Simplicity. That was my design principle for this month’s #projecthealthviz topic. I wanted the dashboard to be easy to understand at first glance. I tried not to do any complex calculations. I tried not to pack too much information in any one visual. Above all, I tried not to develop visuals that do not make sense to a viewer who is not me.
I tried to tell a simple story. Person to person transmission is the biggest mode of transmission for outbreaks, and Wisconsin long-term care facilities seem to be the biggest offender for reasons beyond this dashboard. I’ve got the big numbers to show the scope of the problem, spark lines to reveal if there are any trends upward/downward, a map, and a stacked bar chart. I used only blue and gray for coloring. I included text boxes for narrative context.
I think the story could have been hardened better, but the dashboard itself is fairly simple. No filters or interactions…just a data story. I think every dashboard I make could benefit from a focus on simplicity. Interactive version here.
Serious Vizness 