Designing Visual Information

Visuals in Technical Communication

Importance of Visuals

• Visuals focus and organize information, making data easier to interpret and remember.
• They offer new perspectives on data, revealing meanings that might be missed in raw data.

Why Visuals Matter

• Readers seek shaped and enhanced information for quick understanding.
• Visuals address readers' questions:
  • Which information is most important?
  • Where should I focus?
  • What do these numbers mean?
  • What should I be thinking or doing?
  • What should I remember?
  • What does it look like?
  • How is it organized?
  • How is it done?
  • How does it work?

When to Use Visuals

• Use visuals when they clarify points better than text alone or enhance the text.
• Visuals should clarify and support the discussion, not just decorate the document.
• Use visuals to direct audience focus or aid memory.

Types of Visuals

• Four main categories:
  • Tables: Display organized data in rows and columns for comparison.
  • Graphs: Translate numbers into shapes, shades, and patterns.
  • Charts: Depict relationships using geometric elements, arrows, and lines.
  • Graphic Illustrations: Rely on pictures rather than data or words.

Choosing the Right Visuals

• Consider the following questions:
  • What is the purpose of the visual (facts and figures, mechanism parts, directions, relationships)?
  • Who is the audience (expert, general, global)?
  • What form of information best achieves the purpose (numbers, words, shapes, pictures, symbols)?

Using Software to Create Visuals

• Common software:
  • Spreadsheet software (Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers) for tables, graphs, and charts.
  • Presentation and word processing software (Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, Apple Keynote, Pages) for basic drawing tools.
• Advanced software:
  • Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW for sketching, editing, and refining diagrams and drawings.
  • Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools for high-end drawings.
  • Adobe Photoshop for photo highlighting and refinement.

Tables

• Display dense textual information like specifications or comparisons.
  • Numerical tables present quantitative information.
  • Prose tables present qualitative information.

Graphs

• Translate numbers into shapes, shades, and patterns.
• Show approximate values, key points, and emphasized relationships at a glance.
• Useful for depicting comparisons, changes over time, patterns, or trends.
• Types of graphs:
  • Bar graphs: Show discrete comparisons.
    • Simple bar graph: Displays one trend or theme.
    • Multiple bar graph: Displays two or three relationships simultaneously.
    • Horizontal-bar graph: Displays a large series of bars in order of increasing or decreasing value.
    • Stacked bar graph: Shows how much each data set contributes to the whole.
    • 100 Percent bar graph: Shows the value of each part that makes up the 100 percent value.
    • 3D bar graph: Shows a three-dimensional view.
  • Line graphs: Help readers synthesize large bodies of information where exact quantities are not critical.
    • Simple line graph: Plots time intervals on the horizontal scale and values on the vertical scale.
    • Multiline graph: Displays several relationships simultaneously.
    • Deviation line graph: Extends the vertical scale below zero to display positive and negative values.
    • Simple band or area graph: Shades the area beneath the main plot lines to highlight specific information.
    • Multiple band graph: Depicts relationships among sums instead of direct comparisons.

Guidelines for Creating Tables and Graphs

Tables

• Don't include too much information.
• Provide brief but descriptive titles.
• Label rows and columns.
• Line up data clearly.
• Keep qualitative information and quantitative data brief.
• Provide additional information if necessary.

Bar Graphs

• Use only to compare noticeably different values.
• Keep the graph simple and easy to read.
• Number scales in familiar units.
• Label scales to show what is being measured.
• Use tick marks to show division points.
• Make all bars the same width.
• Use different patterns, colors, or shades for each bar in a multiple-bar graph.
• Refer to the graph by number in the text and explain what to look for.

Line Graphs

• Follow bar graph guidelines.
• Display no more than three or four lines.
• Mark each individual data point used to plot each line.
• Make each line visually distinct (color, symbols).
• Label each line.
• Avoid grid lines that could be mistaken for plotted lines.

Charts

• Charts and graphs are often used interchangeably.
• Technically, charts display relationships (quantitative or cause-and-effect) not plotted on a coordinate system (x and y axes).
• Types of charts:
  • Pie charts: Display the relationship of parts or percentages to the whole.
    • Simple pie chart: Shows the relationship of parts to the whole.
    • Exploded pie chart: Highlights various slices.
  • Organization charts: Show hierarchy and relationships between departments.
  • Flowcharts: Trace procedures or processes from beginning to end.
  • Tree charts: Show how parts of an idea or concept are related.
  • Gantt charts: Depict how parts of an idea or concept relate with timelines for project tasks.
  • PERT charts: Use shapes and arrows to outline a project's activities and events.
  • Pictograms: Display numerical data using icons, symbols, or graphic devices.

Guidelines for Creating Charts

Pie Charts

• Parts must add up to 100 percent.
• Differentiate and label each slice clearly.
• Keep all labels horizontal.
• Combine very small slices.

Organization Charts

• Move from top to bottom or left to right.
• Use downward- or rightward-pointing arrows.
• Keep boxes uniform and text brief.

Flowcharts, Tree Charts, and Gantt Charts

• Move from top to bottom or left to right.
• Use connector lines.
• Keep boxes uniform and text brief.

Pictograms

• Follow bar graph guidelines.
• Use universally recognized symbols.
• Keep the pictogram clean and simple.

Graphic Illustrations

• Includes diagrams, maps, drawings, icons, photographs, or any visual relying mainly on pictures.
• Avoid using illustrations simply to decorate the page.
• Illustrations should serve a specific purpose.
• Types of Illustrations:
  • Diagrams: Illustrate how things work by altering their real appearance
    • Exploded Diagram: shows how parts of an item are assembled
    • Cutaway Diagram: Shows the item with exterior layers removed to reveal interior sections.
    • Block Diagram: Represents the relationship between the parts of an item, principle, system, or process.
  • Maps: Useful for showing comparisons and visualizing position, location, and relationships among data.
  • Symbols and Icons: Visually convey information to a wide range of audiences.

Guidelines for Creating Graphic Illustrations

Drawings and Diagrams

• Provide clear explanations.
• Use lines and arrows to indicate direction and motion.
• Keep diagrams simple.
• Label each important part.

Maps

• Use maps from credible sources.
• Keep colors to a minimum.

Symbols and Icons

• Use internationally recognized symbols and icons.

Photographs

• Useful for showing exactly how something looks or how something is done.
• Show everything unlike diagrams.
• Photographs can also provide too much detail.

Guidelines for Using Photographs

• Simulate the readers’ angle of vision.
• Trim (crop) the photograph to eliminate needless detail.
• Provide a sense of scale for an object unfamiliar to readers.
• Label all the parts readers need to identify
• Supplement the photograph with diagrams.
• If your document will be published, attend to the legal aspects.
• Explain what readers should look for in the photo.
• Use appropriate digital sources.
• Do not alter photos.

Videos

• Easy-to-access video sites make it simple for organizations to create videos in addition to documents such as user manuals and instructions.

Guidelines for Using Videos

• Provide a sense of scale.
• Simulate the angle of vision of the person performing each step in procedures.
• Show only what the viewer needs to see.
• Edit out needless detail.
• Avoid excess office or background noise when recording sound.

Using Color

• Color makes presentations more interesting, focuses attention, and helps identify elements.
• Use color:
  • To organize information (background and rules).
  • To orient readers (headings, tabs, boxes, sidebars, callouts, and leader lines).
  • To emphasize information (key words, cross-references, Web links).

Guidelines for Incorporating Color

• Use color sparingly.
• Apply color consistently to like elements.
• Make color redundant.
• Use darker colors to make stronger statements.
• Make colored type larger or bolder.
• Create contrast.

Ethical Considerations

• Avoid misrepresentation.
• Present the real and complete picture.
• Don’t mistake distortion for emphasis.

Cultural Considerations

• Visual communication can be a universal language if not misinterpreted.
• Color has cultural significance.

Guidelines for Obtaining and Citing Visual Material

Copyright

• Use copyright-free visuals or visuals cleared for use.
• Use public domain sources.
• Follow fair use guidelines.

Citing Visuals Created by Someone Else

• Cite the source of the visual.
• Provide the Web address if available online.

Attributing the Source of your Original Visual

• Cite the source of the data used to create the visual.
• Provide the Web address if the data is available online.

Guidelines for Fitting Visuals with Text

• Place the visual where it best serves readers.
• Never refer to a visual that readers cannot easily locate.
• Never crowd a visual.
• Number the visual and give it a clear title and labels.
• Match the visual to your audience.
• Introduce and interpret the visual.
• Use prose captions to explain points.
• Eliminate "visual noise."
• Ensure the visual can stand alone.