The Journey to Data Fluency - Data Fluency: Empowering Your Organization with Effective Data Communication - page 188

the basic elements of data analysis and data visualization that help someone
move beyond basic interpretation to a deeper appreciation of the message in
the data. Educated data consumers are the foundation of a data fluent orga-
nization because they will appreciate, understand, and use the data products
that are delivered to them. Without this, all the efforts to share data have little
impact. A good data consumer conscientiously listens to and understands the
language of data.
DATA PRODUCT PRODUCERS: THE
SkILLS TO ENABLE EFFECTIVE DATA
COMMUNICATION
Overload, clutter, and confusion are not attributes of information,
they are failures of design. So if something is cluttered, fix your design,
don't throw out information. If something is confusing, don't blame
your victim—the audience—instead, fix the design.
—Edward Tufte
Chapter 5, “Data Authors: Skilled Designers of Data Presentations,” focused on
what it takes to become an effective communicator of data. Knowing how to
visualize data is at the core of this skill set. Good data product authors know
how to choose the right chart and let the data shine. They also are concerned
with the overall message and how different pieces of information build to
support that message. They understand their audience and try to deliver data
in a form that fits into their audience's needs and workflow.
The authors of data products play a critical role in connecting vision to action.
The many design decisions that they make—in choosing what metrics to
show, what matters in a data analysis, and how to communicate it—can cre-
ate alignment and purposeful action in an organization. Or, if done poorly,
the results can lead to confusion and disengagement from important, use-
ful data. A good data product author can effectively communicate in the
language of data.