Data Storytelling 101: Several Ways to Tell Many Different Stories with a Single Chart
Foreword
Efficiently communicating data to stakeholders is crucial. However, I’ve seen many cases where analysts overload reports and dashboards with excessive information, neglecting to define their purpose clearly. This leads to cluttered visuals and makes it harder for stakeholders to understand. It’s vital to prioritize clear and concise communication when presenting data, ensuring that stakeholders can easily grasp the insights being conveyed rather than being overwhelmed by the volume of information.
With this in mind, this article offers a concise guide to help you modify visual elements in your reports. This will ensure they clearly communicate your message to stakeholders.
Observing Industry Best Practices
I’ve consistently found presentations from leading consultancies and publications — McKinsey, BCG, KPMG, Deloitte, Bain & Company, and The Economist among them — to be invaluable resources. Their well-crafted content serves as a source of inspiration, particularly when I’m engaged in report development.
Consulting firms and publications are known for their clear and concise communication style, and their presentations likely use well-designed visuals and data to effectively convey complex information. This clarity can make the information we’re looking for easy to find and understand, which can be a huge inspiration when I’m putting together my reports.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the case studies.
Case Study 1
The chart above presents TikTok user data by age across the globe. Age groups are listed horizontally, with corresponding percentages of total users on the vertical axis. While the chart shows the age breakdown of TikTok users globally, it lacks context that would make the data more insightful.
Adding these elements will help you communicate your chart’s message more clearly:
- Title (Context): this section serves as the foundation for understanding the chart. It outlines the main context to ensure stakeholders can grasp the intended message you want to convey through the visual representation.
- Subtitle: this section provides additional details that help stakeholders interpret the visual element more effectively.
- Visual Element: this is where your chart or visual element goes. Be sure to highlight the key part that delivers your message.
- Source: this section is for citing your sources (if any).
This approach allows us to establish various contexts as follows.
There are at least four interpretations that we can generate from a single chart. The context can vary, depending on which column(s) is highlighted.
- The first chart highlights the dominance of young people on TikTok, with over 60% of users being Gen Z and Millennials. This context is especially relevant when considering the young generation’s role and influence on social media platforms.
- The second chart reveals a significant age difference among TikTok users. Young adults (18-24 years old) make up the largest demographic, representing nearly 35% of all users. In contrast, the 55+ age group has the smallest user base, at just over 3%.
- Conversely, the third chart highlights the small portion of older age group aged 55+. This context is relevant when considering the behavior of older group in social media.
- The fourth chart reveals that users aged 18–24 constitute the largest demographic group on TikTok, representing 34.9% of the total user base.
Case Study 2
The bar chart below illustrates the ten countries boasting the highest number of TikTok users in October 2023.
This chart provides a starting point for creating a compelling story. By looking at the data from various perspectives, we can gain deeper insights. One way is to zoom in on a particular country, like Indonesia, and use it as an example to study.
- The bar chart presents the ten countries with the highest number of TikTok users as of October 2023, with a specific focus on Indonesia’s position within this ranking.
- The second chart adopts a donut format to isolate Indonesia’s user base. This visualization emphasizes Indonesia’s significant contribution, accounting for 8% of global TikTok users, which translates to approximately 106.52 million individuals. For comparative purposes, the remaining countries are aggregated into a single category within this representation.
Visual elements can be freely adapted to enhance information clarity. In the second option, I’ve chosen a donut chart to effectively represent the portion of a specific category compared to the whole, which is the percentage of Indonesia’s Tiktok users compared to worldwide users.
Conclusion
Effectively conveying information to your target audience requires clear visuals accompanied by concise explanations. This ensures your message is understood precisely and directly by both stakeholders and other readers.
Furthermore, by strategically structuring your content layout, you can guide your audience through your thought process, guaranteeing they grasp the intended meaning. To delve deeper into content layout flow, you may refer to this article:
Thank you for reading!
I hope this case study provided valuable insights. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
For those interested in exploring more data storytelling and data visualization content, I consistently create such content on my Patreon page.
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