A useful critique does more than say whether you like a visualization. It works out what the data is, what the author was trying to say, how the design encodes it, and where the design helps or gets in the way, and it ends with a concrete way to do better. In this activity, your group will critique six published visualizations using the same set of questions we worked through in lecture.

Instructions

  1. Form a group of 2–4 people.
  2. Create a shared Google Doc. Add everyone’s name, and set the permissions so that course staff can access it.
  3. For each of the six visualizations below, answer the critique questions. A few sentences per question is enough, but be specific: point to the part of the visualization you are talking about.
  4. Submit your document using the Google Form on the course website. One submission per group, with everyone’s names included.

Critique questions

  1. What is the data shown in this visualization?
  2. What might be the intention of the author?
  3. What are the marks, and what are the channels?
  4. Is the Effectiveness Principle followed? (Is the best visual channel used for the most important data?)
  5. Is the Expressiveness Principle followed? (Does it show just the data, or also useful embellishments?)
  6. Are the scales and legends appropriate?
  7. Is the context appropriate?
  8. Is the chart type or layout appropriate?
  9. What about color?
  10. Why do you like or dislike this visualization?
  11. Can you suggest any improvements? How would you redesign it?

Visualizations

Visualization 1

Visualization 1: donut charts of GDP by sector for the United States, Russia, China, and the European Union, posted by Stock Region

Source: Stock Region (@stockregion), Instagram.

Visualization 2

Visualization 2: bar chart of same store revenues, 2017 to 2021 YTD

Source: a company investor presentation.

Visualization 3

Visualization 3: 20 Years of Internet Giants, the top 20 web properties in 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2018

Source: Visual Capitalist, “20 Years of Internet Giants”.

Visualization 4

Visualization 4: Gun deaths in Florida, Reuters, 2014

Source: C. Chan, Reuters, February 2014, using data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Visualization 5

Visualization 5: Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East, by Florence Nightingale

Source: Florence Nightingale, “Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East,” from Notes on Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency, and Hospital Administration of the British Army (1858). Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

Visualization 6

Visualization 6: Young voters, hook-shaped arrows showing the shift in margin of support for voters under 30 from the 2020 presidential election to the 2024 presidential election to the 2026 House elections, by gender and race

Source: The New York Times, November 4, 2026.