Editor’s note: Joe Hopper is the president of Versta Research, Chicago.
At our firm, we are big fans of data visualization and narrative techniques that turn data into stories. But for many years we resisted the trend toward infographics. Too many of them are terrible – the worst examples of what Edward Tufte calls “chart junk.” Too many designers and data visualization devotees believe that putting ridiculous cartoons around exaggerated PowerPoint charts somehow makes research more fun, interesting and easy to understand.
Two things changed our minds. First, we attended the 2013 MRA Corporate Researchers Conference. Speaker after speaker talked about needing bite-sized information and deliverables that would help them sell their research findings, reports and presentations internally. A few developed infographics for just this purpose and had success.
Second, we decided to experiment. We started delivering a one-page infographic soon after the final report for every project and our corporate colleagues LOVED them (the capital letters are theirs). They used them to persuade and impress their managers and internal business partners. Some used them outside their companies to generate media interest and to establish thought leadership with customers and clients, like this infographic about nurses and retirement.
Now we and our clients are hooked. We’ve begun to appreciate how compelling research data can be with an extremely concise infographic “teaser” about the key research findings. To be sure, we still think that the bulk of infographics out there are lousy (just as many market research reports are lousy). But with careful attention to the data and to the succinct story the data needs to tell, we’ve learned that researchers can create powerful and compelling research infographics. Here are a few tips and tricks we’ve discovered along the way.
Use a professional tool. Since we’re not graphic designers we knew we could not create beautiful and compelling infographics with PowerPoint (or Illustrator and InDesign). So we experimented with several different tools that are designed to allow amateurs like us to create polished-looking graphics. We tested Piktochart, Infogr.am, Tableau and Easelly. Now we are beta-testing Infoactive, as well.
So far Piktochart has worked well for us. It has more than 150 professionally designed themes and layouts. The company hires graphic designers to continually develop and add new ones. Templates provide the graphic design starting point we require, which we then customize to our needs. There are libraries of icons and images and if we can’t find something specific we want, we purchase additional ones through an image service like 123RF. The cost is reasonable at roughly $300 per year.
Keep it short. As in really short. As in one standard 8-1/2x11-inch page and absolutely no more. When we drafted the words and content for our most recent infographic, the count of words and numbers was just 141. As we started designing the infographic we cut even further. Keeping infographics short forces us to identify essential storylines and data points that pique interest without overwhelming. Keeping them short also helps grab the attention of busy managers or business partners who might otherwise never read the 20-page report we so painstakingly developed.
Make it something to explore. People seem to love infographics that give them something to explore and discover. They become engaged, open-minded and interested in how the data might apply, rather than suspicious or critical, which is how they often approach reports. So a lot of infographics give readers a non-linear path to follow, moving from side-to-side and downward. We recently showed data points on a map without showing the map itself; readers quickly discovered that the points themselves created the outlines of the local geographic area.
Tell a story. Of course, letting readers explore does not mean letting them infer conclusions from bunches of numbers and charts. They shouldn’t have to untangle data or wonder what it all means. So – as with all of our analysis and reporting – we go back to fundamental principles of turning data into stories: focus on key questions, lay out simple data points, organize them thematically, summarize in a short headline and so on. We’ve summarized these principles in our how-to guide on turning data into stories and reiterate the most critical element here: don’t write about the data, don’t write about the research and definitely don’t make the infographic a numbers-dump. Write about what the data prove because that is the story that internal clients and managers really care about.
Think in blocks. Thinking in blocks helps us order the layout and helps ensure that readers will not get lost when exploring. It’s the graphical equivalent of telling a story. Take the data and sort them into groups of related information. Then put those groups into a logical order that tells the story. Cut it down to three or fewer supporting data points per block. Then, when laying it all out, experiment with shuffling the blocks around to make the story clear while encouraging exploration at the same time. Maybe two blocks are side-by-side. Maybe one is a narrow block that slots in between two bigger blocks to break it up.
Use text as graphics. We think of text formatting as another opportunity to emphasize the story, minimize details or give readers something to explore. It also helps us avoid overuse of icons. For example, we might use text like this: “76 percent of workers agree that routine checkups are the most important benefit in an employer sponsored health insurance plan.” Or we might add in a block of smaller very descriptive text to give the audience something to explore that is styled differently from the icons and short phrases in the rest of the infographic.
Repeat visual elements but break it up. Repeating visual elements like lines, icons in circles, dots or a fancy triangle – anything, really – helps tie the different visual blocks together. It signals that the pieces belong to the whole. At the same time it can feel boring if the same techniques are applied over and over, if the layout is too symmetrical or if every block follows the same style. So we always introduce one element that breaks the pattern and adds something unexpected. Maybe it’s a really long sentence. Maybe it’s an arrow. Maybe it’s information in a box that juts in from the margin. Or maybe it’s an icon in a different color.
Remember it’s a marketing tool. This is our most important tip of all. In our view, infographics should not be graphic-rich research reports. They should not even be executive summaries. They are like advertisements or super short press releases. We want them to grab attention immediately and provide just enough information that the viewer learns something, remembers it and asks for more. If we find ourselves adding more numbers, another layer to the story, subtle distinctions that need explanation or a chart with multiple elements … we stop ourselves. It’s a marketing tool we say, not a report. So leave it out.