Introduction to Data Storytelling

Data storytelling makes the presentation of data compelling and persuasive. This is a book about learning how to use the Looker Studio tool to visualize data and build useful reports and dashboards. Before we learn how to build different visual data representations, it’s important to first understand the craft of storytelling with data and its utility. It will serve us well to take a step back and understand the big picture.

This introductory chapter sets the stage for understanding the meaning of data storytelling and its importance. We will go through the components of a good data story, understand how data storytelling manifests at work, and learn the key skills required to be a good storyteller. Finally, we will learn about an approach to building effective data stories. In this chapter, we will cover the following main topics:

• Understanding data storytelling
• Building data stories – an approach

Understanding data storytelling

Simply put, data storytelling means telling a story using data. According to Brent Dykes, author of the bestselling book Effective Data Storytelling, data storytelling is the skillful amalgamation of data, narrative, and visuals.

Why tell a story? Stories are an integral part of our lives and are the most natural way we consume and retain information. Compared to straightforward facts and messages, stories are memorable, impressionable, relatable, and persuasive. Stories appeal to the humanness of the audience. Stories often help in communicating a complex concept or message more effectively. This is evident through the prevalence and effectiveness of parables, fables, and other forms of stories throughout human history.

Structuring a data story

Stories can be told in different ways and can have different purposes. Some have a moral or a lesson to teach, some report events, while others just entertain. In the simplest sense, a story has a...

Building data stories – an approach

Business dashboards and reports pose unique challenges in crafting a story owing to the dynamic nature of the data they support. In this section, we are going to learn about the 3-D approach to designing and building effective dashboards. The approach consists of three main stages as shown in the following figure:

Figure 1.5 – Stages of the data storytelling approach

In the Determine stage, you need to work on determining the audience for the dashboard, the key business questions they need answering, and the data required to answer those questions. In the Design stage, you will work on the narrative, select the right visuals, and identify the required interactive controls. In the Develop stage, you create the visuals and implement the right colors and visual cues for a seamless user experience. In this final stage, you will choose the appropriate delivery method and accordingly deploy and share the dashboard...

Summary

In this chapter, we have discussed what data storytelling is and how it’s distinguished from data visualization. We have understood the core elements of a data story and how data stories differ for static and dynamic content. We have learned about the 3-D approach to building data stories for dashboards that comprises three major stages: determine, design, and develop. In the determine stage, we determine the target users of the dashboard, the key business questions that the dashboard needs to address, and the data required to answer those questions. In the design stage, we build the narrative, define the right metrics, and choose the right visualizations and interactivity. Finally, in the develop stage, we actually build the visuals and interactions and choose the colors and other visual aspects. We also deliver the dashboard to the end users and ensure data freshness as part of this final stage.

It is really important to have a good understanding of the data storytelling...