SAP DESIGN GUILD

Making the Truth Visible – Designing Graphics for Visual Reporting Tools

by Mandana Samii, SAP AG, Product Design Center – 12/22/2000

Disclaimer: Please note that this edition was written in 2000. Therefore, statements in the articles, particularly those regarding SAP's products, product strategy, branding strategy, and organizational structure, may no longer be valid.

What do highly sophisticated visualization tools for analytic research have in common with the simple charts and diagrams seen everywhere in news and business publications nowadays? Visual decision support tools communicate data on the basis of visual perception and human interpretation. Whenever these tools ignore the way people see and interpret visual input, they fail. No matter how rich the database and how ingenious the technology under the surface, poor visualization can confuse the viewer, result in false conclusions, and ultimately lead to erroneous decisions. The aim of this article is to bring some light to the mysteries of data visualization and explain how graphics can keep their promise of presenting information quickly and precisely.

 

From the Bits and Pieces to the Big Picture

There is a long tradition of translating data of all kinds into pictures in order to free the mind of the 'one-at-a-time' nature of language. While a simple table can make it a lot easier – and faster – to organize and compare data, charts and other visual tools go far beyond that. By turning bits of information into a 'big picture', the viewer can see all the information in one step, discover patterns, and detect trends. Information graphics unleash the brain's visual analytical abilities. No matter how simple or sophisticated, good visualization of data can help researchers and decision makers arrive at unpredictably new ideas, implications, and insights.

Information graphics are not a phenomenon of the Internet age. Mass media, digital technology and the Internet have dramatically increased the amount of information with which we are confronted each day, automatically reducing the time we have available to digest it. Grasping information quickly is not only profitable for businesses but also crucial for governments and communities.

While charts and diagrams usually imply that a presentation is based on accurate data, advertising and statistics have shown us that even correct data, presented in a manipulative way, can be misused to produce false conclusions. However unintentional, poor visual design can also cause the same misleading results.

So, what is good visualization?

 

The Rules of Information and what is Different on the Web?

Designing a trustworthy visual presentation or reporting tool begins with understanding its purpose:

Is it better to offer a simple view, focusing on a few aspects, for casual use and quick-alert situations or does the user need a detailed, multidimensional view in order to handle more diverse situations?

It is important to consider what style of visualization is proper for the type of data at hand. Bar charts, for example, simply allow a comparison of separate values with each other. A pie chart, however, also implies a comparison between the parts and the whole. Both work well as long as there are not too many values to compare.

3D column chart

Figure 1: Even though it looks quite entertaining, a 3D column chart makes it hard to compare actual lengths; moreover, perspective may let columns in the background appear larger than columns of the same size in the foreground (size constancy)

Here are some tips for presenting data visually:

 

Intuitive Metaphors

You can achieve a more intuitive design and avoid misinterpretation by considering the way people see things. Look for 'natural' signs and color keys whenever possible. A geographical map with seas and rivers in red and high temperature zones shown as shades of gray and blue would confuse readers. Finding the right metaphors – symbols, icons, signs, colors, patterns – for your users depends a lot on their professional and cultural visual habits. The more international or cross-professional your audience, the more difficult it is to choose intuitive metaphors.

geographical map

Figure 2: The metaphor of a geographical map helps users to structure market information far more easily than a table would do

While short words and recognizable symbols are the best way to reduce the need to interpret what they represent, in some cases it may prove impossible to follow this rule because of insufficient room for text, multilingual user groups, or unpredictable clutter problems.

It is important not to force the user guess at the meaning of symbols, colors, or patterns. Always provide a key to colors and signs and/or clear individual labeling near the graphic itself.

You can make life really hard for your users by using too many (more than seven or eight) different signs and colors. On the other hand, if you have to use so many signs and color keys, chances are there is not enough focus in the concept of the tool in the first place. You are trying to say too many things at once, which will cost your users more time and effort to understand than it saves.

Colors with too little contrast are hard to distinguish on a poor monitor or for people with visual disabilities. Make sure different shades of the same hue look different enough (on any monitor) to tell apart, especially if they do not always appear right next to each other. This makes them also more legible for color-blind users. Web-safe colors may also be an issue if it is not clear which platforms and hardware will be used to display the visuals. The same applies to format, speed, and performance. This is always a trade off to consider well. With the screen's low resolution, type and shapes tend to clutter more than in fine, printed visuals. Unless you can guaranty high resolution platforms, keep your graphics simple.

 

Conclusion

Despite all these restrictions, electronic graphics have many advantages over print media. Interactivity features like sorting options, layers, data refreshing, dynamic diagrams, and the growing possibilities of personalization, offer endless new aspects and implications of using visual data presentation for research and decision making. Designed sensibly, they are of tremendous value for users.

 

Links to Sites offering Visual Reporting Tools

 

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