Good Charts, Updated and Expanded - by Scott Berinato (Paperback)

About the Book

"The best, most powerful way to communicate the nature and potential impact of data is visually. 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 companies that invest in improving their visual communication will gain a competitive advantage, seeing threats and finding opportunities others don't. For individuals like you, building good charts is a need-to-have skill. If you're not doing it, other managers are, and they're getting noticed for it and getting credit for contributing to your company's success. In this updated and expanded edition of Good Charts, dataviz maven Scott Berinato provides the essential guide to how visualization works and how to use this new language to impress and persuade. Berinato lays out a system for thinking visually and building better charts through a process of talking, sketching, and prototyping. From tips and tricks for upping your visualization's clarity to laying out a system for storytelling with data, Good Charts covers all the core skills you need and can develop. This new edition includes added visuals and updates the landscape of visualization tools. It also includes new chapters on building dataviz teams and creating workflows to integrate visualization into everything you do. Good Charts is your go-to resource for turning plain, uninspiring charts and presentations that merely present information into smart, effective visualizations that powerfully convey ideas"--

Book Synopsis

The ultimate guide to data visualization and information design for business.

Making good charts is a must-have skill for managers today. The vast amount of data that drives business isn't useful if you can't communicate the valuable ideas contained in that data--the threats, the opportunities, the hidden trends, the future possibilities.

But many think that data visualization is too difficult--a specialist skill that's either the province of data scientists and complex software packages or the domain of professional designers and their visual creativity.

Not so. Anyone can learn to produce quality "dataviz" and, more broadly, clear and effective information design. Good Charts will show you how to do it.

In this updated and expanded edition, dataviz expert Scott Berinato provides all you need for turning those ordinary charts kicked out of a spreadsheet program into extraordinary visuals that captivate and persuade your audience and for transforming presentations that seem like a mishmash of charts and bullet points into clear, effective, persuasive storytelling experiences.

Good Charts shows how anyone who invests a little time getting better at visual communication can create an outsized impact--both in their career and in their organization. You will learn:

• A framework for getting to better charts in just a few minutes
• Design techniques that immediately make your visuals clearer and more persuasive
• The building blocks of storytelling with your data
• How to build teams to bring visual communication skills into your organization and culture

This new edition of Good Charts not only provides new visuals and updated concepts but adds an entirely new chapter on building teams around the visualization part of a data science operation and creating workflows to integrate visualization into everything you do.

Graphics that merely present information won't cut it anymore. Make Good Charts your go-to resource for turning plain, uninspiring charts and presentations into smart, effective visualizations and stories that powerfully convey ideas.

Review Quotes

Advance Praise for Good Charts:

"As someone who's worked with Scott Berinato on information design projects, I can tell you he knows his stuff. This is a marvelous, substantial update to an already wonderful book. Good Charts shows you how to achieve smart growth for yourself and your organization." -- Whitney Johnson, cofounder and CEO, Disruption Advisors; author, Wall Street Journal bestselling Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company

"It isn't often that a book comes out and I say, 'I wish I'd written that book.' But if I could have double-clicked on the data section of slide: ology and had a book pop out, Good Charts would be the book!" -- Nancy Duarte, CEO, Duarte Inc.; award-winning author of multiple books on presentation and design, including slide: ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations

"This is an elegant volume, illustrated with appealing graphic images that, taken together with the text...provide an antidote for 'death by PowerPoint.'" -- Choice, a publication of the American Library Association

"...it may just be the design book of the year." -- Fast Company, Co.Design newsletter

About the Author

Scott Berinato is a self-described "dataviz geek" and a senior editor at Harvard Business Review. He speaks frequently and consults on data visualization and information design. He is an award-winning writer and editor whose work has appeared in HBR and other top business and tech-related print and web publications. He is also the author of the Good Charts Workbook: Tips, Tools, and Exercises for Making Better Data Visualizations.

Connect with Scott Berinato at scottberinato.com/about/ and linkedin.com/in/scott-berinato-6330ba54/