Five Top Data Visualizations – Infographics That Persuade

Data visualization is an effective way to communicate information … And infographics, a popular form of data visualization, is a growing trend in business and media.  Infographics are being created by data analysts, marketers and other professionals to give executives and sales teams more than just a powerpoint or a pie chart – they are tools to persuade.  Here are five top examples of data-driven infographics that speak to how you can visualize information to persuade.
 

Data’s Impact on the Future of Healthcare

This infographic, developed by Chris Luongo of IBM, gives a very simple, yet persuasive view of the impact data will have on the future of healthcare.

The story is told in an easy-to-read comic strip style. Its persuasive story is told by each of the medical stations depicted in the artwork. Each scenario gives a benefit for data analytics software and the convergence of electronic medical records will cut costs and streamline the healthcare process for both the patient and the health organization.

This infographic makes quite the case for why healthcare organizations need data analytics to meet their future financial goals and to improve patient care. Do you think the same could be said of 12 pie charts?

Visual Data in Motion – How to Improve Employee Performance without Monetary Incentive

This infographic video pulls data from numerous studies into a provocative depiction of how to boost employee performance without monetary incentives. It was adapted from career analyst Dan Pink’s presentation on employee motivation and puts witty animation to his narration. The video is both persuasive and popular with over 2 million views.

Digg vs. Reddit – Info for a Viral Strategy?

At first blush, this infographic looks to be a simple bar graph, but when you see the whole image, this graphic tells quite a story about two popular article directory sites.  The data gathering behind it was quite an undertaking (see the “About this Infographic ” explanation), and that’s why it makes our list.

Now you have to dig (pardon the pun) a bit for the persuasive element. However, there is some interesting data for a persuasive presenter.  This graphic may work very well for a web marketing team in selling a strategy for viral campaigns.

An Infographic Resume

This isn’t necessarily the most data-driven infographic, but it’s a very persuasive piece.  Michael Anderson, an infographic artist, created his resume in visual data format.  Talk about getting to the top of the resume pile fast.  A rather clever footnote is the “percentage of personal time investment,” and the ranking of skills is brilliant.

Bottom Line: This infographic is a good example of how data visualization can be persuasive.  Mr. Anderson took the mundane points of a resume and made his experience, skills and personality immediately apparent. He probably also got himself noticed which is half the battle.   Hopefully he included a cover letter just in case.

How Much America Eats – Slicing Up the Pounds Eaten Per Year

This infographic, courtesy of VisualEconomics.com, is a visual representation of how much and what does the avgerage American eats in a year. Derived from over 10 sources (see the bottom of the image for sources), this is a great example of combining information and visuals for maximum persuasion.

Amanda Brandon
Spotfire Blogging Team