first.

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  155. Bring the fancy shit afterwards.

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  156. Usability is not everything. If usability
    engineers designed a nightclub, it would
    be clean, quiet, brightly lit, with lots of
    places to sit down, plenty of bartenders,
    menus written in 18-point sans-serif,
    and easy-to-find bathrooms. But nobody
    would be there. They would all be down
    the street at Coyote Ugly pouring beer on
    each other.
    — Joel Spolsky

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  157. 4. THEY’RE NOT ALL FIRST TIMERS
    Like chess players understand chessboards,
    people can learn to understand visualisations

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  158. This isn’t immediately understandable for everyone.

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  159. For those used to it, it’s perfect.

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  160. View Slide

  161. View Slide

  162. 5. IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS
    HTML for the win.

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  163. View Slide

  164. Highcharts is excellent and worth the money

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  165. Flotr2 is new, but popular

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  166. D3 is Immense.

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  167. D3 is Immense.

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  168. Rickshaw (based on D3) is powerful

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  169. HTML Charting Libraries
    1. Highcharts
    2. D3
    3. Rickshaw
    4. Flotr 2

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  170. HTML Charting Libraries
    1. Highcharts
    2. D3
    3. Rickshaw
    4. Flotr 2
    7th
    Takeaway

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  171. 6. REFERENCES
    Where can I read more?

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  172. Books
    Stephen Few - “Dashboard Design” & “Now you see it”
    Brian Suda - “Designing with Data”
    Edward Tufte - The first two.
    Blogs
    Stephen Few -> http://perceptualedge.com
    Intercom (me) -> http://blog.intercom.io

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  173. TOPIC
    TIME REMAINING
    INTRO
    KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
    KNOW YOUR DOMAIN
    KNOW YOUR DATA
    KNOW YOUR VISUALS
    KNOW YOUR STYLE
    CLOSING POINTS
    FIN
    FIN

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  174. View Slide

  175. Thanks everyone! – @destraynor

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