Demonstrating Editorial Focus and Learning About Your Data - Data Visualization: A Successful Design Process - page 49

The New York Times would probably be at the top of many peoples' list of the most
celebrated graphics work, but there are so many other examples of great innovation
and excellence from across the industry and right around the world, including The
Guardian (UK), National Geographic (US), the Washington Post (US), the Boston
Globe (US), La Informacion (Spain), and Época (Brazil), to name but a few.
A key reason behind the success of the work produced by these departments
is the demonstration of what Edward Tufte describes at the beginning of this
section—editorial focus.
Regardless of the size and inherent complexity of the data challenge you are working
on, this is one of the most important capabilities you will need to develop in order
to succeed in data visualization and is something that can singularly influence the
success, or otherwise, of a design.
An editorial approach to visualization design requires us to take responsibility to
filter out the noise from the signals, identifying the most valuable, most striking,
or most relevant dimensions of the subject matter in question.
To do this we need to weigh-up the potential appetite of the intended audience—what
it is we think they will want to know or will find interesting—and the opportunities that
exist within the data—what data stories can you find and might you portray.
Determining what an audience needs is not always straightforward, particularly
when you might have a broad range of different types and background of readers
engaging and interpreting your work. Nevertheless, you should still have a
sufficiently sympathetic view of how your target demographic will most positively
and constructively relate to different slices of analysis of your subject matter.
For projects triggered by a client or colleague, there may be specific analytical
dimensions that are already established and you have been asked to present and
communicate them. The scope for veering away from this existing focus may
not exist.
Otherwise, irrespective of whether you are tasked with the work or just pursuing
a self-initiated curiosity, in most cases, you will have a certain degree of liberty to
undertake the dual role of analyst and storyteller influencing the selection of what
you will portray.
The execution of a design is clearly hugely significant to the success of a project, but
without the foundation clarity and justification for the message you are trying to
communicate, your resulting visualization will fundamentally lack focus.