The Context of Data Visualization - Data Visualization: A Successful Design Process - page 22

But what have we here? There is a yellow Drawn bar representing the value 1 and
this appears to be more than half the length of a red Aston Villa bar representing 4 .
How can that be?
The designers of this visual have chosen to include the category labels within the
bar's length, thus completely distorting the values being represented. Now, this is
possibly one of the least interesting statistics you'll come across, and I'm assured the
world will not stop turning as a result of this graphical misdemeanor, but it should
demonstrate the pitfalls of decoration and overly stylized design.
Obeying visualization ethics is clearly an objective for any project, but really it is just
about basic, good practice, respect for your readers, and attention to detail.
Summary
In this chapter, we have learned about the context of the digital era and the role
data visualization can play in helping us make greater sense of the huge volumes of
captured data we have access to in today's world.
We have discussed how more and more people are getting involved in activities that
require visualization techniques, but the skills required to accomplish this effectively
go beyond instinct and require careful learning and practice.
The methodology presented in this topic will provide a strategy for designers to
develop these techniques through good practice. It will help them navigate through
the key decisions that are required throughout the creative process.
Finally, to commence the design thinking, we have learned about some important
overriding objectives that should provide a useful assessment of the effectiveness of
your visual solution throughout its creation.
In the next chapter, we will commence the data visualization methodology by
exploring the first stage of any design challenge: establishing the project's purpose
and identifying its inherent key influencing factors.