I recently read this article which suggests that, if we avoid a large catastrophe, we may be living at the early beginnings of human history. That is sort of mind-boggling. But even if we are not early humans, we are certainly at the beginning of our journey with data.
We aren’t so good at processing words and numbers and making sense of them. Think about the last time you looked at a spreadsheet and got the gist of it in a few seconds. By contrast, we can all get the gist of a photo in less than a few seconds. That’s because our brains have evolved over millions of years to process visual information — color, shape, size, placement — at lightening speed. Indeed, our survival depended on it. Think about detecting predators in the tall grass at a distance.
Processing words and numbers is a quite recent activity for humans, as the timeline below shows. Perhaps, as our brains evolve, we will be able to discern a spreadsheet at a glance. But, until then, we should consider visualizing our data by translating words and numbers into color, shape, size, and placement in the form of charts, maps, and graphs.
To see past data tips, click HERE.
Let’s talk about YOUR data!
Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.
