One of the biggest differences I noticed between Finance professional and product owners is the importance given to graphical tools. In product there is a tendency to sketch as much as possible as clearly as possible, while in finance is more comment to push back that charts need to be practical and quick to produce as they are not “a work of art”.

My love of data visualization makes it pretty clear where I stand on this spectrum, and just this week I came across a great example.

Most people would agree that book illustrations are a form of art. The same should apply to graphics and charts.

I just finished a really interesting book, based on statics and math that author was able to describe easily and clearly. Yet all the charts clearly used the default setting of most home charts software. Every time I saw one, I felt like reading a school project.

Is this the message that we should give our readers, audience or stakeholders? Do we really want them to doubt our credibility?

Design is not frivolous, and can be easily learnt. Time to beautify finance.