Visualizing Evaluation Results: Trends, Best Practices, and Software Strategies

I’m presenting a brown bag for the Washington Evaluators on Monday, September 15, 2014 from 12 – 1:30 pm at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

What: Visualizing Evaluation Results: Trends, Best Practices, and Software Strategies
Who: Ann K. Emery for the Washington Evaluators
When: Monday, September 15, from 12 – 1 pm
Where: George Washington University Marvin Center, Room 403 (800 21st St NW, Washington, DC 20052)
Nearest Metro station: Foggy Bottom (blue/orange lines)
Registration: Please RSVP in advance at http://washingtonevaluators.org/events

Have you ever emailed an evaluation report to a client and wondered whether they even read about the results? Have you tried sharing results during in-person meetings only to watch their eyes glaze over? If so, this brown bag is for you. As data becomes easier and cheaper to collect, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available to us, to our coworkers, and to our clients. Visualizing data through charts, graphs, and diagrams is one strategy to deliver bite-sized pieces of information that stakeholders can understand at a glance and retain for the long run.

We’ll discuss how to select appropriate chart types; emphasize key findings with color; and take the guesswork out of your graphs through titles, subtitles, and annotations. We’ll focus on evaluation-specific visualization considerations: designing with stakeholders’ information needs front and center, using readily available software like Microsoft Excel, and thinking through a dozen chart types–dot plots, small multiples, heat maps, and more–that can be applied to nearly any evaluation project. We’ll conclude with strategies for sharing visualizations through videos, handouts, slidedocs, social media, and dashboards. You’ll leave with the critical thinking skills and technical prowess needed to create visualizations faster and easier than you ever thought was possible.