10 Ways to Take Your Data Visualizations to the Next Level

Data visualizations are a hot topic, and they’ve evolved tremendously over the years. Our client Qlik, a 30-year pioneer in business intelligence, wanted to help their customers and prospects level up from the all-too-familiar bar charts, line graphs, and donuts with compelling new ways to make their data speak. But we couldn’t just make a list of new options and tell people to choose their favorite. Selecting the right visualization to tell the right data story is crucial – and it’s something of an art

When our subject matter expert at Qlik pointed us to an existing dictionary for visualizations, created by the Financial Times, we saw an opportunity. Rather than just listing data visualizations or grouping them by type, we could use the old standbys (bar charts, line graphs, and donuts) as launching-off points and provide alternatives. That gave us the organizational structure for the eBook.

From there, we did our research, consulting several different data visualization dictionaries and speaking to multiple experts in the field until we had the right matches for 5 different “standby” visualizations. And of course, the accompanying visuals were key, since we were educating readers about a visual topic.

The result is 10 Ways to Take Your Data Visualizations to the Next Level, a quick, digestible, and evergreen reference that helps readers understand their data story and gives them new options for telling it in richer ways. For Qlik, it’s been a big success – their top-performing offer for content syndication.