{"id":16477,"date":"2018-05-25T13:46:55","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T11:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/?p=16477"},"modified":"2026-01-12T09:51:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T09:51:42","slug":"how-to-effectively-annotate-your-data-visualisations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/best-practices\/how-to-effectively-annotate-your-data-visualisations\/","title":{"rendered":"How to effectively annotate your data visualisations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>From social media to news to advertising, today\u2019s world is more visual than ever\u2014and with good reason. After all, <a href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=587201\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">65% of us are visual learners<\/a>, which means we absorb and retain visual information better compared to just reading it. Giant blocks of text are no longer enough to capture and keep anybody\u2019s attention, really. In fact, the average consumer is <a href=\"https:\/\/desk.thecontentcloud.net\/five-statistics-infographics#.Wuov9IgvziD\">30 times<\/a> more likely to be drawn to content that contains an infographic over a text-only story. Because of this, we are seeing an increasing use of data-visualization.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 470px; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/codepen.io\/mushigh\/full\/EBJgYj\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Data visualization isn\u2019t just good for catching a viewer\u2019s eye, though. Recent studies show that presenting information in the form of charts and tables can even make your message more <a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0963662514549688\">believable<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/lsr.nellco.org\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1476&amp;context=nyu_plltwp\">persuasive<\/a>. And, of the different visual media out there, infographics were found to be the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/cherylsnappconner\/2017\/10\/19\/the-data-is-in-infographics-are-growing-and-thriving-in-2017-and-beyond\/#47d319e8137c\">most effective<\/a> medium for information retention.<\/p>\n<h3>Use good visualizing best practices<\/h3>\n<p>When creating any data visualization, it\u2019s imperative to make it as clear and understandable as possible. This means thinking about the information you need to include (and exclude), being aware of your audience and presenting information in a way that they will understand.<\/p>\n<p>A significant, yet often forgotten element to consider when making a chart is the use of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/docs\/advanced-chart-features\/annotations-module\">annotations<\/a>. These are shapes and text labels and that can be added to a chart to make it more informative and more easily interpreted. Annotations can improve clarity and offer more insight into the information displayed at a particular point on the plot area.<\/p>\n<h3>Make your annotations helpful<\/h3>\n<p>An example of an instance when annotations are incredibly helpful is when you have a drastic change in data, like in the chart below by <a href=\"https:\/\/dreamsofdatablog.wordpress.com\/\">Alicia F. Bembenek<\/a>. When viewers see such a shift, they will inevitably be left wondering what happened to cause it. While the chart is accurate and explanatory even without the annotations, the added text definitely helps to qualify the data and better present the main point of the chart. Since this chart was designed to show why some specific dog breeds spiked in popularity at certain times, it makes sense to provide these detailed explanations in the annotations instead of leaving it up the viewers to figure it out.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 680px; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/codepen.io\/mushigh\/full\/VJNjgm\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And while you want to provide viewers with all the knowledge necessary to understand your chart, remember that more isn\u2019t always better. In fact, when it comes to annotations, it is usually smart to rely on less. The example chart does a great job of utilizing annotations to tell the intended story and nothing else. Every small spike or dip in data could have been annotated and explained, but that likely would have left viewers even more confused.<\/p>\n<h3>Keep it simple<\/h3>\n<p>Instead of cluttering your chart with too much information, it is important to ensure you are only highlighting the information you want to focus on. Charts are a valuable tool because they can say a lot in a little space, but they do not always need to. It is perfectly acceptable\u2014even beneficial\u2014to include only the most pertinent details in your annotations and leave the rest up to the viewer.<\/p>\n<p>When planning your annotations, you need to decide what you want to annotate and which details you want to include, but you should also consider the room you have to work with. Be sure to <a href=\"https:\/\/technologyadvice.com\/blog\/information-technology\/understanding-data-lake-architecture\/?utm_source=highcharts&amp;utm_medium=guestblog&amp;utm_content=annotate_data&amp;utm_term=buyer&amp;utm_campaign=link-building\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">declutter your data<\/a>. Your chart should be evenly and adequately spaced with minimal, easily understood annotations that enhance your chart, not detract from it.<\/p>\n<p>As visual content becomes increasingly prevalent for attracting audiences and aiding in information retention, data visualizations skills are an invaluable asset that allow for the creation of engaging, edifying material. Knowing how to effectively annotate is a good place to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discover the power of annotations in your charts to highlights essential events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":16481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"meta_title":"","meta_description":"","hc_selected_options":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1104],"tags":[789,1094],"coauthors":[751],"class_list":["post-16477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-practices","tag-accessibility","tag-highcharts-core"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28509,"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16477\/revisions\/28509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16477"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highcharts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=16477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}