Visual Analytics

Prof. Ashish Kumar Rathore

 Bad Graphs are Everywhere
Survey Results Non Profit Support

• At every 19%
11%
100%
90%
80%
Arts & culture

company
5% Bored
70% Education
Not great
60% Health
OK 50%
Human

throughout all
Kind of interested 40% services
25% 30% Other
40% Excited
20%

industries and
10%
0%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

by all types of 300.00

Ticket Trend
Have not used
User Satisfaction
Not satisfied at all Not very satisfied

people.
241 Somewhat satisfied Very satisfied Completely satisfied
250.00
202
200.00 184 237 180 177 Feature A 11% 40% 47%
160 149 161 160 Feature B 13% 36% 47%
150.00 184 181 132 139 149 Featur… 5% 24% 34% 33%
160 148 150 156 Featur… 4% 21% 37% 29%
140

• It happens in
100.00 123 126 124 Feature E 6% 23% 36% 28%
104 Feature F 5% 20% 35% 25%
50.00 Featur… 5% 15% 26% 33%
Featur… 6% 23% 32% 25%
0.00 Feature I 5% 17% 27% 27%

places where
Feature J 8% 14% 24% 27% 25%
Feature K 4% 17% 28% 21%
Feature L 4% 23% 27% 16%
Featur… 3% 8% 25% 18% 13%
Featur… 9% 14% 24% 17% 10%
Ticket Volume Received Ticket Volume Processed

you would
Featur… 6% 15% 16% 11%

Our Customers Weighted Performance Index

expect people
1.50
Segment 7 15% 11%
1.00
20%

to know better.
Segment 32% 0.50
6 17%
0.00
10%
Segment 5 18% (0.50)
Segment 4 10%
Segment 3 10% 15% (1.00)
Segment 2 7%
10% (1.50)
Segment 1 16%
9%
Our Business Competitor A Competitor B
US Population Our Customers
Ashish Competitor C Competitor D 2
Competitor E
 Stages

Choose an Focus
Understand appropriate Eliminate Attention Think Like a Tell a Story
the context visual Clutter Where You Designer
display Want It

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 • Exploratory analysis is what you do to
Exploratory understand the data and figure out what might
vs. be noteworthy or interesting to highlight to
others.
Explanatory • hunting for pearls in oysters

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 Where
to
begin?

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Ashish 6
Ashish 7
In which Table does data stand out?

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 Heatmap
Use of color saturation
Table Heatmap
LOW-HIGH

A B C A B C
Category 1 15% 22% 42% Category 1 15% 22% 42%
Category 2 40% 36% 20% Category 2 40% 36% 20%
Category 3 35% 17% 34% Category 3 35% 17% 34%
Category 4 30% 29% 26% Category 4 30% 29% 26%
Category 5 55% 30% 58% Category 5 55% 30% 58%
Category 6 11% 25% 49% Category 6 11% 25% 49%

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 Points

Lines

Slope graph

Graphs Bars

Waterfall

Horizontal bar
chart

Area

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 Cost per mile by miles driven
$3.00

Cost per mile

$2.50

Scatterplot $2.00

$1.50 AVG

$1.00

$0.50

$0.00
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
Miles driven per month

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 Cost per mile by miles driven
$3.00

Cost per mile

$2.50
Modified $2.00

scatterplot $1.50 AVG

$1.00

$0.50

$0.00
0 1,000 17002,000 3,0003300 4,000
Miles driven per month

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 Line Graph
Single series Two series Multiple series
8 8 8
7 A 7 A 7 A
6 6 B 6 B
5 5 5 C
4 4 4
3 3 3 D
2 2 2
1 1 1
0 0 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Lines

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Showing Average

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Slope Graph

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 Bar Charts
• must have a zero baseline

13%

460%

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Bar Width

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 Vertical Bar Chart

Single series Two series Multiple series

8 8 8
7 7 7
6 6 6
5 5 5
A A
4 4 4
B B
3 3 3
2 2 2
CD
1 1 1
0 0 0
Cat 1 Cat 2 Cat 3 Cat 4 Cat 5 Cat 1 Cat 2 Cat 3 Cat 4 Cat 5 Cat 1 Cat 2 Cat 3 Cat 4 Cat 5

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Vertical Stacked Charts

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Waterfall Chart

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Horizontal Bar Chart

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100% Stacked Horizontal Bar Chart

Strongly Disagree | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Strongly Agree

Percent of total
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Survey item A

Survey item B

Survey item C

Survey item D

Survey item E

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Square Area Graph

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Other Types of Graphs

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To be avoided
Pie charts
Donut charts
3D
Secondary axis
Pie Charts are Evil

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Pie Chart with Labeled Segments

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Alternative?

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Donut Chart

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 Never Use 3D

Number of issues

4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

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 Secondary Y‐axis:

generally not a good idea

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Alternatives

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Ashish 33
 Original Graph

300.00

250.00

200.00

150.00

100.00

50.00

0.00
January February March April May June July August September October November December

Ticket Volume Received Ticket Volume Processed

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 Remove Chart Border

300.00

250.00

200.00

150.00

100.00

50.00

0.00
ar
y
ar
y ch ril ay n e l y st be
r
be
r
er be
r
u u ar A p M Ju Ju g u o
m
b
m
n br M Au e m ct
ve ce
Ja Fe pt O
o e
Se N D
Ticket Volume Received Ticket Volume Processed

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 Remove Gridlines

300.00

250.00

200.00

150.00

100.00

50.00

0.00
ar
y
ar
y ch ril ay n e l y st be
r
be
r
er be
r
u u ar A p M Ju Ju g u o
m
b
m
n br M Au e m ct
ve ce
Ja Fe pt O
o e
Se N D
Ticket Volume Received Ticket Volume Processed

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 Remove Data Markers

300.00

250.00

200.00

150.00

100.00

50.00

0.00
ar
y
ar
y ch ril ay n e l y st be
r
be
r
er be
r
u u ar A p M Ju Ju g u o
m
b
m
n br M Au e m ct
ve ce
Ja Fe pt O
o e
Se N D
Ticket Volume Received Ticket Volume Processed

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 Clean Up Axis Labels

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Ticket Volume Received Ticket Volume Processed

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 Label Data Directly

300

250

200
Received
150
Processed
100

50

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

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 Leverage Consistent Colour

300

250

200
Received
150
Processed
100

50

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

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 This visual is not yet complete.
But identifying and eliminating the clutter has brought us a long way in terms
of reducing cognitive load and improving accessibility

Before After

300
300.00
250.00 250
200.00
200
150.00 Received
150
100.00 Processed
50.00 100
0.00
50

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Ticket Volume Received

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Lack of Visual Order

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Modified

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Preattentive Attributes

Source: Adapted from Stephen Few’s Show Me the Numbers, 2004.

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Preattentive attributes in graphs

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Leverage Color to Draw Attention

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 Visual Hierarchy of Information
Of the top design concerns, three are noise-related.

Top 10 design concerns

concerns per 1,000
Engine power is less than expected 12.9
Tires make excessive noise while driving 12.3 Comments indicate that noisy tire issues are most apparent in the rain.
Engine makes abnormal/excessive noise 11.6 Complaints about engine noise commonly cited after the car had not been
Seat material concerns driven for a while.
11.6
Excessive wind noise 11.0 Excessive wind noise is noted primarily in freeway driving at high speeds.

Hesitation or delay when shifting 10.3

Bluetooth system has poor sound quality 10.0
Steering system/wheel has too much play 8.8
Bluetooth system is difficult to use 8.6
Front seat… 8.2

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 Some Tips

Use color consistently Design with Be thoughtful of tone

colorblind in mind that color conveys

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 Position on Page
• Z movement of eyes
• Put the important thing at
the top
• Do not contradict the
conventions E.g. negative
on left and positive on
right
• Keep in mind what your
audience needs to see
and position it accordingly
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Q & A?

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Thank you!

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