Here in this post are a few highlights from this chapter of the book. Form follows function. This adage of product design has clear application to communicating with data. We first think of our audience and ask what do we want our readers to do. Next we think of the form it will take. Form follows function. Traditional design concepts can be applied to communicating with data. These are affordances, accessibility, and aesthetics.

Affordances are the characteristics or properties of an object that suggest how it can be used. It shows a user that an object can be interacted with. For example, a button affords pushing, and a knob affords turning. When sufficient affordances are present, good design fades into the background and you don’t even notice it.

To highlight the important stuff, we use preattentive attributes. We only highlight a fraction of the overall visual, since highlighting effects are diluted as the percentage that are highlighted increases. We can use bold, italics, and underlining for titles, labels, captions, and short word sequences to differentiate elements. Uppercase text in short word sequences is
easily scanned, which can work well when applied to titles, labels, and keywords. Avoid using different fonts as a highlighting technique. Color is an effective highlighting technique when used sparingly. Size is another way to attract attention and signal importance.

While we highlight the important pieces, we also want to eliminate distractions. Remove items that take up space but don’t add any real value. When detail isn’t needed, you can summarize. Perhaps you can place the detail in another location. Resist the temptation to keep things because they are cute or because you worked hard to create them. Each step in reduction and de‐emphasis causes what remains to
stand out more.

The concept of accessibility says that designs should be usable by people of diverse abilities. Well‐designed data visualization like a well‐designed object is easy to interpret and understand. Two specific strategies related to accessibility in communicating with data are: (1) don’t overcomplicate and (2) text is your friend. If the instructions are hard to read, the perception of the reader is that it’s hard to do, so don’t overcomplicate it. Keep it simple silly (KISS).

When it comes to communicating with data, is it really necessary to “make it pretty?” The answer is a resounding Yes. People perceive more aesthetic designs as easier to use than less aesthetic designs— whether they actually are or not. The use of color should always be an intentional decision; use color sparingly and strategically to highlight the important parts of your visual. Pay attention to alignment. Leverage white space.

For a design to be effective, it must be accepted by its intended audience.