Data Visualization: Design Better Charts in PowerPoint

Most PowerPoint charts suck! Your company spends a huge amount of time and resources on research and data analysis, but when it comes time to present your results, the default charts from PowerPoint are nothing special. Learn how to apply core data visualization design principles to create charts that clearly make your audience go “Ah-Ha!”

If you’re just using the default chart templates in PowerPoint, you’re making a big mistake. Your charts will look like the same default charts your audience sees in every other presentation, and it makes you and data look generic. Those default chart are only meant to be the starting point (you have to start somewhere), but you need to customize your charts to effectively communicate your own insights and key message to your audience in a unique, memorable way.

This class will focus applying five data visualization design best practices to charts created in Microsoft PowerPoint.

• Choose a Key Message
• Write a Good Title
• Reduce Visual Noise
• Use Color with Purpose
• Add Chart Elements

Who is this class for?
Product managers, data scientists, analysts, engineers, designers and researchers are often expected to effectively communicate their own insights to non-data professionals; customers, executives, co-workers or the general public. This audience doesn’t want to see the raw numbers or the detailed analysis, they just want to understand the insights from your data. Good Data Visualization Design means going beyond the charting templates and designing charts and visualizations that reveal insights and tell stories to your audience.

Materials/Resources:
In this class, I will be focusing on applying data visualization best practices to charts in Microsoft PowerPoint. Students are expected to have a working understanding of PowerPoint, getting around in the interface, and already know how to create and edit basic charts.

I’ll be demonstrating these in Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac which is part of Office 365, but these design principles also apply to PowerPoint for Windows and even earlier versions of Microsoft Office. You can easily apply these lessons to earlier versions of PowerPoint, but Microsoft has changed the names and locations of the customization options over the years. Some of the menus, ribbons and formatting options may look different in older versions.

• Introduction
• Your Project
• Design Principles
• Starting with the Templates
• Key Message and Title
• Remove the Chart Legend
• Reduce Visual Noise
• Use Color With Purpose
• Adding Chart Elements
• Wrapping Up