"Data Visualization- Cognitive Psychology and Design Principles for Effective Visual Communication”

1. Data Visualization
Cognitive Psychology and Design
Principles for Effective Visual
Communication
Dan Sweet
November 15, 2012

21. What is the business question?
Does your solution get used? Why not?

22. Workplace Challenges
• Communication
• Influence others more senior than you
• Effectively and persuasively share analysis
However, the bulk of the people we work with
are human. Humans are emotional creatures of
habit and don’t always listen to reason.

23. Role of the analyst
• Rational objective analysis
• Accurate
• Impartial
• Dispassionate
ASSUMPTION: Objective Reality Exists
Does it?

27. Deciding on having surgery…
90% chance of survival
10% chance of death
Will you have the surgery?

30. Problem with humans
• Action preferred over accuracy
• Ambiguity is inherent in life
• Ambiguity ≈ Risk
• Risk  Negative Emotions
• Motivation: Pursuing Gains or Avoiding Losses
• Avoiding Losses > Pursuing Gains
Result is a tendency to make decisions on feelings
instead of knowledge
“Human Based Visual Communication” presentation by Dan Young – Corporate CMK

31. Much Information Processing is:
•Holistic
•Low Involvement
•Habitual
•Affect/Emotion Driven
•Driven by past experiences
“Human Based Visual Communication” presentation by Dan Young – Corporate CMK

32. Low Involvement Logic
Benefits of graphics that can be processed at this
level:
• Fluent Processing Of Highly Accessible
Information
• Feelings of Familiarity
• Approach Behavior
Key Question:
Given the question and the broader communication
context, is your graphic “message” intuitive?
“Human Based Visual Communication” presentation by Dan Young – Corporate CMK

33. Tell a Story
• Integrate information presented
• Create a more concrete and familiar context
• Lead to increased fluency/ease of processing the
information
• Create relevant emotions/affect
• Help link to existing knowledge
Make your message more memorable and likely to
impact behavior
“Human Based Visual Communication” presentation by Dan Young – Corporate CMK

34. Design Principles

35. Data-Ink Ratio

37. 2D vs. 3D

38. Why is 3D “harder”?
“Human Based Visual Communication” presentation by Dan Young – Corporate CMK

39. http://www.slideshare.net/janwillemtulp/data-visualization-5724069

40. http://www.slideshare.net/janwillemtulp/data-visualization-5724069

41. http://www.slideshare.net/janwillemtulp/data-visualization-5724069

42. http://www.slideshare.net/janwillemtulp/data-visualization-5724069

43. Accessibility

44. Using
Color

45. Application

46. Redesigned credit: www.perpetualedge.com

48. Credits
Cognitive psychology elements from a Dan Young
(Corporate CMK) presentation titled “Human Based
Visual Communication” presented at the 2011
Statistics Symposium.
Books written by Edward Tufte and Stephen Few
Stephen Few’s site: perceptualedge.com
http://www.slideshare.net/janwillemtulp/data-
visualization-5724069