It’s All in the Details
I’ve been following Bill Shander’s Data Visualization: A Lesson and Listen Series on LinkedIn Learning, and it’s one of my favorite courses on the platform for data visualization.
In this post, I want to highlight one simple process Shander mentioned that could help make big decisions about designing a data visualization: W-A-R-T.
This is something Shander has developed over the years. He said it might be a terrible acronym to help us remember, W-A-R-T (but it works for me!). He also said technically, the acronym really should be W-A-R squared-T cubed if one wants to be nerdy about it. You’ll see why in the snapshots below (source: LinkedIn Learning).
Walk away. Rest and refocus. This is so true for me. I noticed every time I practice this (patience is required!)—especially after working on something or looking at it for so long—I always manage to find things that need changing.
Tweak three things. Shander says that’s an arbitrary number, but if we look for three things to improve, we will find them. Look for things like labeling, colors, context-setting text, shape, or contrast.
Source: LinkedIn Learning
More about this series: Learners follow along with Bill Shander to explore the key themes in data visualization, data storytelling, and information design. Quoting from LinkedIn Learning: “Each episode is broken into two segments: a short lesson and a listening session where Bill interviews data storytelling and visualization experts about the episode theme. These conversations reveal the creative process, explore techniques and technologies used by working professionals, and illuminate some of the common challenges they face. This series is perfect for anyone interested in how information is presented to the mass market, including professionals in all levels of analytics, data science, and communications.”
