Chinese New Year is here. A new year, a new mythological character. Why not make it a year to learn and read a book. Or six Six you say? Well it’s only two per month, two per 60 days, that will help you learn and make you a better vizologist. You can do it, they can even be online digital books from the library after all.
The Big Book of Dashboards, by Steve Wexler, Jeffrey Schaffer and Andy Cotgreave
The best practical book on my list that will help make your dashboards better. With a great opening segment on the theory of visual information. That section alone you will come back to. Then some solid before and after dashboards and the why/how they work for reference when you are building or improving on your work. And at the end a well referenced 4 page guide to chart types. Love this book, it’s one of my mot shared.
Learning to see Data, by Ben Jones
I’ve built a few great samples to showcase the value of visuals from this book, to great effect. This for me is one of those fill in a few gaps, refine what we’ve worked with for a while book. Its well suited to someone beginning, and a good on to come back to every once in a in while for tips.
How Charts Lie, by Alberto Cairo
This book was an eye opener. With a start on the mechanics and theory of a good chart. It reads a bit dry but is one of those items that lets you see better where a good chart is used, and where a bad one is. Then into the details on perspective, and how commonly viewed charts can be so wrong – whether maps, lines or weather. A good read, and some great online viewing as well.
Practical Tableau: 100 Tips, Tutorials and Strategies by Ryan Sleeper
A lot of how tos. How to make a waterfall chart, a Pareto and more. For me, it’s how to get the most of Tableau, certainly in 2018 when this came out. If you use a different tool, look for a good set of how tos for that to up your visuals.
Storytelling with Data, by Cole Nussbaum Knaflic
Work or present charts and dashboards enough and you realize you need more than a cool, well constructed chart to make your point stick. You need the information to make a story that sticks with your audience, one they relay again or even better, take the action you recommend. How to do that quickly, check out this classic on Storytelling with Data. How to package that story onto just the space of a chart, with the right focus on data, the right use of text and annotation a truly valuable lesson from this book.
Effective Data Storytelling, Brent Dykes
Taking it up a level, this book if for you to get into a solid story across a whole dashboard, across a prevention deck or lie presentation. There are some solidly practical ways to improve charts. Two well used tips for me – the charts you use to find an insight are not the same you use to present the insight. How many times I’d I get that wrong in the past. The other, how to setup a story in 4 parts. I won’t give that away here, happy reading to gain that golden nugget.
Full disclosure, I have read all these books. I have them in physical book form. I refer to them often and I share the widely with people I work with who want to learn more about Data Visualization. They elegantly combine theory, practical and entertaining tips throughout that will help educate you, and make you a better vizologist.
Best give me a bit of time to the next post. I think I should go re read one or two of these and brush up my own skills.
Vizology 