For this week, I found an interesting
article about the visual representation of data. It turns out, the way
data is presented has a big impact on how memorable it is, and the
effect is often counter-intuitive:
Questions:
1. Do you prefer attending lectures
with presentations, which include lots of pictures and charts, or
lectures where the lecturer tells a story without referring to
distracting slides? Which do you find more memorable?
2. Should charts be first and foremost
accurate representations of data, or easily readable at the cost of
accuracy?
3. Is it a good idea to give up design
consistency in the types of charts used for example in scientific
magazines or publications, in favor of custom and unusual types of
charts, which seem to be more memorable, as the articles suggests?
4. Have you got any tips on how to
present data in an appealing form?
1. Too many slides can be fairly distracting, especially if they're not easy to understand and require too much focus from the listeners. Trying to understand what's actually shown on the charts can mean you won't focus too much on other parts of the presentation - including the lecturer him/herself.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there are cases where such distraction is a welcome improvement over a lecturer speaking in monotone voice and boring his listeners, but that's another problem entirely.
2. Some degree of accuracy is necessary, but not to the point of being unable to grasp what is being shown in the first place. It's always possible to refer to the sources in search for more data, but if initial expression is confusing and off-putting, average person won't bother to do so. "Easy to learn, hard to master" might
not have referred to this type of situation, but I find it fairly fitting. If people want to learn more through their own effort, they will - but basics must be easy to grasp.
3. I'm not quite convinced by this article. There's a reason those types of charts are commonly used in publications and it's not because they're harder to use. Custom designed chart can work well, but they can also backfire. Going overboard with them can also ruin the novelty effect they have in the first place, thus reducing their desired effect.
4. I don't think I do. I tend to stick with "proven" solutions instead of experimenting. I suppose "beware of information overload" is as much as I can say - no matter how good these custom designed charts are, having too many of them will bore the listeners anyway. Detailed data should be limited to supplementary materials, not form the core of the presentation.
While no one likes bad presentations, some people still have a preference for learning with, or without visual aids. It has to do with the way we process information and it's an individual trait. I wonder if this affects what types of charts one prefers and if so, how?
DeleteAvoiding information overload is certainly good advice. Although, interestingly, according to the article: "Visualizations that were visually dense proved memorable, as did those that used many colors."
I strongly agree with Wiktor's opinion that "some people still have a preference for learning with, or without visual aids. It has to do with the way we process information and it's an individual trait.".
DeleteDuring preparing a data visualisation I try to think about satisfying a target recipient of prepared visualization. Sometimes the target recipient is only one person from a listening group. I remember a case when I had to persuade members of a customer's company for starting one project. My boss ordered me to prepare some colorful charts because the headmaster of customer's company likes such visualisation. Later, after meeting, I had to deliver additional charts for other listeners to better show details (less colorful with more number of figures).
In similar way I probably would use different charts for presenting the same data for teenagers and experienced specialists in particular areas.
But I'm not a good presenter so don't ask me about details too much :-).
Ad.1. That is true. I find it hard to listen to the presentation overloaded with slides. I think that it is better to prepare a good speech structure and refer to pictures/slides where it is suitable not the opposite (prepare slides and try to present them).
DeleteIn my opinion everything depends on quality of presentation.If presentation is good and like Waldek said and author prepare slides based on good speech structure then that presentation can increase effect of presented subject. We need to remember that most of the people are visualizers :)
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ReplyDelete1. I prefer attending lectures with presentation which include lots of pictures and slides. But for studying home I prefer having raw data. Then I may analyse it in the most interesting way for me.
ReplyDelete2. It depends from a particular chart. I think that an important thing for not accurate charts is writing this fact in a comment.
3. I think that the main goal for scientific articles isn't to be only memorable - more important is describing discovered facts. So I'm in favour of standardizing ways of visualisation data in scientific articles but I'm also for decorating visualisations in other cases. But for both cases - I think that the most important thing is restraint connected with common sense.
4. I can say "use your mind" and similarly to Kamil "beware of information overload". Sometimes it is better to divide data for a few charts instead placing all information in one. Last but not least tip is if you may you should ask your recipient how he want to see you data.
Yes, charts which simplify data should be marked as such.
DeleteYou might also have to explain how to read a custom chart if it's not self-explanatory.
I really appreciate when a topic is presented in an accessible way and includes some visual aids like charts, graphs etc. I think that if anyone presents a topic he needs to give a general overview before going into details. This is the place where videos, pictures or other elements catch the attention of the viewer and are necessary to make him interested in the topic. After this point I personally like to be presented with some raw, topic-specific data to further expand the point that the person presenting the topic is trying to make.
ReplyDeleteAs for the approach on if and when to hide the complex details, that really depends on the target group that I think will be interested in my work. As a general rule I like to present data in a simple, easily readable way as I know that such an approach would lead to having a bigger audience that would understand the topic. Moreover, I never create documents that have a big block of text without any visual aids (irrelevant whether this is a simple table, a diagram or a graph), as I feel that this leads to losing the attention to detail of the reader.
So all in all, I highly recommend using simple visual aids (even at the cost of hiding somewhat important details). In my opinion benefits of ensuring that the viewer will catch the general premise of the text is far more important than presenting an accurate representation of data. I also prefer using a variety of forms of visual aids (every user has his favorite way of having data presented).
1. Do you prefer attending lectures with presentations, which include lots of pictures and charts, or lectures where the lecturer tells a story without referring to distracting slides? Which do you find more memorable?
ReplyDeleteI think that I prefer the stories. It’s quite hard to prepare presentation slides that could be easy memorable. Usually I find myself having troubles understanding overloaded presentations and people do overload their presentations by default.
I would much favour to listen and follow with understanding instead of being forced to solve what the author wanted to share with tons of diagrams.
Exhaustive diagrams, pictures and charts could serve well as an additional piece of information that is given at the end of the presentation for attenders that need to or have time to dig into the details.
2. Should charts be first and foremost accurate representations of data, or easily readable at the cost of accuracy?
It depends on the specifics of the cause or topic. Preparing charts about quantum particles you’d expected to be precise as those particles require you to be while presenting let’s say some overall population statistics doesn’t require depicting every individual view.
You must always choose wisely the optimal level of data accuracy that would not swallow the readability.
3. Is it a good idea to give up design consistency in the types of charts used for example in scientific magazines or publications, in favor of custom and unusual types of charts, which seem to be more memorable, as the articles suggests?
You do not need to give up consistency to gain memorability I believe. I can even state that you should avoid inconsistency as much as possible.
But I do not refer to design consistency found in majority of publications.
What I am trying to say is that it is good to be consistent across your work and that I think is the most important.
4. Have you got any tips on how to present data in an appealing form?
In the first place you must have the data that is appealing. Adding a proper presentation form is easy then. Why bothering making invaluable or boring data appealing? It would be a time waist for you and for the poor audience :) forced to spend time watching.
"Why bothering making invaluable or boring data appealing? It would be a time waist for you and for the poor audience :) forced to spend time watching."
Delete...or it could be an "attention grabber" as someone commented above ;)
But why grabbing someone's attention whey you do not have anything valuable to share? I's simply dishonest. :)
Delete1. It depends on the subject complexity, for example if I read book from programming I prefer to read only text, sometimes example of code (but this code is clear text) but if I read for example book about management I prefer a lot of presentations, images which shows me for example flow of data, roles. In both cases transfer of information is memorable, so as you can see not every information has to be for me "colorful".
ReplyDelete2. Again it depends what this charts have to show me. For example if i need to see trading analytics i prefer high accuracy (even each bar in the graph can have own numbers, so this chart can be on the whole page), but if i need to see for example only percentage distribution of something - then accuracy doesn't matter to me.
3. Yes, of course but only if accuracy is not important (see point 3) or this chart don't show any flow. For example periodic table or human anatomy is good example of custom scientific chart.
4. At this moment e-books are more popular than regular books so you have big area to use many multimedia things like animations, interactive schemas and much more. For example I like very much PDF with 3D option. This method help me more understand many things (for example lift force on the plane) and I looking forward to see more books like this method in the future.
1. Do you prefer attending lectures with presentations, which include lots of pictures and charts, or lectures where the lecturer tells a story without referring to distracting slides? Which do you find more memorable?
ReplyDeleteI can't choose because I think that the best lecturer is that where both of this thinks are balanced. The ideal lectures for me is that where lecturer tells a story but it need to be interesting story and also he/she use interesting slides but this slides should have only essential and key information.
2. Should charts be first and foremost accurate representations of data, or easily readable at the cost of accuracy?
It's depend of that because some of the data is better presenting on the chart like for example some financial data but other not
3. Is it a good idea to give up design consistency in the types of charts used for example in scientific magazines or publications, in favor of custom and unusual types of charts, which seem to be more memorable, as the articles suggests?
I don't know that it is good or bad Idea to give up design consistency but when you do that maybe you will be memories but in which way good or bad :)
Another think when you give up with consistency it can implicate situation that no one will understood your chart:)
4. Have you got any tips on how to present data in an appealing form?
When you have good understanding subject which you wan to present it is half of success. Like I wrote in point one you need to do good presentation where slides will have essential and key information and you need to use interesting stories when you refer that subject.
I find presentation more memorable when the lecturer can attract my attention on the topic whilst the slides present the main idea using intuitive pictures relevant to what lecturer speaks about. Making information more memorable is possible by extending it with visuals that do not distract your attention from the lecturer but rather help you to remember presentation better and reinforce your knowledge.
ReplyDeleteAs regards the second question, it highly depends on data. I agree with Olivia from the article that a graph can by simple or complex, and they both can be memorable. But if I had to outweigh these two approaches, I would rather chose ease of reading at the cost of accuracy because during a presentation people are only going to remember the main idea and the lecturer can always refers to the details. I think it is more reasonable than overwhelm audience with too much information.
I agree that it is sometimes good idea to give up design consistency in favor of custom and unusual types of charts which seem to be more memorable but.... hardly anyone does it.
I have no any special advices nor tips on how to present data in more memorable way. I usually do it intuitively putting great afford to make them the most readable as possible. It is wise to go deeper into the functions which particular program for presenting your data offers and not using only the default ones.
1 Definitely easier remember the story told by the teacher. Well, if it uses and relies on the slides. History has to be really fun and interesting. In fact, it depends on the nature of the faculty.
ReplyDelete2 Charts should be clear and present only the data that are needed and visible. The plot should be constructed good. The data presented nicely on different types of charts. Graphs are shown in two or in three dimensions.
3 Resignation of consistency can lead to misinterpretation of the project. Personally I am against This type of data presentation.
4 Not all data can be presented in an attractive form. Are you sure you spend the right amount of time. The presentation should include diagrams, photos, videos. For all things should be prepared in an interesting story.
1. I cannot say which one would I prefer since it depends on covered topic. Sometimes charts and tables are crucial (e.x. when presentation is covering spatial information). There are topic where the best solution is to talk it over and it would be hard to make any usefull graphics.
ReplyDeleteBut I would say that in general more memorable are pictures and charts than text and words.
2. If the presentation is for execs in business then I guess this statement is correct. For a scientific presentation propobly it woudn't be a good idea to generlise.
3. That depends on who is talking about it. For a graphics designer at a magazin it wouldn't be a good idea, whereas for a author of an article propobly it would be nice to have a possibility to have free hand on how the article will be presented.
4. It's good to have a summary of each set of data and then choose critical few information. I would guess that bout five to seven most importatnt points should be on each slide, not more. Very importatnt is to have simple graphics that show relation between data.
1. Do you prefer attending lectures with presentations, which include lots of pictures and charts, or lectures where the lecturer tells a story without referring to distracting slides? Which do you find more memorable?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion everything depends on skills of lecturer and type of a lecture. If a presenter is a great orator then he/she will not need any visual aids to get to the audience and be remembered . For example think about prof. Bralczyk or prof. Miodek. I can listen to them for a really long time because they are such good storytellers and I usually remember presented problems. Of course in case of many topics even minimal visual aid is recommended especially when you want to present some logic or numbers.
2. Should charts be first and foremost accurate representations of data, or easily readable at the cost of accuracy?
The most important think is to know your public and adjust the form of presentation to their level of knowledge and perception. Lecture aimed at mass audience should rather be easy to understand without presenting too many irrelevant details which could cause discouragement. In opposite situation where we have to deal with experts expecting precise data it would be wise to be accurate.
3. Is it a good idea to give up design consistency in the types of charts used for example in scientific magazines or publications, in favor of custom and unusual types of charts, which seem to be more memorable, as the articles suggests?
As far as it is still understandable and in compliances with design standards it could be good solution.On the other hand I agree with Grzegorz that memorability isn't the main factor in scientific articles. It's more important to precisely present findings and proof them using proper methods and figures.
4. Have you got any tips on how to present data in an appealing form?
Using "less is more" approach and associate presented data with meaningful visual elements like icons or symbols with adequately choosed colors may play a key role in perception process of audience.
1. Do you prefer attending lectures with presentations, which include lots of pictures and charts, or lectures where the lecturer tells a story without referring to distracting slides? Which do you find more memorable?
ReplyDeleteI think that telling a story is much more memorable for me than charts and slides full of text but nice presentation with few significant pictures also makes it easier to recall.
2. Should charts be first and foremost accurate representations of data, or easily readable at the cost of accuracy?
For me it is more important to have information that is more readable even at the cost of accuracy because after few weeks no one will remember accurate numbers but nicely presents key points can be remembered for a lifetime.
3. Is it a good idea to give up design consistency in the types of charts used for example in scientific magazines or publications, in favor of custom and unusual types of charts, which seem to be more memorable, as the articles suggests?
It is great idea as presentation that is totally different from all seen before will be remembered for much longer.
4. Have you got any tips on how to present data in an appealing form?
The best idea in my opinion is to use movies as a way of presenting facts. Short move with some kind of scientific pathways or mechanism is much more readable that presentation full of text that no one will even try to read.
1. Do you prefer attending lectures with presentations, which include lots of pictures and charts, or lectures where the lecturer tells a story without referring to distracting slides? Which do you find more memorable?
ReplyDeleteThe best presentations I've ever seen did not include any special prepared pictures or charts. I can mention Walter Lewinw ho is well known for his popular physics lectures for MIT. During these lectures, we will not see any specially power point presentation just some equation on a blackboard, some brilliant scientific experiment and one great storyteller.
2. Should charts be first and foremost accurate representations of data, or easily readable at the cost of accuracy?
In my opinion readability is the most important.
3. Is it a good idea to give up design consistency in the types of charts used for example in scientific magazines or publications, in favor of custom and unusual types of charts, which seem to be more memorable, as the articles suggests?
I do not like this idea. I think scientific magazines is not a fashion magazine so consistency is important.
4. Have you got any tips on how to present data in an appealing form?
Simplicity is the quality that measure the true value of any work so keeping the presentation simple and readable is a kay to successful presentations.