Setting the Purpose and Identifying Key Factors - Data Visualization: A Successful Design Process - page 28

There are many ways in which you can "explain" data. It could be through an
information dashboard in a corporate setting, where you are conveying the latest
performance figures and highlighting the key issues requiring attention. It might be
a graphic in a newspaper, explaining the complexity and severity of the problems
around the economic crisis. It could be an animated design to display patterns of
population migration over time. It could also be a physical or ambient visualization
designed to draw attention to the sugar content of certain drinks.
The end result is typically a visual experience built around a carefully constructed
narrative. Your objective as the designer is to create a graphical display, made
accessible through intuitive, visual design that clearly portrays the narrative you are
seeking to impart.
Here is an example of an explanatory visualization, based on a chart type called
a Sankey diagram, which portrays analysis of the top ten freshwater-consuming
countries and the breakdown of its usage:
Image from "Top 10 Freshwater Consumers" ( http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.
cfm?id=water-in-water-out ) created by Mark Fischetti and Jen Christiansen, Scientific American, June
2012. Reproduced with permission. Copyright © 2012 Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved.