How to declutter data visualizations (5 steps)

storytelling with data
storytelling with data
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Published 2016-03-01
Decluttering a data visualization is a simple and powerful way to improve a graph. Reducing the amount of noise in a data visualization makes it easier for your audience to focus on the most important messages and supporting data. Learn five tips to identify and reduce clutter within data visualizations and see these tips applied to examples from the book, Storytelling With Data and author Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic.

JUMP TO THE SECTION THAT INTERESTS YOU
00:00 Intro
01:26 I find it easiest to focus my attention when...
03:05 5 steps to declutter
04:04 Gestalt principles of visual perception
07:26 Example: identify & remove clutter
10:41 Example: employing visual order
16:13 It's easy to spot a hawk in a sky full of pigeons
16:48 Example: creating clear contrast
20:05 If it's hard to read, it's hard to do
21:20 Tips to avoid overcomplicating
22:52 Example: strip down & build up
27:19 Recap and outro

BONUS RESOURCES
● Gestalt Principles: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology
● Alternatives to diagonal axis labels: www.storytellingwithdata.com/blog/2020/4/22/altern…
● What is the best balance between engaging and informing?: community.storytellingwithdata.com/conversations/d…
● What is data visualization?: - storytellingwithdata.libsyn.com/storytelling-with-…
● SWD chats with Steven Franconeri:    • SWD chats with Steven Franconeri  
● Declutter and Focus: Empirically Evaluating Design Guidelines for Effective Data Communication: visualthinking.psych.northwestern.edu/projects/Dec…
● Colin Ware: Information Visualization: Perception for Design: amzn.to/3bT868B
● If it's hard to read, it's hard to do: study by Hyunjin Song and Norbert Schwarz - Oct 2008. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9280.…

IMPROVE YOUR DATA VISUALIZATION & STORYTELLING SKILLS
📚 Read the books: www.storytellingwithdata.com/books
🖥 Follow the blog: www.storytellingwithdata.com/blog
📊 Practice in the SWD community: community.storytellingwithdata.com/
🎧 Listen to the podcast: www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast
🍎 Attend a workshop: www.storytellingwithdata.com/public-workshops
🔎 Find instructor resources: www.storytellingwithdata.com/university

STAY CONNECTED
👉 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/storytelling-with-data-ll…
👉 Twitter: twitter.com/storywithdata
💡 Don’t forget to subscribe for new videos! youtube.com/c/storytellingwithdata?sub_confirmatio…

This description contains affiliate links. We only recommend books that we have read and use ourselves. If you choose to expand your #dataviz library with one of the suggested links, we may earn a small commission.

#datavisualization #datastorytelling
All Comments (21)
  • @rdatta
    This video is 8 years old (in 2024) but I'd say it's still a brilliant and exceptional discussion of the subject. The grounding in Gestalt principles to the final example were all very well done. Highly recommended. As are the speaker's books.
  • @TWGTravelwithGandharv
    Amazingly Simplified and Detailed! The last example of retail prices was awesomely done! Thank so you so much for sharing this!
  • @ahsanmohammed1
    Fantastic! Beautiful! Well presented! Meaningful! Helpful! Thank you!
  • @huangsizhe190
    This video is amazing and exactly what I searched for on google. After 10 videos, I finally found it. I will now go and watch the other videos on this channels, cheers!
  • @miriamngombe6955
    Awesome examples and I love the interactive nature of your videos. "Pause", "think", "imagine"... No passively staring at the screen- I can feel my brain cogs turning.
  • @kapamagicman
    Definitely like the last example on how you transformed something complicated to a simple yet effective slide. Very impressed. FYI I bought the book.
  • @tobiaslundborg2073
    Great stuff, Cole! I'm getting intensely inspired to continue my adventures in Tableau public :)
  • @gmensah2008
    This is really great content, it's funny how the hardest things to notice are usually the one right in front of us! So much value there! I just ordered the book, can't wait to get my hands on it! Thank you.
  • @flaviolimaj
    Great vídeo, Cole.. It makes me want to revisit so much of what I've done already
  • @ImDavidBizar
    Awesome video Cole, thanks a lot. I'm doing a UC David coursera's specialization in data visualization and this has been a great complement to it. I like the look of your website and the book seems great too. Keep at it :)
  • @PeterTremblayeh
    Well done! Very good examples that really explained how to improve data visualizations by reducing the clutter on graphs and slides.
  • @Papabear8867
    Great! Thank you for this helpful information! Love your videos!
  • @robertgutierrez3733
    Gracias por excelente contenido, soy de colombia y compre los 2 libros, saludos