February 11, 2009 at 09:22How to draw up a chart - a formalized algorithm
In the beginning there was data. You have already analyzed them, found interesting dependencies or, conversely, the absence of dependence. Perhaps even built an intermediate chart to identify these dependencies. The main thing is not to stop, because what happened by itself is not always the best.
The following is a simple formalized algorithm for illustrating data with a diagram. In short, it is:
Idea → Comparison Type → Chart Type
The idea is the very essence of what we are going to tell the user with the help of a chart. Either "herself" is born, as a result of the discovery of addiction, or "from the mind," when you want to confirm your thoughts, ideas, your lifestyle over the past couple of years, or maybe even horror! - suggest something to the target audience; here it’s how someone succeeds :-) We
put the idea into the headline (an important point).
A “finance allocation scheme" is not an idea. But the title seems to be pulling ... "The dependence of work experience and efficiency among employees" - too. Not an idea? Out! We are looking for ideas. And so here they are ...
"The benefits are distributed evenly" - and the Communists are happy. But because the idea! And do not think.
“The effectiveness of our employees does not depend on work experience” - well, a backlash can already happen here.
"The company's share is growing steadily . " A happy investor rubs his briefcase.
Any idea can be expressed through five types of comparison: component-wise, positional, temporal, frequency, and correlation. Thanks to Gene Zhelyazna for this sacred knowledge - I myself did not realize that this area can at least be tried to formalize and classify. So, looking at the formulated idea , we select the appropriate type of comparison.
1) Component-wise comparison . Shows the percentage of each component as a percentage of the whole.
- Two clients brought us half the profit.
- Young people at our faculty this year only 90%.
- Sales of security patches to our system accounted for the largest share in the total sales of the company.
We look at the idea, if it has the keywords “share”, “percentage of the whole”, “amounted to X percent”, then here we are.
2) Positional . Shows how objects relate to each other.
- The staff turnover in six divisions is approximately the same.
- The director of the company makes 24% fewer headshots in the COP than the average employee.
- Sales of left boots exceeded sales of right boots.
Key words: “more than”, “less than”, “equal”.
3) Temporary . Shows how the value changes over time.
- Throughout the year, the country's economy has been steadily going to hell.
- The dollar has already hesitated to grow.
- Sales in January grew steadily.
Key words: “change”, “grow”, “decline”, “fluctuate”.
4) Frequency . Shows how many objects fall into certain sequential areas of numerical values.
- 20% of employees perform 80% of the work.
- Most of the transactions were concluded from X to U rubles.
- The age structure of kindergartens is different from that in high school.
- In August, the largest share of stupidity was done with a Serious expression on her face.
Key words: “in the range”, “concentration”, “frequency”, “distribution”.
5) Correlation . Shows the relationship between two variables.
- The results of May sales demonstrate the lack of a connection between sales and sales experience.
- The growth of the staff of nannies contributes to the development of monocular vision in the child.
- Minimization of the efforts made by the fisherman does not lead to an increase in catch.
Key words: “increases / decreases / changes when (in case)”, “connection”. Or vice versa, “does not change”, “does not increase”.
(To deal with this classifier took some effort from me. Or maybe it didn’t apply enough, haha.)
There are also five types of diagrams:
- circular,
- bar,
- histogram,
- graph,
- point.
We choose according to the scheme:
( copy of the figure )
Think about limiting the number of sectors of the pie chart in accordance with the maximum number of objects that fit in the brain cache: no more than 5-7. Minorities in this case are subject to unification.
Frequency comparison . Use a “discrete” histogram if the values are no more than 5-7, otherwise a graph.
Correlation comparison . If there is not much data, try a ruler, if a lot - point.
There is still a bunch of subspecies of diagrams - combined, with accumulation, normalized, stepwise, range, deviations, blown up - but not this time. And that’s all.
The following is a simple formalized algorithm for illustrating data with a diagram. In short, it is:
Idea → Comparison Type → Chart Type
Looking for an idea
The idea is the very essence of what we are going to tell the user with the help of a chart. Either "herself" is born, as a result of the discovery of addiction, or "from the mind," when you want to confirm your thoughts, ideas, your lifestyle over the past couple of years, or maybe even horror! - suggest something to the target audience; here it’s how someone succeeds :-) We
put the idea into the headline (an important point).
A “finance allocation scheme" is not an idea. But the title seems to be pulling ... "The dependence of work experience and efficiency among employees" - too. Not an idea? Out! We are looking for ideas. And so here they are ...
"The benefits are distributed evenly" - and the Communists are happy. But because the idea! And do not think.
“The effectiveness of our employees does not depend on work experience” - well, a backlash can already happen here.
"The company's share is growing steadily . " A happy investor rubs his briefcase.
An idea may not be born, an effort is needed here, but without it, this algorithm is simply not applicable further. Draw the illustration in the usual intuitive way: there will be a usual descriptive heading (“this is home, son”) and a presentation in the spirit of “I’ve painted something here, but you think for yourself.” In this case, everyone in the audience will have to do the work of data analysis. If this is your goal, feel free to step in this direction.
Choose a comparison type
Any idea can be expressed through five types of comparison: component-wise, positional, temporal, frequency, and correlation. Thanks to Gene Zhelyazna for this sacred knowledge - I myself did not realize that this area can at least be tried to formalize and classify. So, looking at the formulated idea , we select the appropriate type of comparison.
1) Component-wise comparison . Shows the percentage of each component as a percentage of the whole.
- Two clients brought us half the profit.
- Young people at our faculty this year only 90%.
- Sales of security patches to our system accounted for the largest share in the total sales of the company.
We look at the idea, if it has the keywords “share”, “percentage of the whole”, “amounted to X percent”, then here we are.
2) Positional . Shows how objects relate to each other.
- The staff turnover in six divisions is approximately the same.
- The director of the company makes 24% fewer headshots in the COP than the average employee.
- Sales of left boots exceeded sales of right boots.
Key words: “more than”, “less than”, “equal”.
3) Temporary . Shows how the value changes over time.
- Throughout the year, the country's economy has been steadily going to hell.
- The dollar has already hesitated to grow.
- Sales in January grew steadily.
Key words: “change”, “grow”, “decline”, “fluctuate”.
4) Frequency . Shows how many objects fall into certain sequential areas of numerical values.
- 20% of employees perform 80% of the work.
- Most of the transactions were concluded from X to U rubles.
- The age structure of kindergartens is different from that in high school.
- In August, the largest share of stupidity was done with a Serious expression on her face.
Key words: “in the range”, “concentration”, “frequency”, “distribution”.
5) Correlation . Shows the relationship between two variables.
- The results of May sales demonstrate the lack of a connection between sales and sales experience.
- The growth of the staff of nannies contributes to the development of monocular vision in the child.
- Minimization of the efforts made by the fisherman does not lead to an increase in catch.
Key words: “increases / decreases / changes when (in case)”, “connection”. Or vice versa, “does not change”, “does not increase”.
(To deal with this classifier took some effort from me. Or maybe it didn’t apply enough, haha.)
Choose a chart type
There are also five types of diagrams:
- circular,
- bar,
- histogram,
- graph,
- point.
We choose according to the scheme:
( copy of the figure )
Think about limiting the number of sectors of the pie chart in accordance with the maximum number of objects that fit in the brain cache: no more than 5-7. Minorities in this case are subject to unification.
Frequency comparison . Use a “discrete” histogram if the values are no more than 5-7, otherwise a graph.
Correlation comparison . If there is not much data, try a ruler, if a lot - point.
There is still a bunch of subspecies of diagrams - combined, with accumulation, normalized, stepwise, range, deviations, blown up - but not this time. And that’s all.