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Lollipop Charts
A lollipop chart is a novel spin on the classic and universally appreciated bar chart. Applicable in the same situations as the illustrious bar chart, lollipops serve the same purpose but have the added benefit of cutting back on unnecessary clutter. When your data has a large number of data points being compared or you’re just aiming for a simpler visualization (that saves on ink!) a lollipop chart stands out as a strong alternative.
Some research (Blasio & Bisantz, 2002) even shows that lollipop design can lead to faster response times and greater accuracy (Gillan & Richman, 1994). Some other studies have shown (Inbar, Tractinsky & Meyer, 2007) that lollipop charts are not viewed as visually appealing as the timeless bar chart. As time goes on and these new minimalists styles of data visualization command more mainstream use, who knows what the future holds?
Below is a chart showing the percent of National GDP each of the top ten states makes up:
A simple, no-frills method that shows the single important value for each data point clearly and quickly, that is the strength of the lollipop chart.
Benchmark Comparisons
Some different ways people can show comparisons to a benchmark is through competitive, strategic, & performance. Competitive benchmarking is emphasized as the most effective form of benchmarking for businesses, allowing them to assess their true success by comparing themselves to competitors. It provides insights into industry trends and competitor strategies. To perform competitive benchmarking effectively, companies should establish clear goals and parameters and leverage digital tools for in-depth analysis, going beyond basic benchmarks like revenue and growth to gain a granular view of competitors’ data for more informed decision-making. Strategic benchmarking focuses on learning from industry leaders and best-in-class companies to understand their success and identify areas for improvement in your own business. It involves analyzing their business models and strategies to optimize various aspects of your own organization, such as marketing, online presence, or finances. Mobile app intelligence tools like Similarweb are highlighted as essential for gaining insights into mobile app trends and competitors’ strategies. Performance benchmarking aims to compare profitability and establish ambitious but achievable goals based on quantitative data comparisons, focusing on performance indicators like price, quality, speed, and reliability, ultimately driving continuous improvement.
is this graph of the “U.S. Debt Rises Irrespective of Who Is in the White House” the benchmark is the debt. In this graph the numbers highlighted in blue at the bottom represent Democrats in office and red represents Republican. In this graph it shows typically it doesnt matter which group is in office because the debt rises no matter what.
In this graph it shows Germanys power consumption throughout the years. The benchmark line is the yellow line indicating renewable shares. Germany is predicting that it will raise from 50% to 80% in the next 10 years.
sources
https://www.statista.com/chart/1505/americas-debt-ceiling-dilemma/
Comparing Products to Find the Best Fit
Comparison charts are a great way for consumers to compare multiple products from a company in order to determine which one is right for them. Let’s take the company Apple for instance. They provide many options on buying an IPad, but how do you know which one to get? There are many different charts that you can look at in to determine which one is best for you. First let’s start with the basics. Think about what you are using the IPad for. If you are simply taking notes then a regular IPad will do just fine. However if you plan to use it for editing or designing you might want to look closer at display sizes and resolution options.
Another way to compare them is how well they perform. Someone who needs this device for high demanding and important work may wanna go with the IPad that has a higher megabit speed.
Lastly, and I think the most important to a lot of people, is how much each device costs. Comparison charts like this allow you to gauge how much this investment could cost you. Charts like the one below or the two above can usually be found on the company’s website or online forums for tech users.
Resources and Further Reading
Using Visualization in Health
The implementation of visualization in health is a very crucial part in simplifying health literacy for the average individual/patient. This is especially true when one considers that patients come from many different cultures and backgrounds, all of which have an abundance of different languages. If done properly, a visualization transcends language barriers and cultural differences between a patient and a healthcare provider. With that being said, the Visualization in health website offers a variety of resources in order to create a proper visualization. To begin with, the website offers many different options for the types of graphs someone can use in order to measure a certain topic. There are disparities graphs and individual risk graphs which measure the likelihood of someone having a certain type of diseases/condition. There are also very simple risk graphs which can tell one their likelihood of contracting a certain type of disease based on the individuals health. As seen above, a simple graph was created in order to show the likelihood of someone contracting type 2 diabetes within their lifetime. The data being shown is very easy to understand and the graph properly conveys the values with proper labels. All of this was done in the span of 2 to 3 minutes and the features were very user friendly. People all around the world can use these features not only to see their likelihood of contracting a certain medical condition but also to find out what their current level of fitness is. All in all, this website can be used by both health professionals and regular patients in order to find out information and is a major part of data visualization.
Tools That May Helps Us Construct Infographics
Infographics are becoming increasingly popular over the years. With most information now being shared online there are some tools that can help you create the best infographic.
- Canva
Canva is a free design webpage that provides hundreds of templates for flyers, posters, presentations, and more. If you do not want to use the templates you are still able to create your own work. They offer many options for graphics or you could upload your own. The website also allows you to share your design so multiple people on your team can work together. Students can sign up for CanvaEducation and get access to even more templates and graphics for free.
2. Procreate
Procreate is an editing and art software that allows users to create artwork and edit images. It can be downloaded in the app store for Apple product users for $10. The app gives you options of multiple tools to draw, write, add images, and crop whatever you want.
3. Adobe Illustrator
Similar to Procreate, Adobe Illustrator or Ai allows you to create just about anything you want. Ai can be downloaded on any desktop, PC, or tablet. It allows you to draw designs, add text, and upload graphics to your canvas. Adobe Illustrator does require you to have an adobe account and is free to download and use. However to unlock more features and tools it costs a monthly subscription $20.99.
Useful Dataset Repositories for Information Visualization.
With the overwhelming of data to sort through to begin working on your infographics, choosing where to start can be daunting. Here are a few websites to get you started:
UC Irvine Machine Learning Repository
Link: https://archive.ics.uci.edu
UCI Machine Learning Repository is a free repository of datasets purposed for machine learning, maintained by UCI. With over 600 datasets excellently catalogued this website has excellent datasets to work from and build ideas if you’re unsure where to start.
If you’re unsure where you want to start and you want a well curated dataset to start off with.
Kaggle
Link: https://www.kaggle.com
Kaggle is a similar resource to the UCI Machine Learning Repository, in that it is also a repository geared to machine learning and A.I. applications, but the breadth is much greater as it is not as well curated as the UCI collection.
Perfect if you have a good idea of the type of data you’re looking for.
Data.gov
Link: https://data.gov
Data.gov is the United States government’s free and open repository featuring data collected from census, state and lower governments, and other various agencies and bureaus from around the country.
Great for information directly related to statistics regarding state and national characteristics.
Insightful Data Visualizations
Link to Image: https://cdns.tblsft.com/sites/default/files/pages/6_after_babylon.png
Infographics are an inventive and creative way to share information with others and hold their attention. The beauty of infographics is that there is no specific way that one should look, leaving creators with hundreds of different layouts to choose from. One such way to share information is through a data visualization, as shown above. Data visualizations are a form of infographics that allow a person to share a set of data through one big image rather than multiple facts and smaller images. In the case of the data visualization above, viewers are able to see just how many languages are spoken in the world. The creator of this visual decided that the best way to do this was to use a map of the world, with each small black dot representing the general area/region of the language. A data visualization like the language one puts into perspective how many different languages are spoken not only around the world, but also in a general area or community, which is something that a lot of people may not have been fully aware of before. If the number of languages were just listed in a chart with the region that it is spoken, it may not have been as fully effective as the one above.
The creators of this data visualization are a part of a project known as After Babylon. Their goal, as stated on their website, was to analyze the “current linguistic situation of the world”. The map above was only one of many different maps and graphs shown on their website to help people fully grasp the language situation in the world. One of the brilliant features on their website was to make some of the maps and graphs interactive, making it easier to pinpoint languages and their origins for a full understanding. Overall, After Babylon’s work of the languages in the world using data visualizations and infographics proved just how important these tools are when it comes to sharing information with your audience and keeping them interested in the topic.
Insightful Data Visualization
Data graphs are an essential way to display information effectively and efficiently. Graphs are essential to everyday and something seen all the time. Visual data has been around since 1786 when William Playfair used charts to showcase British trade and debts. One of the most important aspects of data visualization is clarity. In the image above, it depicts the relationship between student grades in AP Calculus and how well students perform on the test. What makes this infographic successful is the clarity shown throughout it. The infographic is clearly defined by the title given. They also included an interactive aspect to allow individuals to hover each column presented to view more details. By creating an interactive infographic, it causes more engagement due to the information scattered throughout. On the right hand side, they included important key details relating to the study. It allows for individuals to make their own discoveries and dissecting the information. According to UX Planet, “Insights are patterns in the observations we make in the world. They give us an understanding of a specific cause and effect within a specific context. They help us explain our observations.” Insights provide us with a different perspective in order to reframe the problem and provide a different way of thinking. The infographic above represents insightful data due to the offer of understanding of the topic.
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The Importance Of Infographics and Data Visualizations
https://visme.co/blog/best-data-visualizations/
Infographics is an everyday part of our lives. There are many instances where it can be used to aid others in understanding certain complex concepts through the use of visual aids. It can be used anywhere from teachers trying to teach a class about a certain topic, or a marketing firm presenting a new product. One such method that uses infographics includes the use of data visualizations to not only observe but also predict the current course of asteroids in space. According to Visme, NASA’s eyes on asteroids visualizations ” provides up-to date information on the position and trajectory of asteroids”. This means that NASA is able to use the data visualization to possibly see any threats that could be approaching our planet and prepare ahead of time. Furthermore, as shown by the picture above, the data visualization contains a plethora of information about many asteroid paths with their names and projected paths. There are even some planets that are within our solar system such as Jupiter. The abundant amount of information being shown in such an easy to understand manner is only possible because of infographics. To add on to this, there is also a higher chance of the information being shown to be retained by the audience because of its simplicity. It has long been known that people are typically more likely to remember information that leave a strong impression on them, and portraying a 3D real time model of space is definitely one way to do that. However, predicting asteroids isn’t the only thing that infographics are used for. There are also many data visualizations that analyze the social or historical aspects of society such as the seven wonders. With that being said, Infographics is a major resource that can be utilized in many ways in order to learn, retain, and predict information.
Sankey Visualizations
A Sankey Diagram is a visualization that Is used to depict a flow from one set of values to another. They help locate the most important contributions to a flow. Sankey visualizations are best used when the topic is energy, time, or money.
Although there is a ton of information presented in this visualization and it seems cluttered, I think this is the most effective way to view this data. This visualization is super effective considering that there are so many different aspects on this chart that are combined into one piece. Firstly, the energy system is broken down into the types of energy on the left hand side. The visualization allows you to click on each tab. When you click on each type of energy, it shows you what percentage of energy is expended and where it goes. For example, when you click on solar energy it shows you that solar energy accounts for 0.42% of all energy expended, and that 0.17% goes to electricity, and 0.25% goes to residential use. The infographic then breaks it down even more. It shows the amount of energy that is unused, and used from each category (electricity, residential, commercial, industrial, transportation). The thickness of the flow indicates the amount of energy. For example, you can see that most of the energy from transportation is unused because a larger flow moves from transportation to unused energy. All in all, there is so much information that can be digested from this visualization. It appears to be a lot, but when you break it down into pieces it is very effective. I believe this is the best way to display this information.