The Value of Sketching and Data Storytelling

Duane Rollins -

Try to describe a yellow box without using the words “yellow” and “box.”

Much harder than you thought, right?

Did you imagine it as a big box or small box? What type of yellow did you think of? Was it a bright, shiny yellow? Or something more mellow? Was the yellow warm or energetic? Was the box rectangular or square? Open or closed? In fact, when you imagined it, could the box even be opened?

If I handed you a quick sketch of a yellow box, you’d just get it.

What if I told you that the teenage pregnancy rate is 7x higher in the U.S. than Switzerland [Source]? Is this good or bad? Should this be considered a national emergency and the focus of our upcoming election?

Understanding data can be hard, especially statistics. If you consider the full context, you’ll be surprised to know that the U.S. teen birthrate is now at a new all-time low and is continuing to decrease. In 2017, the teen birth rate was 18.8 per 1000 women teens [Source]. In 1991 it was 62 per 1000 teens [Source].

Words are but one medium of expression. The visual communication of information through sketching and representing data allows you to communicate more quickly and more fully with others. That is why I advocate for everyone to at least learn the basics of product sketching and data storytelling.

For product sketching, you can start by following Spencer Nugent. He’s the Bob Ross of product sketching and founder of Sketch-a-Day. His YouTube channel and site are a free way to get introduced to the world of product sketching.

For data storytelling, I recommend taking an Edward Tufte course or reading up on the following resources:

These data storytelling resources will help you learn how to quickly represent data and complex information in order to improve communication with others, much like product sketching.

Adding these skills to your repertoire will open up the world to you. Sketching and data storytelling is a universal language that, much like music, travels across cultures and income levels.

Also, if you want to go into a deep dive on how random things can be correlated, visit Spurious Correlations by Tyler Vigen.