Do You want to build a data literate organization?
Stop designing to show data. Design To Act ®

In the same way you must be literate in your spoken language to write effectively, you must be data literate in the language of visualization. You don’t type out a bunch of words and expect them to be a compelling story and you can’t click a bunch of data elements in visualization software and expect them to form an actionable data story. 

Design To Act -- can, and will -- work for you, 
if you’re willing to learn a better way to do data visualization

Analytic Stories™

Storytelling is a craft honed over time and it can be learned.  Our Design To Act ® framework is a systematic method for authoring visuals that connect the analytical and creative sides of the reader's mind -- what we call Analytic Stories -- to deliver a clear sense of decisions to make and actions to take.  

  • Learn the "magic question" to reveal your audience's needs vs wants
  • Practice agile techniques that produce a sharpened dashboards, faster
  • Perceive the "why" behind stakeholder feedback; stop taking orders
  • Takedown organizational barriers that are holding back  your progress
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The Language of Visualization

When you speak or write, your vocabulary allows you to communicate the same ideas in a variety of ways. In the visual world, knowing how to apply the core traits (location, size, color, gradient, and shape) lets you express a message with clarity and variety to hold the reader's attention.

  • Master the “hierarchy” of how people consume visual information
  • Trade-off between visual elements to simplify existing dashboards
  • Brush color and gradients to focus the eye and reduce distractions
  • Finally! Eliminate crosstabs and make important information obvious
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Writing Better with Tableau

I've been writing in Tableau for over 10 years and at times have to innovate new visuals that are not in Tableau's Show Me. So, to help you communicate better and take advantage of these, I've broken down my upgrades into step-by-step instructions you can follow right in a Tableau workbook.

  • Build movable data windows for flexible what-if analysis
  • Zoom into data sets without lassoing or mouse scrolling
  • Launch dynamic pop-up messages like you see on a web site
  • Explore dual axes to create new types of combination charts
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Grammar Playbook for Tableau

Imagine teaching someone the functions of Microsoft Word but they haven’t learned the basics of grammar. This is exactly what's happening as Tableau sprawls across your company. How can someone author a powerful visual if they haven’t learned the foundation of visual language?! They can’t.

  • Draw the reader's attention directly to what you want them to see
  • Write efficient visuals to preserve precious screen real estate
  • Protect users from Tableau operations that can complicate analysis
  • Deliver high impact with a program customized to your data terms
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You might be thinking Design To Act sounds great in theory, but unconventional and risky in reality

But here’s the exciting truth ... my clients put their trust in me and my ideas.  And then, it WORKS.

  • It works for local companies with 50 members to global companies with 100,000s of employees
  • It works for small data and big data visualization
  • It works for healthcare, finance, manufacturing, social media, and non-profits
Schedule your FREE data literacy review
  • Have a real phone conversation
  • Share what you’re trying to change
  • Explore how we can work together
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