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Exploring insights from raw and bulky data is tedious and exhausting.
The visualization designs can help you distill business data into meaningful insights. And this can save tons of hours, which you can use to relax or execute other tasks.
You can use a wider range of charts and graphs to create compelling data stories.
Why stories?
Stories are a powerful tool in today’s business landscape. We’re accustomed to engaging with stories. More so, stories are easier to remember than numbers and texts.
Imagine you’re running two marketing campaigns.
One is focused on the specifications of a product. On the other hand, the other campaign highlights how a customer’s life has improved due to a product.
The latter is likely to be an easy winner.
So, where does data come in?
Data can help you determine the stories relevant to your target audience.
In this blog you will learn:
Before delving into the blog’s core, we’ll address the following question: what is a chart?
A chart is a visual diagram you can use to display relationships, patterns, trends, and outliers in your data.
The key objective of a chart is to display predictive or real-time insights into your data.
Most businesses increasingly leverage data using charts and graphs as backdrops for their data stories.
It could be a graph displaying the progress your team has already made in a project. Or sales performance of your sales reps in the 2nd quarter of a financial year
Charts make raw datasets much easier to read and interpret.
If working with data is part of your job description, you’ll probably agree with this.
If you’re not busy slicing and dicing raw data sets, you’re probably busy trying to put together a compelling data story for key stakeholders, such as investors or management.
Storytelling requires skill.
You need a combination of the right visualization charts and stories to communicate insights into data sets. And this is where most of us get it wrong.
For instance, you either have too much data to come to any conclusion. Or the resulting insights are misaligned with your objectives.
In the coming section, we’ll take you through the importance of charts for data analysis.
You’ll agree that not everyone shares the love for the data.
If you present raw data sets in tables, the audience you’re trying to influence will probably miscomprehend you.
Why?
As we said, data on its own it’s not appealing emotionally.
However, with storytelling, the impact is instant.
A data story using charts and graphs can help your audience understand the insights and probably buy into your recommendations.
Data storytelling infuses emotions into the raw numbers. You can create emotionally appealing content by assigning meaning and context to numbers.
Develop a habit of using stories and visual content because most people crave insights that solve their problems.
Data stories can help soften the people you’re trying to reach, positioning you as a trusted resource.
To stand out from the pack, use data stories.
Raw numbers and random charts in PowerPoint slides are unlikely to move needles on today’s business landscape.
On the other hand, stories can help you persuade your target audience. Remember, emotions come first, and ration/logic follows suit.
Seek to appeal to the emotions before going rational.
This is how the world works.
Data analysis using charts is probably the easiest way to get your stories for everyone to consume. You probably have unique data that no other business has access to. This implies you can tell a data narrative that no one else can tell in your market.
Some of the charts we recommend to try when creating data stories include:
One of the common uses of charts is to highlight changes between two or more key variables in your data.
You can easily know whether your business profits are taking a nose dive or growing rapidly.
In the coming section, we’ll cover 5 key types of charts and their uses in data storytelling.
A Likert Scale Chart is a survey-friendly visualization with a psychometric scale.
The chart can help you to understand the views and perspectives of your target market
The chart comes in different types, such as a 10-point Likert Scale Chart, to help collect in-depth insights.
The chart is well-suited to display insights into qualitative data (opinions and sentiments) by categorically assigning value.
The Likert Scale Chart is based on the rationale that survey responses can be measured on a psychometric scale ranging from a complete agreement to a complete disagreement.
Check out the survey responses below. How easy is it to extract meaningful insights into the table?
| Questions | Scale | Responses |
| How much satisfied are you with the product descriptions? | 1 | 205 |
| How much satisfied are you with the product descriptions? | 2 | 214 |
| How much satisfied are you with the product descriptions? | 3 | 150 |
| How much satisfied are you with the product descriptions? | 4 | 375 |
| How much satisfied are you with the product descriptions? | 5 | 927 |
| How much satisfied are you with the product descriptions? | 6 | 790 |
| How much satisfied are you with the product descriptions? | 7 | 996 |
| How much satisfied are you with the ease of website navigation? | 1 | 118 |
| How much satisfied are you with the ease of website navigation? | 2 | 116 |
| How much satisfied are you with the ease of website navigation? | 3 | 122 |
| How much satisfied are you with the ease of website navigation? | 4 | 433 |
| How much satisfied are you with the ease of website navigation? | 5 | 864 |
| How much satisfied are you with the ease of website navigation? | 6 | 720 |
| How much satisfied are you with the ease of website navigation? | 7 | 959 |
| How much satisfied are you with the quality of our product? | 1 | 184 |
| How much satisfied are you with the quality of our product? | 2 | 144 |
| How much satisfied are you with the quality of our product? | 3 | 160 |
| How much satisfied are you with the quality of our product? | 4 | 322 |
| How much satisfied are you with the quality of our product? | 5 | 620 |
| How much satisfied are you with the quality of our product? | 6 | 793 |
| How much satisfied are you with the quality of our product? | 7 | 916 |
| How much satisfied are you with our delivery service? | 1 | 158 |
| How much satisfied are you with our delivery service? | 2 | 206 |
| How much satisfied are you with our delivery service? | 3 | 111 |
| How much satisfied are you with our delivery service? | 4 | 375 |
| How much satisfied are you with our delivery service? | 5 | 665 |
| How much satisfied are you with our delivery service? | 6 | 669 |
| How much satisfied are you with our delivery service? | 7 | 808 |
Notice the difference after visualizing the survey data using a Likert Chart (one of the top 5 types of charts for representing data).
A Sunburst Chart is sometimes called a multi-level pie chart.
The visualization design uses concentric rings to show the hierarchy of key data points.
Thanks to the graph’s layers and nodes, you can quickly visualize complex and bulky data .
Understanding a Sunburst Partition Chart (one of the key types of charts for representing data) is critical, especially if your goal is to highlight hierarchical insights.
| Category | Months | Country | Sales |
| Sales | June | USA | 75 |
| Sales | June | United Kingdom | 67 |
| Sales | June | Germany | 90 |
| Sales | July | USA | 75 |
| Sales | July | United Kingdom | 67 |
| Sales | July | Germany | 90 |
| Sales | April | USA | 67 |
| Sales | April | United Kingdom | 90 |
| Sales | April | Germany | 75 |
| Sales | May | USA | 67 |
| Sales | May | United Kingdom | 90 |
| Sales | May | Germany | 75 |
With Sunburst Partition Chart you have the following chart:
You can easily conduct comparison analysis by using traditional Bar Charts or looking at the raw numbers.
However, these strategies are ineffective. Besides, they rarely show you the whole picture.
On the other hand, a Comparison Bar Chart is one of the best-suited types of charts for representing data. It can help you engage with your datasets and draw easily comparative insights.
Check out the data below.
Can you provide a meaningful analysis by just looking at the table?
| Year | Topic | Positive | Negative |
| Q1 | Quality of food | 11 | 12 |
| Q1 | Ease of ordering | 29 | 50 |
| Q1 | Services | 20 | 33 |
| Q1 | Parking | 2 | 4 |
| Q1 | Cleanliness | 55 | 12 |
| Q1 | Ease of reading the menu | 12 | 7 |
| Q1 | Wait time to be seated | 16 | 11 |
| Q1 | Seating space in waiting area | 8 | 8 |
| Q1 | Menu and drink choices | 4 | 3 |
| Q1 | Attitude of Waiter | 3 | 5 |
| Q1 | Payment method | 12 | 15 |
| Q2 | Quality of food | 15 | 12 |
| Q2 | Ease of ordering | 51 | 1 |
| Q2 | Services | 28 | 12 |
| Q2 | Parking | 4 | 2 |
| Q2 | Cleanliness | 45 | 11 |
| Q2 | Ease of reading the menu | 12 | 8 |
| Q2 | Wait time to be seated | 16 | 18 |
| Q2 | Seating space in waiting area | 13 | 18 |
| Q2 | Menu and drink choices | 4 | 1 |
| Q2 | Attitude of Waiter | 3 | 8 |
| Q2 | Payment method | 17 | 16 |
| Q3 | Quality of food | 18 | 12 |
| Q3 | Ease of ordering | 59 | 20 |
| Q3 | Services | 30 | 10 |
| Q3 | Parking | 2 | 0 |
| Q3 | Cleanliness | 55 | 7 |
| Q3 | Ease of reading the menu | 18 | 10 |
| Q3 | Wait time to be seated | 22 | 14 |
| Q3 | Seating space in waiting area | 13 | 16 |
| Q3 | Menu and drink choices | 4 | 1 |
| Q3 | Attitude of Waiter | 2 | 4 |
| Q3 | Payment method | 13 | 14 |
Notice the difference after visualizing the data below.
The Sankey Diagram is a visualization design you can use to display insights into data flows and changes from a stage to another.
These flows and changes reveal significant insights, such:
Sankey Diagrams (one of the key types of charts for representing data) are amazingly easy to read and interpret, as you shall see later.
Check out the data below. How easy is it to analyze in your head and provide meaningful conclusions?
| Traffic | Visitor | Visitor status | Page | Count |
| Organic traffic | New visitor | Stayed | Home page | 243815 |
| Organic traffic | Repeat visitor | Stayed | Home page | 594509 |
| Organic traffic | New visitor | Bounced | Home page | 291969 |
| Organic traffic | Repeat visitor | Bounced | Home page | 1111279 |
| Paid traffic | New visitor | Stayed | Page1 | 921989 |
| Paid traffic | Repeat visitor | Stayed | Page1 | 975978 |
| Paid traffic | New visitor | Bounced | Page1 | 413284 |
| Paid traffic | Repeat visitor | Bounced | Page1 | 1128882 |
| Organic traffic | New visitor | Stayed | Page2 | 508370 |
| Organic traffic | Repeat visitor | Stayed | Page2 | 532560 |
| Organic traffic | New visitor | Bounced | Page2 | 462413 |
| Organic traffic | Repeat visitor | Bounced | Page2 | 516291 |
| Paid traffic | New visitor | Stayed | Page3 | 783168 |
| Paid traffic | Repeat visitor | Stayed | Page3 | 314616 |
| Paid traffic | New visitor | Bounced | Page3 | 471163 |
| Paid traffic | Repeat visitor | Bounced | Page3 | 1013932 |
Notice the difference after visualizing the data using a Sankey Diagram. You can easily track the journey taken by online visitors on the website.
Keep reading because, in the coming section, we’ll show you how to create a chart for Data analysis in Excel.
One of the time-saving ways of conducting data analysis is using charts and graphs, such as a Tornado Chart.
You’re unlikely to find the top 5 types of charts for representing data, such as Tornado Chart, in Microsoft Excel.
We’re not advocating you leave Microsoft Excel.
Install a particular third-party add-in in your Excel to access more data storytelling-friendly charts, such as Tornado Chart.
The application is called ChartExpo.
What is ChartExpo?
ChartExpo is an add-in you can easily install in your Microsoft Excel to access many charts for creating compelling data stories.
ChartExpo is inexpensive. You’ll spend only $10 monthly. You are free to cancel your subscription anytime.
Besides, you don’t need special skills to generate insightful and ready-made financial analysis-friendly charts for your stories.
ChartExpo charts and graphs are available both in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Please use the following CTA’s to install the tool of your choice and create beautiful visualizations in a few clicks in your favorite tool.
Let’s assume you own 2 stores. You want to compare stores orders performance side by side. For this type of analysis Tornado Chart is best.
Assume you have arranged your data in the table below.
| Products | Store A | Store B |
| Laptop | 100 | 95 |
| Mobile | 85 | 76 |
| Tablet | 75 | 67 |
| Charger | 60 | 58 |
| USB | 55 | 50 |
| Portable | 40 | 35 |
| Mouse | 20 | 25 |
| Router | 10 | 13 |
A chart is a visual diagram you can use to display relationships, patterns, trends, and outliers in your data.
The key objective of a chart is to display predictive or real-time insights into your data.
Most businesses are increasingly leveraging data using charts and graphs as backdrops for their data stories.
One of the common uses of charts is to highlight changes between two or more key variables in your data.
You can easily know whether your business profits are taking a nose dive or growing rapidly. Also, you can easily track other variables, such as costs.
Some of the tested and recommended types of charts for representing data include:
Excel lacks a huge chunk of these charts, such as Sankey Diagrams and Likert Scale Chart.
We’re not advising you to dispose of your Microsoft Excel.
What’s the solution?
We recommend you install an add-on, such as ChartExpo, to access ready-made charts and graphs for data storytelling.
ChartExpo is an Excel add-in loaded with the top 5 charts (we’ve mentioned) and other cutting-edge graphs to help you create compelling data stories.
Sign up for a 7-day free trial today to access ready-made and visually stunning charts, such as a Tornado.
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