Why Is Text Added To A Data Visualization Presentation?

Text is an indispensable tool for creating effective data visualizations. It enhances clarity, emphasizes key findings, provides additional information, establishes a narrative, improves accessibility, supports design decisions, guides user interaction, and promotes understanding and action. The article talks about why is text added to data visualization. Learn the pros and cons of adding text to dashboards and tips to do it effectively.  

Do you know why is text added to data visualization presentation? 

The answer is to add context and perspective. There are different ways of adding text to dashboard designs, such as annotations, labels, and captions.

As you can see in the above dashboards, adding text can explain the graphs better. This is particularly helpful when dealing with huge graphs and charts since it can confuse your audience if there is no textual reference to the graphs.

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Visual representations also need explanations. The most effective way is to add crisp and informative text to the data visualization presentations.

The use of text will help you to convey your information in a crisp manner. It will help you to highlight key terms and categorize visualizations by concept, importance, sentiments, etc. Some dashboards have options to create word clouds that enable you to categorize text and give the audience a clearer understanding of your information.

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You can also add information summarizing your presentation at the end of the charts or graphs. 

Example – 

The above screenshot shows a Tableau workbook with the option to add/edit the caption per the requirement. You can use the colors, change the font and size, and align as required. 

Check how the addition of text made the representation more meaningful.

Navigates through the Presentation 

If your audience wants to get through with your data by looking at your presentation, you should label it with terms and numbers. The best ways to provide crucial details are through tags or labels since they help the audience understand representations more clearly. So, it explains why text analytics visualization is critical in presentations. 

Helps the Audience to Discover Hidden Patterns

If you do not add text to your presentation, your audience cannot dig deeper and observe the hidden patterns that your visualization might be trying to reflect. The use of text allows for identifying and analyzing data insights. It also helps the presenter to detect any errors in the dashboard or the data source and correct them beforehand.

Highlights the Useful information

Tagging your data points will help you give an overview of products, features, and ideas that are important for your business strategies. You can illustrate takeaways throughout the dashboard to point to insights and trends your clients or stakeholders should focus on. This will help you to identify the areas of improvement and plan the next course of action for a given project.

Pros and Cons of Adding Text to a Data Visualization Presentation

There are both pros and cons to adding text to a data visualization presentation. Here are some of the most important factors:

Pros

• Your dashboard will be more clear and more understandable for the audience.
• Your data will speak for itself, and you will be able to focus on additional information rather than the obvious information.
• It can highlight important data pointers.

Cons

• Overdone text can make the presentation messy.
• Your ideas may not be conveyed as clearly if you rely too heavily on text.

Before you add text to a data visualization presentation, you should consider the pros and cons to avoid overdoing it. If you add text, be sure to do so clearly and concisely.

Tips to Add Text on Dashboards

Now that you know why is text added to a data visualization presentation? What are the pros and cons of adding text to the presentation? Here are some tips for doing it effectively. 

• Use short, concise sentences.
• Use simple words
• Avoid jargon.
• Proofread the text for any grammatical errors.
• Use high-contrast colors for your text to make them pop.
• Avoid using fonts that are too large or too small.
• Do not use fonts that are difficult to read from afar.

In the above presentation, you can see that the textual data is arranged in a table on the left side, which looks very messy. On the right side, the car sales data is presented in a pie chart format, which makes it easier to understand what the presenter is trying to convey. While adding text to your data visualization presentation, you may have to get rid of some of the text, but that is okay because, in the end, you want to keep your presentation smart, concise, and professional.