{"id":21480,"date":"2024-07-24T12:21:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T16:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dvsnightingstg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=21480"},"modified":"2024-07-24T12:21:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T16:21:09","slug":"step-9-in-the-data-exploration-journey-chart-choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nightingaledvs.com\/step-9-in-the-data-exploration-journey-chart-choices\/","title":{"rendered":"Step 9 in the Data Exploration Journey: Chart Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article is part 10 in a series on data exploration. I began this series while serving as the Director of Education for the Data Visualization Society in 2022, because so many people were asking to hear more about data exploration and the process of learning data vis. A list of previous entries can be found at the end of the article. What began as an exploratory project on the \u201c<\/em>State of the Industry Survey<\/em><\/a>\u201d data grew into a 1.5 year project that produced a 30-page<\/em> <\/a>2023 \u201cCareer Portraits\u201d publication<\/em><\/a> (DVS member login required). This series gives an inside view of the project, illustrates my process for approaching a big project, and demonstrates that no \u201cexpert\u201d is immune from the challenges and setbacks of learning. Let\u2019s see where this journey takes us!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last article<\/a> found us transitioning out of the discovery diamond for the Career Portraits report and into the slow, upward climb of the Build process. In Step 8<\/a>, we were reworking our data and thinking through the layout and constraints for our final deliverable. As part of that, we needed to think through the data visualization more carefully to decide on a final form for each chart that we included in the report.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Diamond-shaped<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

For this article, I\u2019m going to focus on the refinement choices that we made for the visualizations as we moved from early exploration into the build phase for the Career Portraits project. Both the purpose and the audience for our charts shifted during that transition, and it was important to think carefully about what we needed the charts to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Expand phase, charts support data exploration by surfacing patterns and insights to validate and pursue. The primary audience is usually the data visualizer themselves or an audience that is close enough to the project to understand the limitations and nuances of the rough draft stage. As you move into Build, your audience often broadens and your purpose starts to shift from exploration toward communication. This often requires a change of form, and usually involves a lot more annotation and clarification of the chart insights. A Build audience is often not as close to the data, and may not even be all that familiar with data vis, so you\u2019re also looking to refine the visualization to work for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considerations for chart design in Expand vs Build:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expand:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n