Putting Data in Context Timelining for Evaluators

#eval15

Katherine Haugh

@Katherine_Haugh

Smriti Bajracharya

@Smriti_Baj

Kat Athanasiades

@KatAthanasiades

[‘

What is the purpose of your timeline? Who is your audience? Type of timeline: visual or narrative? Form of reporting: report or presentation? Make a blueprint.

Is your data “single-track” or “multi-track?” Categorize your data. Select time parameters: weeks, months, years? What is your data source: interviews, surveys, other? How much is too much?

Color selection: select a useful color palette. Headers: title, subtitle, events, time period. Font: stick to sans serif (Calibri, Gill Sans, Arial). Alignment: make sure any boxes and text are aligned

with your time periods or categories.

Understand the context in which events occur and allow the audience to “zoom out” to better understand events as they occur over time.

Identify trends or patterns they may not see otherwise.

Organize complex data, both internally and externally.

Engage with stakeholders and encourage collaborative thinking about past, present, or future opportunities and challenges.

Create engaging reports that help audiences visualize change over time.

Planning

Populating

Revising

Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com

Visual Timeline Check List:

Hot Tips:

Visualize as a team

Test out data categories

Cross-check facts

Check colors in black and white

Timelines help evaluators to …

Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com

Putting Data in Context Timelining for Evaluators

#eval15

Katherine Haugh

@Katherine_Haugh

Smriti Bajracharya

@Smriti_Baj

Kat Athanasiades

@KatAthanasiades

All-Around Great Visualization

Cole Nussbaumer’s blog on data viz and data analysis has a lot of useful tips for visualizing change over time: storytellingwithdata.com

Stephanie Evergreen’s blog is a great resource for creating graphs and charts that communicate data clearly, especially chronological data: stephanieevergreen.com

Excel is a great tool for creating a wide variety of charts and graphs, and with a little customization, they can be beautiful! Tutorials: youtube.com/annkemery

Color and Design

Color Hex colorhexa.com color information and color schemes Color Oracle colororacle.org color blindness simulator Color Palette Generator degraeve.com/color-palette/ based off images Design-Seeds design-seeds.com browse designer-quality color palettes Instant Eyedropper instant-eyedropper.com drag the eyedropper over colors to identify

RGB codes, HEX codes, and more

Infographics and Icons

Infogram infogr.am free, web-based infographic tool The Noun Project thenounproject.com creative, fun infographics Flat Icon flaticon.com icons for presentations, reports or handouts

Examples of Visual Timelines

Timeline Tools & Tips