The common ways a science visual fails

A science visual can lose its message through a weak story, a mismatch with its audience, inaccurate simplification, an unsuitable form, overloaded design or cognitive bias.

Effective scientific visualisation combines scientific understanding and design skills. ^{1, 2}

Missing story

A visual needs a clear message before production begins, especially when little or no text is available and there is limited room to add context or take a detour. ³ The storyline must therefore convey as much as possible through the images. ³

Mismatched audience

The audience determines the message's presentation, story, visual form and colours: a comprehensive graph may suit a specialist, while a patient may benefit more from an infographic. ⁴ Clear, simple presentation matters for both unfamiliar lay audiences and busy scientists or doctors who may not have time to decipher a complex visual. ⁴

Audience planning should consider:

• Familiarity with data and numbers.
• Where the visual will be seen, such as in a presentation or print.
• How much time the audience will spend understanding it.
• What it adds to existing knowledge.

⁴

Lost accuracy

Poor structure or oversimplification can remove data from context, lose the message, confuse viewers or create misconceptions. ⁵ A visual must balance presenting a conclusion with providing facts from which viewers can draw their own conclusions. ⁵ The designer needs an adequate understanding of the science and close collaboration with the scientist to balance design and accuracy. ⁵

Unsuitable visual form

The chosen visual affects how the message is perceived, and its elements must fit the data rather than serve as decoration. ⁶ Text should support the visual, and the design should be tested for whether it can be understood without text. ⁶

Overloaded design

Overcrowding can make a scientific visual unappealing and cause it to miss its intended audience, while flashy effects distract from the message. ^{7, 8} The message and audience should guide design: a hand-hygiene poster for children needs a different approach from an ovarian-cancer-staging poster for medical students. ⁷ There is no universal design solution, and working closely with a designer helps balance attracting attention with serving the message. ^{7, 6}

One rule of thumb is to use no more than four distinct colours in a visual and consider complementary colour choices. ⁷ Colours should remain consistent across a chart and the presentation, poster or document containing it, helping viewers follow the story. ⁹

Basic graphic-design knowledge is recommended for science communicators. ⁸

Cognitive bias

Cognitive bias is harder to control than the five design pitfalls. ¹⁰ Cognitive bias occurs when established thinking patterns influence judgements and decisions, and it can affect both the maker and viewer of a visual. ¹⁰ Confirmation bias favours searching for or interpreting information that confirms existing beliefs; familiarity bias makes something seem more likely or true because it is familiar. ¹⁰

Selecting only data that agree with the maker's viewpoint can create unintended bias or a misleading conclusion. ¹⁰ Viewers also interpret imagery subjectively, and individual biases cannot all be corrected; examining the audience and its background can help adapt a visual to minimise bias. ^{10, 11}