Database Reference
In-Depth Information
The value? Aesthetic elements can arouse interest and enhance memory. So long as they do
so without overly hampering cognition, they can be used to achieve the goal.
There are a number of aesthetic elements of every data visualization, and a handful of com-
mon mistakes people make when creating them:
▪ Poor color schemes
▪ Distracting fonts
▪ Many different fonts
▪ Sloppy alignment
▪ Vertical or angled labels
▪ Dark background colors
▪ Thick borders or grid lines
▪ Useless images and clip art
▪ Lazily accepting most software defaults
Consider
Figure 1-7
, which shows two charts that illustrate the growth of the number of pos-
sible moves in a chess game as the game progresses. The default Excel chart is on the left
and a redesigned version is on the right.
