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Colour may transform numbers into visual warnings that managers can understand and make decisions from. Edward Tufte has written data visualization books and offers data visualization courses for using colour and other techniques to interpret and present data. Create colour charts in Tableau or colour presentations with free Microsoft Excel data presentation templates. Below are tips for using colour to visually present data analysis and an excellent ‘The Art of Data Visualization‘ video.

Combine Letters and Numbers
Use a combination of letters and numerical values to present a three-dimensional view of data. For example, yellow, green and red may be used to indicate whether Canadian patient wait times (reported in days using a table format) for surgical procedures (eg. hip surgery) have increased, remained the same or decreased compared to a previous period.

Include Colour Gradients
Create a colour gradient (eg. shade of red) to indicate varying levels of concentration for a key business measure. Colour and eye tracking heat maps track areas of a web page that are viewed the most by visitors: reported with the help of colour gradients. Each heat map colour quantifies the length of time (usually in seconds or milliseconds) that a website visitor’s eyes focus in a particular area of a web page. Red is often used in heat maps to show areas where a website user’s eyes focus the most, orange the next most, yellow the third most, and so on. Colour gradients are also useful for identifying low market penetration rate warning signs (eg. at the postal code level) with a Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping software tool.

Use The ‘Psychology of Colour’ in Graphs
Include colour psychology in logo development, photography, web design, marketing, and bedroom design. Data analysts can apply colour psychology to create charts and graphs that flag warning signs in customer behaviour. Colours used in graphs and charts impact how well managers and senior decision makers understand data results and recognize warning signs that require marketing action. Colour Psychology research can help data analysts flag warning signs in customer behaviour so managers may adjust marketing and operations. Various colours have different meanings to individuals, influenced by characteristics such as an individual’s age, nationality and gender. In North American culture, for example, research indicates brown is typically an uncontroversial colour of strength and reliability whereas red, orange, and yellow are attention-getting colours which evoke the most intense emotions in people. Brown is not an effective colour for flagging a warning sign to decison makers – but is best for presenting baseline data (eg. control group results). Red, orange, and yellow are the most effective colours for reporting customer behaviour warning signs.

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