Communicating Through Visuals

Visual Technical Communication

Chapter six
 Using visuals to communicate effectively
Using visuals effectively is an important
component of technical communication.
Perhaps you’ve heard the old saying “a
picture is worth a thousand words”; in
technical communication, a good picture
can replace a thousand words of
explanation.
Visual communication
• Communication through
pictures/photographs/graphs/charts/tables
• Communicatin visually
• Communication using our eyes
• Looking and dealing
• Interpretation watching pictures
 Importance of visuals
to clarify,
to communicate,
to emphasize.
Visual communication and the writing process P. 138

In some academic fields, including chemical

engineering, writers are encouraged to begin the
writing process by creating visuals before they try
to write the text of a report or article. These writers
begin by plotting the graphs and preparing the
tables that will appear in their reports. These
visuals must support the message that they want
the report or article to convey.
Con..

Writing reports that others want to

read and giving presentations that
audiences find compelling begins with
a story: what message do you want to
convey to those readers and that
audience?
What are the “right ways … to show data”? P.139
The important thing to know about creating visual
displays is that each type of chart or graph is
better suited for representing a particular type
of data. If you have chosen to display a particular
type of relationship among your data, you should
select the display that will most clearly illustrate
that relationship.
Select the right visual for telling that story
Generally, you decide to create a visual when you find an
interesting perspective in the data that you have. In other
words, you find in the data a “story” that others will find
intriguing(challenging)as well. Never graph numbers just to
include a visual: instead, make the visual accomplish a goal.
It might undermine “common sense” ideas about
something.
 it might highlight a new trend or change;
it might provide motivation in a persuasive argument.
Various types of charts
• Pie charts
• Line graphs
• Bar charts
• Dot charts
• Tables
• Maps
• Photographs
• Line drawings
• Gantt charts
 Pie charts
Use a pie chart to show how a part or parts are related to the whole.
Your data do need to be complete (add up to 100 per cent) for a pie
chart to make sense.
For example, let’s say that you are writing a report for the local
Humane Society. You have crunched some of the numbers, and you see
that three breeds of dog account for the majority of those given up for
adoption last year. You decide to create a visual that will highlight the
point that these breeds show up disproportionately at the shelter. Since
you know that 187 dogs came into the shelter last year, and you have
statistics both on breed and numbers for these dogs, you realize that a
pie chart is the best choice to highlight the presence of these dogs.
PIE CHART
 Con..

When you have data that add up to 100

per cent, a pie chart can be an effective
way to show relationships between the
parts and the whole.
 Line graphs
Use a line graph to compare items over time, to show
frequency or distribution, or to show correlations.

A line graph is a good choice of visual to illustrate

a growth curve because it depicts the curve clearly
and simply.
Line graphs
Bar charts
Use a bar chart to illustrate
comparisons between items,
to compare items over time,
to show frequency or distribution, and
to show correlation.
con..

You could also have used a bar chart to illustrate Buster’s growth
because a bar chart can also be an effective way to compare items
over time. Figure 6.4 shows the same data on Buster’s growth
presented as a bar chart. Examine the figure and assess how
effective you think a bar chart is in accomplishing the goal of
illustrating a growth curve.
The bar chart is a less effective way to illustrate a growth curve
because it forces readers to imagine the curve across the top of
the bars.
 Dot charts
Use a dot chart to show correlations.
Dot charts are useful for showing clusters of data so that viewers
can see relationships.
For example, when you take your Irish wolfhound, Mulligan, to the Main
St. Veterinary Clinic, the one for which you created the puppy information
booklet, your vet recommends that you protect him from heartworm
disease. When you ask about the prevalence of cases in your area, the vet
points to a map with all reported cases of the disease marked on it. Figure
6.5 reproduces a dot chart marking cases of heartworm in Washington.
Based on the graphic representation of reported cases of heartworm,
should you buy heartworm medication for Mulligan?
 con..

You see that there is a cluster of cases reported in and

around your area of the state, so you decide that it is a
wise precaution to protect Mulligan from heartworm.
A dot chart clusters data to show correlation. In this case,
if you lived in the Olympia region, you would want to
protect your dog from heartworm disease since there were
numerous reported cases last year
Dot charts
 Tables
Use tables when the exact figures are important.
Figure 6.6 uses a table to present findings from a microbiology
experiment. In this case, Kavita Patel selected the table because it was
an effective way to summarize the important information and make it
easy to check or compare the optimum pH levels for the microorganisms
listed.

Effective use of a table to enable summary and

comparison of findings in a microbiology lab report.
Tables
 Maps
Use maps to show location or to compare two
items. For example, in Figure 6.7, the map shows
the location of Torridge, uk in relation
to the rest of England.
Maps
 Photographs
Use photographs to render(give) exact
detail or to show something being used.
The use of a photograph in Figure 6.8 is effective because it
shows the detail of the teeth in the jawbone of this fossil. For
extra large or extra small objects, include such detail in the
photograph to act as a reference point to illustrate size.
Photographs
Line drawings
Use a line drawing to emphasize detail or show
dimensions. While photographs are effective
illustrations for showing detail,sometimes a line drawing
is much clearer because it omits distracting detail to
focus viewer attention on specific aspects of the item
being illustrated. For example, the digital photograph in
Figure 6.9 does show clearly what the boards look like
when they are installed in a hockey rink
Line drawings
Gantt charts
Use a Gantt chart to indicate timelines, especially when you are
writing a proposal or progress report. If you have created a
Gantt chart to outline your schedule in the proposal, then
recreate the chart for the progress report, noting the
progress of each stage, i.e.,which stages are ahead of
schedule, behind schedule, or as planned. Figure 6.11
reproduces the work schedule from Jason Nguyen’s proposal in
Chapter 8, “Writing winning proposals,” but here, the schedule
is formatted using a Gantt chart rather than the table that he
used.
Gantt charts
 Use the conventions for typical visuals
A second component to using visuals effectively is
following the conventions so that you create
traditional examples of each visual. Part of the goal in
using a visual is
to convey a particular point clearly and efficiently;
ignoring or misusing the conventions interferes with
readers’ or users’ ability to interpret the visual quickly
and easily.
Con...

• A title
• A caption
• All units labelled
• Source of the data
• Source of visual
 Visuals that confuse or mislead
Sometimes visuals are constructed to mislead
viewers deliberately. For example, when an
organization is writing its annual report, it might
include graphs and charts that obscure(unclear,dark)
the company’s poor performance over the past year.
Figure 6.12 shows a chart that is designed to present
a misleading impression of the statistics it
represents.
 Con...

An astute(sharp) viewer will notice that the y-axis

starts at 100 rather than 0, obscuring the fact that
some women do work in natural resources. This
scale also exaggerates the difference between the
numbers of men who work in education and finance
compared to the numbers of women in those
sectors.
Question

Q. Explain the process of

communicating through
visual.Why is it important?