In advance of his new book release, Steve Wexler was on a recent episode of the Storytelling with Data podcast. For starters, I thought it was interesting that the book is geared towards the data practitioner or analyst which is typically the case. Instead, Wexer describes in the introduction of his book that this is instead aimed at the “99 percent of … professionals who don’t create data visualizations, but who need to be able to decipher, understand, and see the value of charts and dashboards if they are to survive, let alone thrive, during the never-ending data deluge” (ix). I think this is a great concept, that we need to figure out how to promote data literacy in the people least likely to think they need it or pick up the book.

The second big take away point for me was that with our visualization, for most of our visualizations we should be focusing on the “aha” and not the “ooh ahh.” Here, Wexler is talking about the importance of creating a visualization that actually gets the reader to have that “aha” moment where they get the important takeaway message from the visual. I think quite a few of our processes in our work often lead us down the other path - trying to instead elicit the “ooh ahh” by creating something new/flashy/exoctic/etc. I think our quarterly reviews can often be directed this way and I am often guilty of this faux pas as well. For me, what helps us steer clear of aiming for this direction is (a) to have one a clear message you’re trying to communicate and (b) knowing your message. With these two items in mind, you should then structure your visualization to meet the needs of our audience so that they can clearly understand the visualization’s key point. It’s great when these two directions (“aha” and “ooh ahh” collide”), but our primary interest for our work is to help HIV practitioners understand the information they need to know the strengths and weaknesses of their program. Adhering to key data viz principles as laid out in our OHA Style Guid or making sure your data table is clear and concise will help keep us honest and make for stronger visualizations.

Happy plotting!