Part IV Communicating findings Chapter 15: Data and design: Communicating through visualization KEY QUESTIONS • How can data visualization help communicate the report’s key findings? • What are some of the basic types of data visualization and what can they be used to show? • What are some of the key principles of data visualization? INTRODUCTION As you draft your report, it is important to consider how best to present the evidence that supports your findings. To have an impact, findings needs to be presented, shared, explained and promoted to a variety of audiences: policymakers, decision makers, the media, civil society organizations, the general public and the rights holders themselves. It is therefore important to communicate your findings in a clear, compelling and easy-to-understand way. This chapter introduces the concept of “data visualization”, which is an important tool to your audiences and convey vital information. It also discusses some of the key features and principles of data visualization. Data visualization does not need to be overly complex; after all, people have represented information graphically for thousands of years, all the way back to the earliest cave drawings. The concepts introduced in this chapter will be relevant whether you are preparing basic graphs yourself or collaborating with a professional designer on more advanced infographics. 15.1. THE IMPORTANCE OF VISUALIZATION IN ADVOCACY The clichéd saying that “a picture speaks a thousand words” – or, in this case, a graph can replace a table full of numbers – is particularly relevant in relation to the use of data in reports on ESCR. Reports filled with numbers and statistics can easily lose a reader and hide important information. To effectively meet their advocacy objective, it is not enough for NHRIs to simply cite a lot of quantitative data in their reports. They need to interpret this data and highlight insights and important findings about the State’s compliance with its human rights obligations in ways that are easy to understand. Consider, for example, the table and the graph below, which both contain the same information about the percentage of the budgetary spending on health in selected countries in South-East Asia. Which sends the clearer message about trends in Myanmar’s spending on health? Chapter 15: Data and design: Communicating through visualization | 145