http://forums.flowingdata.com/ Strength in Numbers en Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:16:02 +0000 http://forums.flowingdata.com/topic/nonprofit-looking-to-improve-data-charts#post-2168 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:10:07 +0000 kmbolduc 2168@http://forums.flowingdata.com/ <p>At the heart of our work at the <a>Center for Effective Philanthropy</a> (CEP) is the provision of comparative data that allows one funder to understand how aspects of its own performance compare to the other funders. In much of our work, the manifestation of that activity is charts in our reports that display the comparative data. I’d like to ask your advice in making CEP’s data display stronger. </p> <p>The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s mission is to provide data and create insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness – and, as a result, their intended impact. We’re a nonprofit organization based in Cambridge, working many of the largest philanthropic funders in the country.</p> <p>Here are two examples of the way our charts look now.<br /> <a href="http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/assets/blog/chart1.2.png" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/assets/blog/chart1blog.png" alt="" width="480" height="290" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/assets/blog/chart2.2.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/assets/blog/chart2blog.png" alt="" width="480" height="290" /></a></p> <p>We’ve tweaked these charts here and there over the past few years, but we still hear from some funders, and in our 3rd party feedback, that these charts can be tough to understand. On the other hand, some of the funders we work with love these for the amount of information they pack into a small space. </p> <p>We think we can improve these charts. Although any change may not be immediate, we want to brainstorm now some other possibilities. </p> <p>Fundamentally, any data display we use has to meet just a few basic parameters. It must:<br /> • display comparative context so that one funder can consider its relative results compared to our database of others’ results<br /> • simultaneously display both an absolute scale and relative results (because both are necessary pieces of information in interpreting results)<br /> • be flexible enough to display a potential segmentation of the overall data, display trend data, and (probably) also a sub-group comparison – a cohort from among the full dataset</p> <p>This blog is one that we follow and often discuss as a staff at CEP. We’re huge fans of interesting data visualization, and we admire the ideas and examples posted in this blog. It hit us recently that you all might have some incredible ideas about our work. We’d welcome the advice. Or if the community has advice about a great data visualization expert have worked with, that would be fantastic too. (This is too small a project for the couple we’ve reached out to.)</p> <p>What’s in it for you? The knowledge that you aided CEP in its efforts to help foundations become more effective. And, if we choose an idea you suggested, a very public and grateful acknowledgement for your efforts and ideas.</p> <p>Thanks in advance for your help. </p> http://forums.flowingdata.com/topic/improving-a-project#post-2095 Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:46:59 +0000 RankingAmerica 2095@http://forums.flowingdata.com/ <p>I've maintained a blog called "Ranking America" (<a href="http://rankingamerica.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow">http://rankingamerica.wordpress.com</a>) since late 2008. It's gotten noticed a bit, and I've provided some of my graphics to Newsweek. My project provides useful information, but I also see it as something of a conceptual art piece in my tightly controlled writing and in the seemingly endless number of rankings I provide (700+ to date). I want to improve the look of the charts, but I'm not a tech guy and I rely on what excel can do for me. I'm open to any suggestions about how to improve the look of what I'm doing. </p> http://forums.flowingdata.com/topic/interesting-charts#post-1201 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:50:26 +0000 vincentg64 1201@http://forums.flowingdata.com/ <p>227 pictures / maps / charts posted on Analytcbridge:<br /> URL: <a href="http://www.analyticbridge.com/photo" rel="nofollow">http://www.analyticbridge.com/photo</a> </p> http://forums.flowingdata.com/topic/user-interface-to-help-with-google-charts-api#post-609 Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:47:55 +0000 nathany 609@http://forums.flowingdata.com/ <p>I'm not a fan, but in you're interested, here's a UI to help you figure out what you want out of the Google Charts API:</p> <p><a href="http://www.clabberhead.com/googlechartgenerator.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.clabberhead.com/googlechartgenerator.html</a> </p> http://forums.flowingdata.com/topic/bar-charts-place-labels-inside-or-outside-the-bars#post-37 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:58:07 +0000 charliepark 37@http://forums.flowingdata.com/ <p>In displaying a bar chart, I see three options for explicitly including the item-by-item data:<br /> 1) not including any specific data values<br /> 2) printing the data values on the outside of the bar<br /> 3) printing the data values inside the bar</p> <p><strong>Example of "outside the bar":</strong><br /> <img src="http://flowingdata.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/david-530x386.png" /></p> <p><strong>Example of "inside the bar":</strong><br /> <img src="http://www.candychang.com/desk/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/post-it-results-graphed6.jpg" /></p> <p>Which of these techniques do you prefer? Do Tufte/Few/etc. have stated opinions on it? I'm guessing Tufte would say "no numbers" is best ... as the value, its position, and the length of the bar all act to "show the data," and that having all three is redundant. But I have to say that seeing the explicit values helps me to focus on the data, and not just glaze over the bars' lengths. So I guess the more specific question: <strong>Do you prefer to put your values inside or outside the bar?</strong> </p>