Data Storytelling

DS pipeline

a key skill:

the ability to communicate findings and insights, clearly & effectively

"telling a compelling story with your data helps you get your points across effectively" -Informationweek,may 2016

Data story

def

must be true, not just emotionally and factually

data story vs. normal stories

is about a person, a goal, & a challenge

data stories same but backed up by data

Data without a story is of no use

normal stories don't have graphs

Real data storytelling

a way

to share facts

in the form that listeners understand, appreciates & remember the story best

Stories vs. Data

A story beats data!

A story beats a story that includes data!

"Drop-in-the-bucket" effect

Focusing on statistics halt emotional responses to the issue of the story - it shifts to an analytical mind

when people think analytically, it hinders them to act compassionately

people get overwhelm when the scale of the problem is too big

solution: tells one story to avoid drop in the bucket effect

Define & R'ship

  • stories

- Data Storytelling

Data Visualization

What ❓

weaves data and visualization into a narrative

tailored to a specific audience

to convey

credibility in the analytical approach

confidence in the results

a compelling set of insights that is actionable to the audience

story is data driven

  • Data Visualization

Why present visually?

It makes complex data easier to understand

Increases information retention

pulls out key messages and provides clarity

you control the message

it creates something shareable

it creates excitement

Type

Qualitative

only half of the story

purpose

makes sense of data,
but rarely generates insights that stimulate actions

terrific tools to use when telling the data story because they provide credibility and give weight to points being made in the story

communicating findings & insights effectively through graphical means (graphs, charts, mind maps, infographic etc.

What to show?

Comparison

Distribution

Composition

Relationship

changing over time

static

pie chart

tree map

stacked area chart

stacked bar chart

among items

over time

bar chart

circular area chart

line chart

bar histogram

scatter plot

line histogram

scatter plot

if designed a certain way, can inspire listeners to take actions

ideas to display qualitative data

Quantitative

infographic

information about quantities; that is, information that can be measured & written down with numbers

also

focuses on numbers

can be displayed through graphs, charts, tables

displayed over time e.g. line chart

information about qualities; can't actually be measured

also

represented through pictures that explore data in visual way

focus on visualizing themes of data

can tell a story

like quantitative,
can be displayed graphically e.g. bar chart, pie chart. it's tricky

a great way to convey qualitative information on data

photos besides participant's responses

showcase open-ended survey data besides close-ended data

TOOLS

8 commandments

  1. Begin with a Question
  1. End with an insight
  1. Tell a compelling story
  1. Explain with visuals, narrate with words
  1. Be honest & credible
  1. Be clear & concise

remove unnecessary part of the story

  1. know and cater to audience
  1. Provide context

what are audience's interest? e.g. details vs. high-level

compare metrics to industry benchmark

set up story, what will audience learn?

something useful to learn

people remember stories not data

don't sugarcoat negatives

understand better with visuals, graphics

add voice to data

e.g.

plotly

google charts

Tableu

key elements

image

It pairs data, the graph and words

not only describing the graph, but also tell a story to lead audience through the analysis process

Narrative + Data

it helps to explain to your audience

what's happening in data

why a particular insight is important

ample context & commentary is often needed to fully appreciate an insight

Visuals + Data

can enlighten audience to insights

that are not easily seen without graphs

many interesting patterns and outliers in data hidden if not visualized

Narrative + Visual

can engage or even entertain audience

combine the right visuals, narrative and data - the data story can influence and drive change

visualizing data effectively, but more than just create visually appealing data charts

present data the last stage of the pipeline

a structured approach

for communicating data insights

involving 3 key elements

data

visuals

narratives