In today’s data driven world, the ability to visualise information effectively is a critical skill for professionals across all industries. Visual representations of data enable quicker interpretation, allowing decision-makers to act on insights promptly. By providing a clear picture of the data, visualisations help in making informed and evidence-based decisions, reducing the risk of errors and improving outcomes.
Visualisations communicate data more effectively than text or tables alone. They provide a universal language that can be understood by diverse audiences, regardless of their data literacy levels. This makes it easier to share insights and findings with stakeholders, colleagues, and clients, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
This immersive training course is designed to help you turn complex data into clear, insightful, and actionable visual representations. Whether you are a data analyst, business intelligence professional, manager, or marketer, this course will empower you to communicate your data stories compellingly and effectively.
Objectives:
- How to produce an effective data visualisation
- Spotting problems with ineffective charts and labelling
- Understanding the data types that are your raw material
- How to select an appropriate chart type to use
- Learn data visualisation encoding
- Use data viz design principles to critique your work in progress
- How a consistent workflow improves your output
- The role of editorial thinking
- Practice designing appropriate data visualisations
- Extra considerations when using maps
- What to think about when using colour
Training Outcomes:
- A template workflow to guide your design work
- Visual Summary to help you select a chart type
- Online tools to help your colour selections
- A step-by-step guide to decluttering a chart
- Overview of data visualisation software market
- Learn principles to refine your designs
- How to ensure ethical representation of data
- Recommended CPD resource for continued learning
A really excellent course, pitched at the right level for practitioners and covering a really wide range of data visualisation choices – but beyond this, I really welcomed being challenged to think about the data more in terms of exactly what it is that I need my audience to understand and take away from it. I will certainly be using several of the techniques that were spoken about. And lastly, the trainer was great – excellent pace, excellent delivery and a great facilitator. Highly recommend! – Durham Constabulary
Very worthwhile course , content and pace was excellent. The trainer was very knowledgeable and gave great insight and pointers to very useful resource material. – NHS National Services Scotland
An excellent course, with a knowledgeable trainer. – Hampshire County Council
For more information or to make a booking please call 0330 0947 344
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Registration
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Why Data Visualisation Matters
- Comparing the impact of text, basic visualisations, and compelling visualisations on the communicative power of a data stories
- What counts as data visualisation
- Tips for applying today’s content to your own context
- Keep the stakeholders in mind: who are they, and what do they need to grasp within 5 seconds? What can they come back to later?
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Colours and Meaning
- An introduction to colour symbolism
- Interactive demo: The Great Penguin Bake Off
- Sources of colour inspiration
- Tools for creating and manipulating colour palettes
- Give it a go: Create a palette based on the concepts in your dataviz
- Making use of shades and transparency
- Applying colours to emphasise stories
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Colours and Accessibility
- So much more than green and red
- What are the accessibility guidlines for dataviz?
- Tools for checking accessibility
- Give it a go: Refine your own colour palette, and decide how you will apply colours in the dataviz you have in mind
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Coffee Break
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Dataviz Types for Data Types
- Exploring the graphic continuum
- What can a bar graph do?
- The case for raw data, and its caveats
- Encoding time, progress and growth growth
- Encoding size and relative proportions
- Online interactive resources for choosing the right type of dataviz
- Interactive session: drawing the data story
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Combining Colour and Dataviz Types
- Double encoding: where, when, how?
- Applying all the above to maps
- Tables – a neglected form of dataviz
- Give it a go: sketch two alternative ways of presenting the data you have in mind
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Lunch
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Making the Most of Text
- The Stroop effect and why it matters
- An introduction to text hierarchy
- Interactive demo: Do we need a legend?
- Annotate to declutter
- Text placement to reduce cognitive load
- Give it a go: what text do you need to add? what text do you need to remove?
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Typography for Dataviz
- The impact of good typography
- How to make use of custom fonts
- Choosing fonts which maximise accessibility
- Typography tips for tables
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Coffee Break
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Ethics in Dataviz
- Exploring the Urban Institute’s “Do no harm” guide
- The data comes from somewhere
- Interactive session: How can we fix this dataviz?
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Speeding up your data-to-viz workflow
- Capturing what we have done today (colours, fonts, hierarchy, rules)
- Creating an Excel template
- Creating Figma styles
- Give it a go: Create a new graph using what we’ve done today
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Trainer’s Summary and Close
- Next steps
- Q&A
- Close
*Programme subject to change
Who Should Attend?
Delegates who will have an interest in this training course will be looking to improve their data visualisation skills.
*This Training Course is open to Public, Private and Third Sectors.
For more information or to make a booking please call 0204 5724 910
- Public Sector : £495 +VAT
- Private Sector : £595+VAT
- Voluntary Sector : £445+VAT
