Hi! My name is Gwen Davis, and I am a Senior Data Communications Specialist at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). We regularly conduct program evaluations and nationally representative surveys to gather the most up-to-date data on local health departments in the United States. As researchers and evaluators, we often share data visualizations to explain singular data points about local health department capacities, gaps, and needs. But we also spend a lot of time weaving these visualizations from multiple studies into data stories that explore the interconnected landscape of local public health as a whole. Data storytelling is the practice of capturing narratives based on data; this is essential to find the why? behind the numbers. These stories include three major elements: data, a narrative arc, and visuals. Finding and telling these data stories can be a daunting task, but I’m going to break it down into a step-by-step process that will allow you to craft data stories with ease.
The most important aspect of any data storytelling is determining your audience – this will serve as the foundation for many other subsequent decisions. Consider their goals, perspectives, areas of interest, and the level of detail they require. For example, think about how you’d tell a story to a middle schooler versus a policymaker – the same data could lead to vastly different narratives.
Then, determine what data is relevant to your intended theme; cast a wide net to explore what data is available related to the subject, what it’s telling you, and how it holds value for the audience. At this stage, I like to draft a chart for each data point to see potential connections. This part can get a little messy, so allow yourself the freedom to think outside the box. I like to stay organized by putting matching symbols next to charts that align within the story theme – you may want to leave some notes for yourself as well.
Next, create a storyboard to find throughlines and connections across the data and craft the narrative. This stage builds off the last step but in a more formalized way. You may want to add text to support the narrative of the overarching data story and connect the dots between the data points. The format of your storyboard is up to you – it could be an outline, a design mock-up, or even sticky notes on the wall.
Finally, you’ll create your final product. We have shared data stories as infographics, social media posts, webinars, and blog posts. For any data visualizations, you’ll need to make decisions about what type of visuals will best support the data and the story. Make sure your text and any graphics work together to cohesively tell the story in the best way for the audience, and keep in mind what they may need from a visualization, including any accessibility measures.
Lessons Learned
- Remember to engage your audience, if possible, and to do it often. It’s important to revisit the audience’s needs throughout the process: how does the story support what they need, or conversely, does it challenge them in a productive way?
- Data storytelling is an iterative process. While grounded in quantitative insights, this is a creative process and at times, a little messy. Don’t be afraid to pivot when needed.
- Data storytelling is not a one-size-fits-all process. Every project is different, and the final product will depend on both your audience and the data. This framework is adaptable to many different type of data stories and needs.
The American Evaluation Association is hosting Data Visualization and Reporting (DVR) Week with our colleagues in the DVR Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from DVR TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.