How to Successfully Optimize Storytelling in Your Daily Data Dashboards
Data dashboards are an integral part of today's market research. Similarly, storytelling plays an important role in presenting market research results. This is because data figures alone do not provide a sufficient basis for effective decisions. They hardly ever reveal relevant findings, as they are typically too abstract and don't appear in context.
There is an ever-increasing amount of stakeholders within companies that want to have actionable information they can work with. If analytical and marketing skills are lacking, then an easy-to-understand, clearly descriptive presentation of the information is a must. Targeted communication of actionable information is crucial here. Consequently, professional storytelling tied with engaging visuals is becoming more and more important in our daily dashboard activities.
We as humans are naturally curious when it comes to stories. A good story conveys knowledge and helps us understand not only the “what,” but also the “why.” Interesting stories can go viral and will be carried on to “wow” others. This is how communication creates new ideas and perspectives.
A dashboard that visualizes figures, but does not tell a story, is simply informative. Only a good story will make the user think, ask questions, and ultimately make informed conclusions and decisions.
What Makes A Good Story?
Creating a good story isn’t as difficult as it may seem. Here are 4 easy tips to help you create a compelling story.
1. Focus on the reader.
A good story is all about the interest of the reader (user) and not the storyteller (creator of the dashboard). You need to engage the reader. The story needs to make sense to them. Not every dashboard user needs all of the information in every detail from each perspective. So maybe you need to tell different stories about the same topic, depending on your target group, their preferences and interests.
2. Feature a hero.
A good story must feature at least one hero that the reader can relate to. So make sure the story contains KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that are important to the respective dashboard user. These are important in the sense that the reader can influence these KPIs and is assessed on their positive and negative changes. Every hero needs a goal. That's why you always need to think about challenging, yet reachable objectives.
3. Inspire your reader.
A good story inspires the reader to think ahead. While a story can be complex, it should never be complicated. It needs to show the reader what is happening as well as how the particular situation developed. You always need to ensure that your data dashboard contains cause-effect relations. These interdependencies provide food for thought and create ideas for necessary changes.
4. Remember: Even negative stories can be productive.
How Can I Tell A Story with My Dashboard?
Create Interactive, Online Presentations
People typically tell stories with dashboards through online presentations. By using this method, you can show different data perspectives in a slide show. Depending on the system that you use, the individual perspectives are presented as slides or saved as bookmarks. The user is then taken from page to page or bookmark to bookmark and follows a given theme.
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell the whole story. The topic might be too extensive or the stakeholders needs way too much information. In these cases, you’ll want to use interactive short stories. The actual story is the basic framework and should be read from beginning to end. Additionally, the user (reader) is provided with the possibility to discover further information and details interactively.
However, be aware of analytical freedom and the amount of detail you offer. Too much freedom might overwhelm the reader and if they use analytical options incorrectly, it could lead them to incorrect conclusions. Too few options, on the other hand, leave causal gaps and questions unanswered. This frustrates the user and impacts their acceptance of your dashboard. A good story is only fully told when readers no longer ask themselves, “so what now?”
Provide Comments/Qualitative Context
Even the best interactive online presentation will have a weak point. Figures alone are often not sufficient enough to make an informed decision. Many KPIs will appear in new light when they are given context.
Therefore, it’s important to add qualitative data to your dashboard. Depending on the size of your dashboard, this can be done by an individual, by various departments or by external consultants. Using legends, comments, conclusions and recommendations for additional measures will help the reader understand and take action. By providing context, the data is no longer only facts and figures, but expert knowledge and insights.
Incorporate Infographics
Don’t just let your audience see and read the facts; make them feel the facts, figures and information you are providing. Tables and graphs are typically abstract and show figures without context (see Figure 1). Infographics, however, allow your audience to quickly and easily understand the given data. They clearly show the common theme and allow people to see relations between cause and effect (see Figure 2).
Figure 1: From reading an abstract graph (brain) to feeling a straightforward infographic (instinct)
Figure 2: The big picture and cause-effect relations at a glance.
Summary
Storytelling done right can be easily integrated into your daily data dashboard activities. Presentations will always be an integral part of communication, however, the complex amount of information as well as the number of updates required today, call for a more digital and interactive approach. Proper dashboard-based storytelling will support and guide the user, and directly answer their questions any time.
