The Harvard Business Review Good Charts Collection

The Harvard Business Review Good Charts Collection

by Scott Berinato
Released January 2019
Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 9781633697300

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Book description

A good visualization can communicate the nature and potential impact of ideas more powerfully than any other form of communication.

For a long time, "dataviz" was left to specialists--data scientists and professional designers. No longer. A new generation of tools and massive amounts of available data make it easy for anyone to create visualizations that communicate ideas far more effectively than generic spreadsheet charts ever could. The Harvard Business Review Good Charts Collection brings together two popular books to help you become more sophisticated in understanding and using dataviz to communicate your ideas and advance your career.

In Good Charts, dataviz maven and Harvard Business Review editor Scott Berinato provides an essential guide to how visualization works and how to use this new language to impress and persuade. He lays out a system for thinking visually and building better charts through a process of talking, sketching, and prototyping.

In Good Charts Workbook, Berinato extends the usefulness of Good Charts by putting theory into practice. He leads readers step-by-step through several example datasets and basic charts, providing space to practice the Good Charts talk-sketch-prototype process for improving those charts. Examples include a "Discussion Key" showing how to approach the challenge and why. Each challenge focuses on a different, common visualization problem such as simplification, storytelling, creating conceptual charts, and many others.

The Harvard Business Review Good Charts Collection is your go-to resource for turning plain, uninspiring charts that merely present information into smart, effective visualizations that powerfully convey ideas.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. Good Charts
    1. A Note on the Ebook Edition
    2. Copyright
    3. Dedication
    4. Contents
    5. Introduction: A New Language and a Necessary Craft
    6. Part One: Understand
      1. 1. A Brief History of Dataviz: The Art and Science That Built a New Language
      2. 2. When a Chart Hits Our Eyes: Some Science of How We See
    7. Part Two: Create
      1. 3. Two Questions?Four Types: A Simple Typology for Chart Making
      2. 4. Better Charts in a Couple of Hours
    8. Part Three: Refine
      1. 5. Refine to Impress: Getting to the “Feeling Behind Our Eyes”
      2. 6. Refine to Persuade: Three Steps to More-Persuasive Charts
      3. 7. Persuastion or Manipulation?: The Blurred Edge of Truth
    9. Part Four: Present and Practice
      1. 8. Present to Persuade: Getting a Good Chart to Their Eyes and into Their Minds
      2. 9. Visual Crit: How to Practice Looking At (and Making) Good Charts
    10. Conclusion: Keep Going
    11. Glossary
    12. Notes
    13. Index
    14. Acknowledgments
    15. About the Author
  5. Good Charts Workbook
    1. Title Page
    2. A Note on the Ebook Edition
    3. Copyright
    4. Dedication
    5. Contents
    6. Introduction: How Do I Start?
      1. What Do I Need?
      2. How Is the Workbook Organized?
      3. How Should I Use the Workbook?
      4. On Data and Tools
      5. Let’s Share
    7. PART 1: BUILD SKILLS
      1. Chapter 1: Controlling Color
        1. Warm-up
        2. The Rainbow Bars
        3. The Simple Pie
        4. The Tangled Lines
      2. Chapter 2: Crafting for Clarity
        1. Warm-up
        2. The Simple, Unclear Bar Chart
        3. The Overdone Line Chart
        4. The Hot Mess of a Heat Map
      3. Chapter 3: Choosing Chart Types
        1. Warm-up
        2. The Surprisingly Adaptable Line Chart
        3. The Convoluted, Too Clever by Half Chart
        4. The Great Whisky Challenge
      4. Chapter 4: Practicing Persuasion
        1. Warm-up
        2. Giving Good Stock Advice
        3. Persuading a Patient to Get Some Sleep
        4. Making a Case to HR
      5. Chapter 5: Capturing Concepts
        1. Warm-up
        2. Landscapes
        3. Tiers and Timelines
        4. Processes
    8. PART 2: MAKE GOOD CHARTS
      1. Chapter 6: Talk, Sketch, Prototype
      2. Chapter 7: The Monthly Report
      3. Chapter 8: The Plastic Problem Presentation
    9. Appendix A: Glossary of Chart Types
    10. Appendix B: Chart Type Guide
    11. Appendix C: Keywords for Chart Types
    12. Acknowledgments
    13. About the Author

Product information

  • Title: The Harvard Business Review Good Charts Collection
  • Author(s): Scott Berinato
  • Release date: January 2019
  • Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
  • ISBN: 9781633697300