Initially, my default visualization for the data was to create a graph or Cartesian chart. The information was already provided in Excel format so naturally using Excel to create a graph should be simple enough. WRONG! Working with the data given to create a chart or a visual aid proved to be more difficult than expected. The New Client Tier Share summary had five categories of information. This information did not offer much context to create a story or inspire imagination, probably by design! Yau (2013) makes the analogy of visualization to cooking, you are the chef, and the data points are the ingredients-make a delicious meal! Time to get cooking. Yau explains key components of visualization that include visual cues, coordinate system, scale, and context. These are the ingredients for a delectable data meal.
Next step, begin measuring ingredients. Using the four components, I created a Cartesian coordinate system using all the data points which required a combined bar and line chart. The next challenge was being able to depict the data points that have large disparities in value. For instance, the number of accounts between several tiers were significant in value which made the bar graph ineffective in terms of visualization as a measurement of accounts. Because of this, I decided to use the bars as a visual cue to identify which tier had the higher value. I still wanted to depict the number value and percentage of accounts, but I did not think this information was relevant to include on the graph. I simply added this information below their respective tier. Next step, boil the water for the coordinate system.
My next focus on this chart was to include the revenue data. Again, struggling with the context of this information I wanted to create something for readers to gather about New Client Tier summary. Yau (2013) notes “if your audience is unfamiliar with the data, it's your job to clarify what values represent and explain how people should read your visualization” (p.94). I decided to use the revenue data points with a coordinate system. The idea was to align the revenue data to their respective tier in a manner that was unrelated or uncorrelated to the number of accounts bar in terms of determining a trend. This aspect of the meal might have been undercooked, depending on how you like your noodles!
Finally, the garnish and sauce. I used three colors and an Arial Black font. This was meant to keep it simple and easy to read. The differing colors indicate categorical data, and the numbers represent the value of each category (Yau, 2013). I also removed the axis data scale and labels to reduce the amount of text on the slide. Overall, the goal was to create a chart with context to inform an audience. This chart depicts the New Client Tier Share data using four components that include visual cues, coordinate system, scale, and context. The last responsibility of the chef is determining what can be improved for the next meal. In this case it was the data.
To improve the context of the chart, the data can be more explicit and measured by length of time. This would eliminate percentages metrics and offer more clarity in the deviation between tiers. Yau (2013) notes, “the magnitude of change between segments of time is more interesting than the value at each point” (p.154). The current information shows a dramatic difference between tiers, but what might be more informative is the time element.
References
Yau, N. (2013). Data points. Visualization means something. John Wiley & Sons.
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