Blue Box Data Storytelling

The biggest career shift in analytics isn't becoming better at analysing data.

It's becoming better at direction.

Most analysts are trained to answer questions:

What happened?
Why did it happen?
What does the data show?

Strategic advisers answer a different question:

What should we do now?

The organisations that get the most value from data aren't the ones with the best dashboards.

They're the ones with people who can turn analysis into action.

One of the biggest shifts from analyst to adviser is learning that clarity is relative.

Earlier this year, a statistician told us her stacked column chart was "pretty straightforward."

And she was right.

For a statistician.

But most stakeholders aren't statisticians.

They don't spend their days analysing data. They spend their days running operations, managing risk, serving customers, or leading teams.

The question isn't:

"Can I understand this?"

The question is:

"Can they understand this?"

The people who have the greatest influence aren't necessarily the smartest people in the room.

They're the people who can translate complexity into clarity.

MYTH: Dashboards are Data Storytelling.

TRUTH: Dashboards are only one element of data storytelling.

I sometimes get asked if I can help people set up their dashboards, or "fix" their graphs.

It's like someone trying to write a book and asking for help formatting their Word doc. If you haven't written a good book, all the formatting in the world isn't going to help you.

Look outside of your graphs. What story are you trying to tell, what function and/or decision are you supporting? Start there, rather than with your graphs, and you'll become a more effective data communicator.

Imagine going to the doctor and telling them that you need treatment because your arm hurts.

If your doctor is any good, they will ask questions about your arm, get some background, work out what's actually wrong, before deciding what treatment to start. Maybe it includes painkillers, but chances are there's more that needs to be addressed than simply the pain element. Do you need stitches? A cast? A cream? A good talking to?

However, when I work with people on their dashboards, I ask them what the stakeholder requirements were... and more times than not, the answer is, "they wanted this information."

I push a little harder, to find out why they want that information and where it fits in in the wider context of the organisation.

"I'm not sure, this was just the request."

We need to be asking more (and better) questions, so that we don't provide something that yes, ok, they ASKED for, but also invariably doesn't provide value.

If you want to create a dashboard that gets used because it's valuable, you need to ask better questions and get deeper than the surface-level request.

A pie chart is sometimes ok.

Not often, but sometimes.

As humans we can overestimate how well we can read a pie chart and understand the numbers behind them. So, if the numbers don't matter and you just need a "feel" for what's going on, a pie chart is great.

As soon as there's more than 2 or 3 segments, switch to a bar chart, because we can't perceive differences in segment sizes anywhere near as well as we think we can.

If numbers matter more than "we just want to get a high level understanding of the different between these 2 segments"... a bar chart will serve you better.

I struggle to celebrate wins.

My brain and personality type fall into that category of people who feel that accomplishment is just the expectation. When I achieve, win, or build something - I feel very little. Just a bit satisfied.

So working hard on goals comes from not wanting to feel the pangs of disappointment of a near miss.

And so, I work hard. For clients and the product we offer, sure. But also in personal life; hobbies and goals and side-quests and family.

Along the way, I have collected all sorts of trophies and first-places. Honestly, the vast majority never last long. They feel like clutter and not often a thing to be admired and celebrated.

But the big ones, those that marked a win at a top level, they do stick around. Albeit, usually out of sight of the online meeting camera set-up.

So here I am, showing off my little trophy collection.

They come from a few things; top-level public speaking contests, business trophies, and Toastmasters DTM plaques. Ask me about them, and I'll tell you. But I absolutely won't just start spruiking.

I do good work. I've been recognised. But I keep just surging forward, improving, and often forget to celebrate the wins.
-Thomas.

"💄 MAKEOVER MONDAY! 💅🏼

Before & After - the difference a few simple changes can make. This is a real slide (recreated for client privacy).

BEFORE:
On first pass, this slide is not terrible. It is neat, colourful, it doesnt have too many words, the numbers are nice and big.
But, it takes a lot of eyes flitting back and forward to understand what's going on, and because there's no actual visual element (other than seemengly random blocks of colour), we try to work out the proportion of pages that need review in our heads. Is it a third? Half? It takes effort, and creates doubt.
And without a doubt, there will always be someone who says ""but those 3 add up to 149 not 150!"".
All in all, it demands a lot of congnative effort from the reader.

AFTER:
The title of the slide tells us exactly what we should be taking away - we should understand from the information on the page, that 49%, about half, of pages need review. We now don't have to work to understand what the point of the slide is.
The numbers are now visual, and we can SEE and FEEL the proportion of pages that need attention. Using green/yellow/orange leverages language that we understand - green = good, yellow/orange = alert.
And, the numbers have been checked so our audience doesn't go off on a tangent about data accuracy.

For someone to update this slide from before > after, would take basic PowerPoint skills, and about 10 minutes. You don't need software training or to spend half your day; you just need to learn some visualisation processes so you know where to start and in what order to tackle each piece in!"

If your process relies on 'just follow these steps', it will fail.

People already operate under dozens of rules.
Every extra step competes with speed, habit, and convenience.

If you want compliance, you must answer one question clearly.
“What changes for me if I do this, AND if I don't?”

When that answer is missing, instructions are ignored, because it's easier to avoid them. Not maliciously, but because people don't understand the consequences either way.

Lead with outcomes, make consequences explicit, THEN show the steps.

Most process presentations fail for one reason.
They explain what to do, not why it matters.

People don’t ignore instructions because they’re careless.
They ignore them because the effort feels optional.

The moment you make outcomes explicit (Faster payment / More work / Fewer delays etc), the more compliance will increase.

Not because the steps improved.
Because the motivation did.

A dashboard is not a story.

I get asked so often ""how do we get our dashboards to tell stories?""

You don't.

Dashboards are used as more an exploratory process, which means that different interpretations can be made from the same dashboard, by two different people. They're handy, and absolutely have their place.

Your dashboards can become PART OF a story, but they are not a story in themselves.

...despite how much the PowerBI marketing team tells you otherwise.