Do Not Taste the Rainbow

Like every other pixel of ink on a visualization or dashboard, colors added or colors omitted should be done so consciously.

Unless you’re a delicious fruit flavored candy, there’s no need to exploit the rainbow. Random, over use of color can lead to confusion and mental exhaustion for your users. If you’ve ever been to Las Vegas you have an idea of what I’m talking about…sensory overload is a real thing!

Yet dashboard after dashboard, we see color used as if the designer is paid by the # of colors used or as if they were on Crayola's payroll. Examples can be found all over the web.

Here are 10 guidelines for using (or not using ) color when designing your visualizations. These are considered best practices and not necessarily laws.

1. Use color to make things POP. If everything has a color, nothing pops. Everything seems of similar value and the user isn’t sure where to focus attention
2. Use muted colors for categories instead of bright bold colors.
3. Use low saturation colors for large areas and high saturation colors for small areas.
4. Be consistent with color selections. i.e. if Sales is blue on one visualization, make sales blue on all visualizations
5. Do not use color by entity for a bar chart that already has labels as the colors do not add value:

Bad:

Better

6.  When comparing one entity (i.e. mocha) against other entities (i.e. dark roast, decaf, etc). make the entity of interest a predominant color and mute the others (i.e. use gray)

7.  If using color for dimensions, think about semantics (i.e. grape = purple, cherry = red, lemon = yellow). Not doing this can severely slow or potentially alter an analysis.

Bad:

Better:

8. Similarly, if you are using company colors match them perfectly. The details make the difference. Don’t attempt to eye it. Use a tool like “Get Color” to obtain RGB values.

9.  Limit your dashboard to a single color palette when possible.

10. Be considerate of your color blind audience. Red-Green is the most common, followed by Blue-Yellow. Consider using a color blind palette like the one created by Maureen Stone for Tableau Software:

These are just 10 tips that came to mind. Please leave other tips in the comment section below!

Cheers! 

Kevin Taylor

Do You See What I See?

One of the most important steps in designing visualizations…and one that is all too often ignored entirely…is to make sure that our visualizations deliver the message they were intended to deliver.

We tend to take for granted that our beautiful creations are telling the story we aimed to tell. Even with written words we seem more prone to seek out confirmation. For example, have you ever wanted to fire off an email while on an “emotional peak” but instead you run the email by a confidant to make sure the message is clear and rational?

We should do this with all of our data visualization and dashboard designs.

It’s not enough to rely on our own interpretations because in reality, as the designer our interpretations are often jaded.

We tend to believe the message is clear because we know all the nuts and bolts of the chart or graph…because we designed it. Since we understand the data and since we know the intended message, we can no longer view it from the eye of a “first-time-viewer”.

Additionally, we may invest a significant amount of time and resources to get a particular view created. At this point we tend to build an emotional tie to the work and effort and are less likely to discredit the visualization, even if it doesn’t tell the story in the best manner.

At the end of the day, the main purpose of any visualization is to inform. When we inform, we want to do so in a clear manner that can be understood by our audience.

Ultimately we should aim for understanding that can be achieved without a need for human instruction. When this can’t be accomplished we need to provide the appropriate context to allow our visualizations to stand on their own. This can be done through instructions, annotations, intuitive titles and other features in your dataviz tools.

Just be careful not to take away from the visualizations. Instructions can be suppressed so they don’t take up valuable real estate and so you don’t have to view them once you know how a view works(i.e instructions on demand). Consider Tufte’s Data:Ink Ratio when adding annotations.

But most importantly, ask a co-worker or a friend or whoever, just ask someone else to validate your intended message. Ask them what message they receive rather than stating your intended message and asking for confirmation.

Cheers,

  

Kevin Taylor

Blog About the Blog

Ah yes, my first public blog post. Better not screw it up!

So this 1^st post is simply a blog about my blog. For those of you in the corporate world, think of it as a meeting about a meeting…just try not to dread it as such.

Most of my topics tend to be basic and have most likely been written about before. I will do my best to give credit to the pioneers in this field who have equipped me with this knowledge and have paved the path for my own personal success. There are so many great authors and bloggers in this dynamic industry and I encourage you to seek them out and absorb their thoughts with great passion. I’d try to name them all but I know I’d fail and many of these folks have become a bit like family so I don’t want to risk that.

So what can you expect to find when you follow my blog?

Here’s a rough list of guidelines. Like the guidelines in visualization, they are not laws and I will apologize now, for they will be broken on occasion.

I Will:

•         Post at least 2 blogs every calendar month (will shoot for 4)
•         Keep blogs to 400 words or less (in appreciation of your time)
•         Write with candor and request you do the same in return when leaving comments
•         Write in compliance with what the pioneers before me have laid out as visual best practices
•         Keep my content applicable for beginners and aspiring experts alike
•         Convey my passion for this subject
•         Write about Color, Chart Types, Visualization as a Process, Visual Analytics, Chart Types,     Dashboard Design, Tools, etc.

Visualization, or Visualisation for my friends across the pond, is not exactly rocket science but the devil is in the details. The commonly agreed upon tips, techniques & best practices we’ll discuss can be a differentiator between amateur results and professional results…and ultimately the difference between conveying your message clearly or not. In the end “Seeing is Believing”.

As I am new to the blogosphere, I welcome any suggestions you may have! Anything from subject matter you might want me to write about to functions you see on other blogs that are missing from mine.

And finally, my blogs are merely my opinion. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my past or present employers.

I hope that these posts will serve primarily as a spring board to deeper 2-way conversations.

P.S. I already broke the 400 word “rule”

Please feel free to reach out to me directly or simply follow me on Twitter @KevinTaylorNC

Will post 1st true content on Thursday morning (10/14).

Cheers!

Kevin A. Taylor