The document provides 10 principles for effective data visualization and dashboard design on glass tables. It discusses choosing the right visualization for different types of data, using colors and fonts effectively, following principles of visual hierarchy and proximity, leveraging diagrams and flows, and using alerts and a dramatic approach when needed. It also recommends starting with paper prototypes, using simple tools like PowerPoint, and following current design trends like flat and minimalist styles.
William Playfair (22 September 1759 – 11 February 1823), a Scottish engineer and political economist, served as a secret agent on behalf of Great Britain during its war with France.[1] The founder of graphical methods of statistics,[2] Playfair invented several types of diagrams: in 1786 the line, area and bar chart of economic data, and in 1801 the pie chart and circle graph, used to show part-whole relations.[3] As secret agent, Playfair reported on the French Revolution and organized a clandestine counterfeiting operation in 1793 to collapse the French currency.
Data visualization has been created for human consumption, so understanding human perception and cognition is key (perception, attention, learning, memory, concept formation, problem solving…).
Simple fact: Human brains have a much harder time understanding complex data when it is encoded in numbers and text compared to graphics, but human vision can “understand” an image in 13 ms and process hit while the next image is displayed (source: M.Potter-MIT)
Visually displayed (using graphs, shapes, color, orientation…), data is easier to grasp and analyze, making it faster for decision makers to find patterns, including new and hidden, and to understand even difficult concepts.
Choosing the wrong chart type, or defaulting to the most common type of data visualization could confuse users or lead to data misinterpretation.
A graph might look great, but that doesn’t mean it presents information in a way that can be easily understood and analysed. And there’s nothing more frustrating than staring at a chart wondering what you’re supposed to get out of it.
In today’s day and age, people have plenty of options for what to consume and how to consume it. Whether they use a Kindle, a newspaper, or a hardcover book, these platforms all have one thing in common, at least in North America: They are meant to be read from left to right and top to bottom. While this remains an important point for desktop dashboard design, it’s even more essential for mobile. Place the most important details from top left to bottom right. This is where the user’s eyes will naturally start, so get them on the right track
Right to left started being popularized the use of stone tablets. People throughout history, broadly speaking, have been more right-handed. When a right-handed person takes a chisel and hammer to a stone, he tends to hold the chisel with his left hand and hammer with his right. So it makes sense to move from right to left (RTL). Later, when paper became a more popular medium for writing, people started preferring LTR because writing RTL increases smudging.
One of the most subtle yet essential dashboard guidelines, this principle boils down to balance. White space – also referred to as negative space – is the area of blankness between elements featured on a dashboard design.
Context : An alert is commonly defined by the following factors: metric (e.g. revenue), dimension (e.g. time), delta (e.g month over month change), scope (e.g. Northeast region, Service line), threshold (e.g. increase or decrease of 10%).
Cogency: (pertinence) Is the alert actionable? In the best cases, alerts should point users to both the drivers of the alert and the actions that can address the situation, Are the alerts so granular and/or frequently triggered that users will get alert fatigue? Excessive use of alerts will undermining their credibility
Communication:Is the alert placed in context? Does the sophistication of your alerts match the sophistication of your audience?
Control: Can the user identify the important alerts for them, and avoid the others?
The International Typographic Style, also known as the Swiss Style, is a graphic design style that emerged in Russia, the Netherlands, and Germany in the 1920s and was further developed by designers in Switzerland during the 1950s.[1] The International Typographic Style has had profound influence on graphic design as a part of the modernist movement. It emphasizes cleanness, readability, and objectivity.[