Data Verbalisation: What is Text Doing in a Data Visualisation?

TL;DR

This paper explores the role and effectiveness of text elements in data visualisations, proposing a framework to evaluate their purpose and impact, similar to how visual elements are understood.

Contribution

It introduces a simple, coherent framework for analyzing and understanding the function and effectiveness of text in data visualisations.

Findings

Text enhances data comprehension when used appropriately.

The framework helps identify effective and ineffective text usage.

Guidelines for designing better data visualisations with text.

Abstract

This article discusses the role that text elements play in a data visualisation. We argue that there is a need for a simple, coherent explanation of text elements similar to the understanding that already exists for non-text elements like bars, points, and lines. We explore examples of how text is used within a data visualisation and use existing knowledge and assessment techniques to evaluate when text is effective and when it is not. The result is a framework that aims to be easy to understand and easy to apply in order to understand the purpose and effectiveness of the text elements in any data visualisation.