Book Review:

Storytelling with
Data
Oluwadare Akinyera
Jan 2021
About the Author
Cole has a BS in Applied Math and an MBA,
both from the University of Washington.
She is Founder & CEO of storytelling with data,
a popular blog that We help people and
organizations create graphs that make sense and
weave them into compelling, action-inspiring
stories.
She worked as an Analytics Manager at Google,
she used a data-driven approach to inform
innovative people programs and management
practices.
 How the book is organised
• introduction
• chapter 1 the importance of context
• chapter 2 choosing an effective visual
• chapter 3 clutter is your enemy!
• chapter 4 focus your audience’s attention
• chapter 5 think like a designer
• chapter 6 dissecting model visuals
• chapter 7 lessons in storytelling
• chapter 8 pulling it all together
• chapter 9 case studies
• chapter 10 final thoughts
Introduction
Ineffective graphs

Six lessons to learning to tell stories with data:

• Understand the context
• Choose an appropriate visual display
• Eliminate clutter
• Focus attention where you want it
• Think like a designer
• Tell a story
Understand the
context
Lesson 1
The Importance of context
• To be successful in data visualization you need to spend time in understanding the

context.

• Successful storytelling with data is based on explanatory analysis

• Before successfully visualizing data, you need to know

– Who (audience), what(information your audience needs) and How (manner and

method of communication)
Consulting for context: Questions to ask
• You may need to ask more questions to

get a better idea of the context.

• It helps in eliminating any assumptions.

• It is important in structuring your

communication..
The 3 Minute Story, Big Idea, Storyboarding
These are ways to convey your “so what’ ideas in a concise and succinct manner

• 3-minutes story – How do you intend to tell your story in 3 minutes?

• Big Idea – A single sentence that contains your main point and what’s at stake.

• Storyboarding – A visual outline of the information you want to share

Choose an appropriate
visual display
Lesson 2
Types of visual styles
Simple Text Scatterplot
Tables Lines
Heatmap Slope graphs
Vertical bars Horizontal bars
Stacked vertical bars Stacked horizontal bars
Waterfall Square Area
Simple Text
• It is used when you have 1 or 2
figures to share.
• Make numbers prominent
• Use few supporting words to make
your point
• Always remember context
• Make use of a graph or table if
more data is involved
Tables
• Important for comparing values
• Great for communicating multiple
different units of measure
• Always make your data stand out
• Avoid using heavy borders.
Heatmap
• It makes use of visual cues within a
table

• The colored cells convey relative

magnitude of numbers (color
saturation)

• It helps to reduce mental processing

involving many numbers
Line graphs
• It is used in plotting continuous data

• It can also show series of data(single, two or

multiple series)

• The data should be plotted in consistent

intervals
Scatterplot

• It is useful in showing relationship

between two 2 things

• Commonly used in the scientific

field
 Slopegraph
• They are useful for points of

comparison e.g., time periods

• The lines that connect gives a rate

of change of values

• Usually pack a lot of information

Vertical bars

• They are very common and easy to

interpret

• Always start from a baseline of zero

• They can be in single , two or

multiple series
Stacked Bars
• It is used to compare totals across

categories

• They are used in analysing

subcomponents

• It can sometimes be difficult to

compare values
Waterfall
• They are pulled pieces of a bar

chart which makes it easy to focus

on one component at a time

• It shows the change from the

starting point to the resulting end

point
Horizontal bar charts

• They are useful in analysing

categorical data

• Extremely easy to interpret

• They can occur in single, two or

multiple series
Stacked Horizontal Bars
• They are similar to stacked vertical

bars.

• It shows the total across different

categories.

• They are very useful for visualizing

survey data.
Area

• They are quite difficult to

understand

• They are useful in visualizing

numbers of broad magnitude

Visuals to avoid

• Pie Charts

• 3D visuals

• Donut Charts

• Secondary y-axis
Eliminate clutter
Lesson 3
 Cognitive Load

• It is referred to as the mental effort that’s required to learn a new information

• It is also referred to as the amount of mental processing power our audiences

use to interpret our information

• Effective data storytellers need to think about reducing cognitive load of their

audience
Clutter

• This can lead to excessive cognitive load

• This happens when visual elements that take up space but don’t increase

understanding

• They make visuals more complicated or complex

Gestalt Principle of Visual Perception
• It is based on the principle of how we perceive information around us
• There are six principles which include
– Proximity
– Similarity
– Enclosure
– Closure
– Continuity
– Connection
Proximity

• Humans tend to think of objects

that are physically close together as

belonging to part of a group

Similarity

• Objects that are of similar color,

shape, size or orientation are

perceived as related to or part of a

group
Enclosure

• People think of objects that are

physically enclosed together as

belonging to part of a group

Closure

• People like things to be simple and

fit in the constructs that are already

in their heads
Continuity

• Similar to closure

• The eyes seek the smoothest path

and naturally create continuity in

what we see even where it may not

explicitly exist
Connection

• We tend to think of objects that are

physically connected as part of a

group
Lack of Visual order
• Audience feel burdened when your
design is out of order

• These factors can improve Design

aesthetics
– Right Alignment

– White space

– Use of contrast
Use of Contrast
Decluttering Steps
1. Remove Chart Border
2. Remove Gridlines
3. Remove Data Markers
4. Clean up axis labels
5. Label data directly
6. Leverage consistent color
1. Remove Chart Border
2. Remove Gridlines
3. Remove Data Markers
4. Clean axis labels
5. Label data directly
6. Leverage a consistent color
Draw attention where
you want it
Lesson 4
Types of Memory

• Iconic Memory

• Short term Memory

• Long term Memory

Preattentive Attributes

• They enable our audience to see what we want them to see before they even

know they’re seeing it.

• They can help to “create a visual hierarchy” in your presentation.

• Important preattentive attributes include: orientation, shape, length hue(color),

width, size, curvature, added mark enclosure, intensity, spatial position motion.
Preattentive attributes in a text
Preattentive attributes in a graph
Think like a designer
Lesson 5
Think like a designer
• Make visual affordances to indicate to our audience how to use and interact with our
visualizations by
– highlight the important stuff
– eliminate distractions
– create a clear hierarchy of information

• It should be accessible to people from different technical backgrounds by

– Not being overly complex
– Thoughtful use of text

• Pay attention to your aesthetic design

– Being smart with color
– Pay attention to alignment
– Utilize white space
Think like a designer
Gain Acceptance from your audience by
• Articulating benefits of the new or different approach
• Show the side by side
• Provide multiple options and seek input
• Get a vocal member of your board and seek input
Tell a story
Lesson 6
 How to tell an effective story
• Effective story captures your audience attention.

• Effective stories should have a:

– Beginning (the plot)

– Middle(twists)

– End(call to action)

• Utilize the power of repetition to help our stories stick with our audience

• Tactics such as horizontal and vertical logic, reverse storyboarding, and seeking a fresh
perspective can be employed to help ensure that our stories come across clearly in our
communications.
Summary
Summary
• Understand the context - Build a clear understanding of who you are communicating to, what
you need them to know or do, how you will communicate to them.
• Choose an appropriate visual display – Utilize visuals such as Simple Text, Scatterplot, Tables,
Lines, Heatmap, Slope graphs, Vertical bars, Horizontal bars, Stacked vertical bars, Stacked
horizontal bars, Waterfall and Square Area
• Eliminate clutter - Identify elements that don’t add informative value and remove them from
your visuals.
• Focus attention where you want it - Employ the power of preattentive attributes like color, size,
and position to signal what’s important
• Think like a designer – Utilize affordances, accessibility and gain acceptance from your
audience

• Tell a story – Craft a clear story, utilize repetition and employ tactics like vertical,
horizontal and reverse storyboarding
Sometimes dreams
. are wiser than waking.

Black Elk – Oglala Sioux Medicine Man

Thank
You