By Lamprini Drella
The greatest difficulty with using big data is not gathering it; rather, it lies with creating a way for people to comprehend, remember, and act upon it. This is where visual storytelling comes into play.
The Importance of Storytelling in Visualizing Data
Visual storytelling converts data points into a story that builds the connection between logic and emotion. Visual storytelling allows users to relate to the information and comprehend the main ideas much easier than simply reading numbers and interpreting them logically. Examples include charts, infographics, and animated graphics. Instead of merely displaying a table of numbers, a visual storytelling approach turns boring data points into engaging narratives in an easy-to-follow format.
For example, an ESG (environmental, social, and governance) report will include information regarding carbon emission reductions across various regions. By providing this information in visual storytelling format, you create a narrative about social responsibility and improvement. As a result, the users are able to see, feel, and care about what this data is representing.
Structure, Structure, Structure!
To effectively tell a story visually through data, it is essential to have a beginning, middle, and end.
Beginning – Define the context for your data; what was the question or issue resolved through your data?
Middle – Create the drama, highlighting trends, surprises, and key comparisons.
End – Provide a conclusion, highlighting the actions/insights that should be taken following this data.
Incorporating Emotion into Numeric Data
Research indicates that creating images, text and audio working together aids understanding and memory retention. When you tell a story with data, individuals are more aware of patterns, retain the critical insights found in a story and have a better chance of acting on them down the road.
The aim is to create data that is “human” and “create an emotional connection” with it, thereby allowing the audience to relate to it not as just numbers printed on a page, but as a story they can become emotionally involved with.
Openness and Honesty
Honest reporting of data is imperative when creating a story based on the data. Do not attempt to twist a graph, leave off important aspects or only show certain elements of the data. If you are upfront about how data is collected and where it came from, people will have more confidence in the reporting. This also allows for greater credibility and more actionable public statements.
Empowering Your Audience Through Storytelling
By presenting information in a story format, the audience takes ownership of the information. By segmenting extremely complex data into cohesive, systematic stories, the audience can understand the problem or opportunity, make an informed decision, and become actively engaged in the content. This way, all individuals (not only the subject matter experts) will continue to use data in an empowered manner.
How to Take Action Based on Data
Ultimately, the purpose of developing a data story is beyond just to provide aesthetically pleasing graphic presentations—it is also about how to communicate the information to various audiences. In using the images in addition to developing a structured story format to communicate the data, the researcher/organization turns what would have been mere numbers, into life-altering experiences. The researcher/organization creates an educational, inspiring and action-inspiring experiences for all to benefit from.
References
Cairo, A. (2016). The truthful art: Data, charts, and maps for communication. New Riders.
Few, S. (2012). Show me the numbers: Designing tables and graphs to enlighten. Analytics Press.
Knaflic, C. N. (2015). Storytelling with data: A data visualization guide for business professionals. Wiley.
Segel, E., & Heer, J. (2010). Narrative visualization: Telling stories with data. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 16(6), 1139–1148.
Yau, N. (2013). Data points: Visualization that means something. Wiley.
Tufte, E. R. (2006). Beautiful evidence. Graphics Press.
Meyer, R. (2014). Using visual storytelling to improve understanding of research findings. Journal of Research Communication, 12(2), 45–58.
Hullman, J., & Diakopoulos, N. (2011). Visualization rhetoric: Framing effects in narrative visualization. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 17(12), 2231–2240.
