Down the Rabbit Hole

Published by Lisa Vissichelli on February 18, 2021February 18, 2021

Simplifying how you read data

Sometimes digging through data can feel like Alice falling down a rabbit hole. The information can be overwhelming with little to no connections.

In my experience these often are an opportunity to muddle through and find a deeper story. Here are a few ways to improve discovery and communications:

1. Determine the values: Understand the difference between a significant and insignificant change. This will depend on how many people or resources are being measured and how much weight each entity carries.
2. Organize your information: Looking at all data from a birdseye view can make any significant changes seem small. Take one data point at a time and categorize it by similar denominators to better digest
3. Flip your perspective: Switching by rows to columns, categories, filters, and even exporting into a few charts can change how we perceive information in our minds.