Bookshelf: "Data: Visualize, Describe, Use" by Cole Nussbaumer Naflic

Full title: "Data: Visualize, Tell, Use. Storytelling in Analytics." This material is dedicated to the importance of data visualization and its interpretation through storytelling. In today's information-rich world, effective presentation of analytical data is crucial for success. By visualizing data, we not only simplify its perception but also create engaging and memorable stories that help convey the essence of information to a wider audience. Using storytelling in analytics makes data more accessible and interesting, which contributes to better understanding and informed decision-making based on the obtained information.

Book Title: "Storytelling with Data: A Guide to Data Visualization for Business Professionals."

This book is a valuable resource for those seeking to improve their data visualization skills in business. It presents effective methods and techniques that help transform complex information into understandable and attractive visual formats. Readers will learn how to choose the right graphic elements to effectively convey key messages and make data more accessible to the audience.

The book covers the fundamental design principles that will help create memorable and informative visualizations. The authors emphasize the importance of context and the story behind the data, encouraging readers to use storytelling as a tool for enhancing information comprehension.

For business professionals seeking to improve the effectiveness of presentations and reports, this guide will be an indispensable aid in mastering data visualization best practices.

MIF Publishing House is one of the leading Russian publishers specializing in publishing literature across various genres. It is known for its high-quality approach to selecting authors and works, as well as its high level of editorial work. MIF actively supports both established and emerging writers, which contributes to the diversity of the literature published. The publishing house strives to ensure that the books it publishes are not only interesting but also useful for readers, covering a wide range of topics—from fiction to popular science. By turning to the MIF assortment, readers can find a variety of works that will inspire and enrich their knowledge.

Published in 2020.

Cole Nussbaumer Naflic, a data visualization expert and former Google analyst, argues that there's a story behind every data set. Naflic and her team at Storytelling with Data currently offer courses, training, and workshops, teaching people how to effectively and clearly present information using graphs and charts. She also maintains a blog dedicated to data visualization, where she shares examples of unsuccessful approaches and offers recommendations for improvement. This knowledge will help you create clearer and more engaging visualizations, which is especially important in today's data-driven world.

The book "Data: Visualize, Tell, Use" is a practical guide that is useful for developing educational presentations and slide courses, as well as for preparing analytical reports in a business environment. Published in 2015 in English, it quickly gained popularity and became an international bestseller. In 2020, the book was translated into Russian by MIF Publishing House, and a reprint was released in 2025. This work will help readers effectively visualize data and use it to achieve their goals. Naflik shares valuable experience gained while working with clients from various industries, including education, healthcare, information technology, and public administration. The book features a variety of examples covering a wide range of topics, highlighting the versatility of Naflik's approach to data visualization. The author structures the material into six lessons that will help readers effectively apply visualization methods in their practice.

Understand the context. First and foremost, you need to answer the questions: “Who is my target audience?”, “What do they need to know or do?”, “How will I communicate with the audience?” (for example, present in person or distribute the data as an electronic document).
Choose the optimal data visualization format. According to Naflik, although there are many ways to present data, just ten basic formats get the job done. And sometimes, simple text or a table is best. Simply put, don’t use graphs “just for the sake of graphs.”
Get rid of information clutter. Naflik urges you to be mindful of cognitive load and get rid of any elements that don’t add semantic value and don’t facilitate understanding. The author also recommends applying Gestalt principles—a set of laws describing how people read images and assemble a coherent picture from them. This will help create a design that is easy to perceive.
Guide the audience’s attention. The author explains which elements and techniques will help highlight the most important points on a slide.
Think like a designer. In this section, Naflik takes a closer look at design principles that will make a graph or chart not only as clear as possible, but also aesthetically pleasing.
Tell a story. The author provides several storytelling strategies, such as horizontal logic, vertical logic, "reverse storyboarding," and "fresh perspective." According to Naflik, these will help you create an engaging story from a sequence of slides or even the elements of a single slide.

The author goes through each lesson in detail, demonstrating the data visualization process using a specific example. He covers all the stages, from clarifying the context to presenting the story on the finished slides. This approach allows for a deeper understanding of visualization methods and their application in real-world projects.

The Storytelling with Data blog presents numerous "before and after" examples, although they are in English. One example illustrates a common problem: the slide is overloaded with data, making it unclear what to focus on and what conclusions the audience is expected to draw. Effective visual presentation of data should be clear and concise, helping viewers focus on the most important aspects of the information.

The vertical axis represents the number of full-time employees involved in the company's projects. The bars represent the projected number of employees by month, while the lines show the actual number of employees working on projects. This information is also presented in the table below for ease of perception.

Image: Storytelling with data

In the "After" version, redundant information was removed from the slide and Visual noise, including grid lines, was eliminated. Data from various projects was combined to clearly convey the key idea: the planning process had significantly underestimated the number of staff needed to successfully implement the projects. This became the main title of the slide, and a call to action was added at the bottom: "Let's discuss how to attract funding to cover the costs of additional staff."

Differences between planned and actual figures are highlighted in orange for emphasis. The chart also highlights a key number that is important to the audience: 1,026 more people than expected have been involved in projects in recent months.

Image: Storytelling with data

To enhance the understanding of the graph, you can include additional context and create slides with metrics for each specific project. This will allow you to present the data more clearly and simplify its analysis.

This course is useful for anyone seeking to master data visualization skills. It will help you create effective presentations for a variety of audiences, including students, colleagues, and business partners. You will learn to convey information more clearly and persuasively, which will improve the quality of your presentations and communications.

Learn more about education by subscribing to our Telegram channel. We offer relevant news, useful tips, and interesting facts to help you stay on top of the latest trends in education. Join our community and expand your knowledge.

Bookshelf: "Data: Visualize, Describe, Use" by Cole Nussbaumer Naflic

Contents: