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LinkedIn Learning Summary

Throughout her course, Amy Balliet emphasizes a crucial piece of context that is needed to deliver messages through data visualization: the target audience. That audience may have varying levels of data visualization literacy. An international group of researchers from Johns Hopkins University presented an article on the investigation projects inside the country of Tanzania that examined this literacy. 

The investigators acknowledges that companies in Tanzania have a robust system for gathering good data, but the investigators questions whether their decision makers can interpret and communicate that data effectively (Aung, 2019). Through quizzing, researchers found that the decision-makers preferred simpler forms of data visualization like bar graphs and pie charts rather than more complex representations used in global health visualizations (Aung, 2019). 

The investigators received feedback from their quiz-takers. According to the quiz-takers, the graphs should be modified to be more accessible for people with colorblindness, improve the argument of the graphs by highlighting important parts of the graphics, and cutting down on overcomplex usage of indicators (Aung, 2019).  

In the LinkedIn course, Balliet warned against loading up a graph with many different data categories. Recognizing this flaw in the researchers’ curriculum proves that the quiz-takers had a baseline knowledge of data visualization. They only need instruction on the more granular details.