Effective Data Visualization: The Right Chart for the Right Data 1st Edition

Effective Data Visualization is the perfect book for people who want to level up their data visualization skills beyond the defaults in Excel. I’ve learned so much from this book and it has fundamentally changed the way I think about visualizing data.What I like about this book is that it doesn’t assume you have data visualization knowledge apart from basic familiarity with Excel. That’s actually a plus for this book, as the author Stephanie Evergreen shows you how to make most of these charts IN EXCEL. I'm not always the biggest fan of Excel but it really is the first place most people start with data viz. So if we’re all going to start there, at least this book shows you how to make your Excel charts not suck. Even better, Evergreen tells you how difficult a chart will be to create in Excel by including a helpful Excel ninja rating.The other thing that’s great about this book is that charts are organized by the type of data you want to present. Categories include: a single number, comparisons, beating a benchmark, survey results, parts of a whole, correlations, qualitative data, and data over time. Evergreen bases her selection of charts on research showing which chart types are more effective for information retention. It’s a different way to think about charts, but one that I’m finding really useful.The range of covered charts includes the usual suspects, from bar charts to scatter plots, but Evergreen also details visuals that I haven’t used before. The ones I plan to immediately add to my graphing repertoire are: icon arrays, slopegraphs, dot plots, back-to-back bar charts, and small multiples graphs.Beyond choosing the right chart and knowing how to make it in Excel (which, of themselves, are incredibly useful skills), this book gave me a framework for creating charts that are easy to read and convey a clear message. For example, I now understand how to write an effective chart title, select good colors, reduce data overload, and eliminate chart junk. It’s reached the point where I can’t even look at my old graphs without wanting to tweak them.There is one downside of this book and it’s that it was done with two-color printing. All of the charts are limited to shades of blue and grey. While this makes for a visually cohesive (and cheaper) book, the printed figures occasionally do not fully convey the author’s point – most often when showing a bad chart. This is annoying but it’s not enough to detract from the many good things about this book.

This is a great resource for anyone who wants to clearly present information visually! Not only does the book explain which chart to use in a specific situation, it also explains HOW to do it in Excel. Sometimes it involves a "hack" that I would never thought of. The book goes into a great detail on the scientific research on why certain graphs are better than others. For example, it explains why, in many cases, pie charts are not easy for the reader to grasp the information in the chart. For me, and I have been doing "Business Intelligence" for 20 plus years, it has changed the way I provide information. I know longer try to cram as many charts\numbers onto a single piece of paper, I know try to think of few graphs that make the data more meaningful and easy to remember.

The author, an academic, wrote the book in a non-academic style, and avoid using many technical jargons. A good HOW TO overview for dataviz tools.

The book was hands-down the best book I have gotten in terms of creating interesting, modern, neat, and easily understandable graphs. (and I have gotten several of these types of books lately!). It helps you show data in better ways, explains why they are better (in terms of being easier to understand and get your point across) and shows step by step how to create them. I consider it my bible now for making PowerPoint charts.

This is an amazing resource! I have been making boring excel charts for years. It has been frustrating because my employer would balk at purchasing different software and providing training. This book is going to step up my game. She shows you step by step how to use Excel to create some fantastic charts that you never knew you could make with Excel. Not only that, but she teaches you a different way to think about presenting data visually - one that non-data nerds can quickly get the point of the visualization. My co-workers and husband are bewildered why I would get so excited about charts:)If you already are familiar with the chart function in Excel, there is very little learning curve. Even if you have no experience, Stephanie Evergreen takes you through it step-by-step.

I expected more from this book and I did not get it. I like the Excel tips but I can find those tips everywhere. The book is lacking of artistic visualization design and too wordy.

This text has been indispensable for me over the last year. I've learned so much about how to present data in a more visually appealing way (conceptually) and how to make that happen in Excel (practically). People in my department regularly come to me for help or to consult on reports and presentations, and my department director was so impressed with one particular report redesign, she called me "a numbers artist".I could barely work Excel well enough to do basic default charts back then, now Stephanie Evergreen has helped me develop a niche in my research group and she can help you too. Skeptical? Check out the photos I've attached on how we used to show data in charts and how we do it now.Bottom line: Buy it!

Ninja techniques, indeed.... WELL explained / developed / taught !!!Actually, I think that the principal thing that it does is to get YOUR head / mind / thinking RIGHT -- & to SEE / FIGURE OUT what SHOULD (REALLY) be shown in the situation -- with the data available...(Only) THEN, do the (amazing) ninja techniques apply -- because, at the CORE, Excel (graphs) are just a 'tool' -- which, ONLY follow the 'commands' of the 'interpreter'... Excel is both 'smart' -- & 'DUMB' -- at once -- but ONLY come to LIFE in the hands / head of a SKILLED 'interpreter' / user... Can't replace (or create) INTELLIGENCE -- & a WELL-THOUGHT -- THROUGH -- message / point...