Criteria for Effective Visualization

It is important to understand how to use a rating scale and best practices criteria to think critically about graphical displays and evaluate whether the criteria have been met. Let’s prepare for that by carefully defining the criteria and learning to use them to identify whether a graphical display has a misleading or missing component.

When evaluating graphical displays, it is important to identify evidence of the following criteria: design, precision, efficiency, use of time, use of ink, use of space, and multivariate.

The criteria are based on the Principles of Graphical Excellence^[1] by Edward Tufte, a statistician and pioneer in the field of information design. These principles are important aspects of a graphical display that are needed for an effective visualization.

Design

The first criterion is the use of design attributes such as color, symbols, lines, or curves to encourage comparisons that create a clear purpose for the graphical display.

Precision

The second criterion is the use of precision, which means that the statistical transformation is appropriate for the type of visualization. For example, a graphical display that uses precision would start the y-axis of a bar graph at [latex]0[/latex] rather than another number. The use of precision is not evident in a graphical display if we see any transformation of the data that shows an exaggeration of differences and distorts the data.

---