Setting the Purpose and Identifying Key Factors - Data Visualization: A Successful Design Process - page 27

These are the people who we are serving and so we need to recognize what type of
engagement they are likely to require, for example:
• Is it a boardroom environment with a small collection of senior colleagues
who have existing domain subject knowledge?
• Is it a large range of customers, covering all social demographics but
potentially representing a captive audience for the subject matter?
• Is it a completely global, undefined audience with no influencing
characteristics—in a sense no specific target, just anyone and everyone?
• Is it a one-to-one exchange with a manager?
• Is it an entirely personal engagement between you and data—a desire to
learn about and explore data yourself?
Clarity of what and who your target audience is will help shape your intent and
from this we'll be able to define two very important dimensions: the function and
tone of your visualization project.
Establishing intent - the visualization's
function
The intended function of a data visualization concerns the functional experience you
create between your design, the data, and the reader/user.
If we revisit the range of phrases presented earlier, it is possible to form three
separate clusters or categories of function. While there is always a chance of slight
overlap, there will be a significant difference in your design choices depending on
whether the function of your visualization is to:
• Convey an explanatory portrayal of data to a reader
• Provide an interface to data in order to facilitate visual exploration
• Use data as an exhibition of self-expression
When the function is to explain
Explanatory data visualization is about conveying information to a reader in a way
that is based around a specific and focused narrative. It requires a designer-driven,
editorial approach to synthesize the requirements of your target audience with the
key insights and most important analytical dimensions you are wishing to convey.