For today’s blog, I have picked up an Info-graphic by TIME which was published close to Women’s Day in 2015. The graph shows how women are represented in politics after 95 years of getting the right to vote.
To some, this visualization might be very engaging but I see many pitfalls in this graph.
Firstly, I feel is the designer targeting the right audience? Is a reader who reads this article just to enjoy pictures with little concern for content and information the appropriate audience for this visualization?
Secondly, the info-graphic shows eight different measures of women’s participation in government and each of the measure is expressed as percentage of female v/s male participation. If they are all same, I do not understand the need to plot these differently.
Thirdly, in the process of making the chart engaging, the designer has exceeded the boundaries of single screen. Information is more powerful when seen together at the same time; this not only saves viewer’s valuable time but also paints complete picture and important connections that may not be visible otherwise.
Fourthly, there is inappropriate choice of media, just to create a variety designer has added pie charts which are a bad choice as already discussed in class.
Lastly, the color choice is misleading. At first glance it makes you think it has something to do with Democrats versus Republicans, while the graph has nothing related to it.
In the end, I feel a simple bar chart with all eight measures would have been an excellent visualization choice. Also, sorting data in order would actually make visualization more meaningful, as the viewer can then judge areas where women representation is best or worst.
References:
http://time.com/4010645/womens-equality-day/
http://www.datarevelations.com/tag/stephen-few
https://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/Whitepapers/Common_Pitfalls.pdf