Hi! My name is Elizabeth Grim (she/her) of Elizabeth Grim Consulting, LLC. I am an evaluation consultant helping organizations build their evaluation capacity and tell their story through data. I am also President Elect of the Eastern Evaluation Research Society (EERS).
Years ago, when I first learned about data visualization, I went all in. I read books and blogs, listened to podcasts, attended workshops, and poured over the guiding principles. I thought that if I understood the rules, then I could get it “right.”
But focusing on getting things “right” presents challenges. It perpetuates dichotomous thinking and stifles creativity. It often prioritizes Western ways of thinking and leaves out community voice. It raises criticism rather than encouraging conversation.
When we focus solely on the dos and don’ts of data visualization, feedback begins to sound like: always start your axis at zero, do not reverse your axis, never use a pie chart, or stay away from the color red. (None of those statements are true 100% of the time.) Spoiler alert, hiding these comments in an oreo cookie feedback format often still sounds critical.
Lessons Learned:
Switching our thinking from getting it “right” by following the rules to getting it “right” by serving the greater purpose, client, and community changes the feedback. By shifting the focus, we welcome in conversation, creativity, and curiosity.
Questions to ask when giving feedback about a visualization include:
- What type of feedback are you looking for on this visualization?
- What was your process for creating this visualization?
- What are the key takeaways you would like readers to know?
Questions to ask when seeking feedback about a visualization include:
- What did you notice about this visualization?
- What questions came up for you after seeing this visualization?
- How might you use this visualization to inform decisions?
Key phrases to think about when giving feedback:
- I wonder…
- I suggest…
- Tell me more about…
- I’m curious about…
- You may consider…
- What do you think about…
These questions and phrases help us to understand what choices went into the design, the potential impact of the visual, and where feedback may or may not be desired.
Rad Resources:
- Storytelling with data: #1 the art of feedback – this podcast with Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic describes giving and receiving data visualization feedback, including specific examples from the Storytelling With Data makeover challenge.
- Data Visualization Feedback: Evaluating Choices, Not Checklists – this Nightingale article by Joshua Smith encourages readers to focus on design choices rather than principles when reviewing visualizations.
- On Giving and Receiving Critique in DataViz Communities – this blog by Ben Jones talks about giving and receiving feedback on data visualizations, especially when it is unsolicited.
Soft Landing, Firm Impact: Practical Tips on How to Give and Receive Meaningful Data Visualization Feedback – this Outlier Conference presentation by Candra McRae provides suggestions for being clear and humble when giving and receiving feedback.
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Dear Elizabeth Grim,
Thank you for your vulnerable and concise article regarding data visualization and the focus on focusing away from Criticism to Curiosity.
The one part of your article that stuck out to me that I found myself so grateful for reading was “focusing on getting things “right” presents challenges. It perpetuates dichotomous thinking and stifles creativity. It often prioritizes Western ways of thinking and leaves out community voice. It raises criticism rather than encouraging conversation”. I really appreciated the focus away from the priority of getting things “right” because than it allows for room for dialogue, creativity, learning, reflection, and reflexivity, which from a non-Western perspective allows people to dive deeper in their learning and growth as opposed to sealing the envelope and never wanting to open it up again and believing the work is fully complete. Furthermore, I appreciated the move away from the Western approach, ways of thinking and rather left it open for other approaches, ways of thinking, doing, or learning because historically that is not only the one way of approach and it is important, we acknowledge other ways, as we say in learning and developing individualized plans “one size does not fit all”.
The questions you pose in the frames allow for dialogue and growth and it is refreshing to see others willing to say let’s dive deeper in our learning from the data beyond the one purpose and be done because the feedback could help expand further studies with the data or open new avenues with the data. If I may ask my own wondering, how have you found the response to your post and what would you consider changing or adding upon reflection of your initial post?
Thank you kindly and I hope this response finds you well and in good health.
Thank you for the feedback, Caitlin! From the comments I heard through social media and personal conversations, I felt that the response to my post was positive. In terms of changes or additions, I would like to continue to listen and learn from the Data Visualization Society, which has a more global perspective of the field. I welcome thoughts about how you think this blog could evolve.
Dear Elizabeth Grim,
Thank you for your reply.
As someone who has been working with our local First Nations, Learning softly and living softly has been key. The role of story-telling has become renewed in its mainstream in media due to recent events and findings within Canada, but when we look at story-telling, does oversaturation or the views of a single perspective story become something people become avoidant of or forgetful of because of assumptions in what the story or giver has to say. So I wonder how can we present the information in manners where dialogue does not close off people’s voices to share stories and allow for further growth in evaluating events, programs or funding.
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