The Impact of Choosing
the Right Graph for Data Presentation

Have you ever thought about the impact of using the right graph to showcase data in your presentation? This is crucial when presenting data to decision-makers or in high-profile meetings where time is of the essence. Many presentation designers showcase the most common type of graphs while some others use fancy graphs. 

 

Now choosing the right graphs in data presentation can either make it extremely easy for viewers or very difficult (even more so than the table itself). I come across many reports & presentations myself where I would prefer to see the table to understand the data, or I ask what the associated table is for this graph. This showcases that while a graph is meant to help viewers comprehend complex data in a shorter time, sometimes it does the exact opposite if the graph selection for representing the data is not chosen correctly. 

In this blog, we’ll explore how the same data can be represented through various graphs in your data presentation and then determine which one is the most appropriate. This should help you understand how to select the best graph for your next presentation. You can also choose this graph suggestion tool for consultants here to first find out which one would be the most appropriate graph by feeding it the required information.   

Ok, for easy understanding let’s take the following data which contains the information about usage of browsers month-wise for most popular browsers.  

DateChromeIEFirefoxSafariEdgeOther
2020-0164.11.684.717.212.1810.13
2020-0264.451.634.5817.572.329.44
2020-0363.691.714.4218.352.449.39
2020-0462.481.414.2119.942.679.28
2020-0563.931.44.3818.192.719.37
2020-0665.471.364.2516.972.819.14
2020-0765.891.284.2616.652.899.04
2020-0865.991.24.0916.822.988.9
2020-0966.341.194.0916.733.138.52
2020-1066.121.053.9817.243.318.28
2020-1163.541.133.7919.243.418.88
2020-1263.381.053.7719.253.419.13
2021-0163.540.813.6419.453.559
2021-0263.590.813.7619.143.728.98
2021-0364.190.733.6819.033.748.6
2021-0464.470.713.5918.683.648.88
2021-0564.750.623.3618.433.629.21
2021-0665.270.613.2918.343.638.86
2021-0765.120.573.4518.653.618.59
2021-0864.940.583.5518.753.798.38
2021-0965.150.573.6718.43.978.23
2021-1064.670.53.6619.064.18
2021-1164.060.493.9119.224.37.97
2021-1263.80.463.9119.64.088.14

Let’s apply this data to various chart tyle and see how each shows the same data and Ill bet you will surprised to see how the same info seems very differently depicted and makes less or more sense depending upon the selection of graphs 

Bar graphs

Let’s begin with the most famous Bar graphs for presenting the data. 

Bar graphs

As you can see the names of browsers are shown on the left side with rising bars on the right side. Pretty neat right? One can see that Chrome has the longest bar and hence the most used one, followed by Safari and others.

Do you find it useful?

I guess in a single glance ‘yes’, except see your eye moment, you need to move your eye to follow the longest bar (chrome) and then come back to % which is written in the beginning ( 64.1 and Chrome).  This experience is a disconnecting experience. A visual which supposed to help you with the least effort requires more effect and that is why you need not just presentation designers but PPT experts who understand these minor yet powerful difference. 

So don’t just decide upon this a wait for the next contesters to come.  

Column Graph

Let’s try the same information with the next graph type. For this time let’s use Column Graph. 

Column Graph

Is it any better for your data presentation? I guess not. It still shows the valid data, but it is more or less bar graphs that display the same rising bars to represent the data. However, you will look at the height to see what the market share is for, say, ‘Chrome’, which is a bit more than 60%. It follows the same information, i.e., Safari is the next most popular browser. What about your eye moment and ‘disconnecting effect”, it’s still there.  

The Line Graph

How about using a different chart type? The Line Graph  

Ok, here is the same data but in line chart style  

The Line Graph

The current graph is quite poor and difficult to interpret. While line graphs can be useful, they are not always the best choice for presenting data. It’s crucial to select the appropriate graph type.  Whenever you design a presentation or report in McKinsey style you always encounter this crucial choice and it requires a good understanding to select the right graph.   

Despite this, we will continue experimenting to find the ideal graph for our sample data. 

Pie chart

Next, we will try a pie chart using the same data. 

Pie chart

This graph is an improvement over previous ones. This representation of data is very meaningful. It clearly shows that Chrome captures more than 60% of the market while allowing for a comparison with other competitors without much cognitive load or eye movement. Think about the disconnecting effect. In this case, it is not present. You can see everything in a single view, chrome, 64.1 and its impact ( light blue colour). 

So is it decided it’s the best one? Not yet 

Doughnut style

I would try one more to prove my point. Let’s use doughnut style, another popular graph type which is widely used in consultant presentations. 

Doughnut style

What do you think? It is quite elegant, isn’t it? This example is highly suitable, being very clean, easy to read, and allowing for the information to be easily understood without straining your cognitive abilities.   

But did you forget something : ) 

The table originally shows multiple years (2009 -2023) and every graph type showcased so far just showed one year (2009) data. This proves one more time, that not all graphs are made the same and not all data can be shown through all graphs type and that is why it is important to learn about all of them. If you are new to consultancy and want to learn how to design a killer presentation then you can read this step by step guide of PPT design .   

So here is the nearest one which represents all the data though not very good looking or easy to understand this is the only one which helps you see all data of all the years in one single glance. 

single glance

Therefore, next time, ensure that you do not use just any graph to represent your data but select the appropriate one that aids in quickly comprehending the information.  

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