Whether you’re a business owner, a marketer, or an annoying guy standing outside of a grocery store, you have probably relied on information acquired through surveys. And while they are an undeniably handy way of collecting a large volume of data using a focused form, making sense of that data can be a difficult task. Luckily, an infographic can be your saving grace!
If you haven’t turned your survey results into an infographic, you’re missing out on an opportunity to repurpose these meaningless snippets of information into a useful and shareable piece of content. Fortunately, there are only a few steps you need to take to make this comprehensive medium part of your project today.
1. Create Relevant Survey Questions
The first step is to collect your data. Creating a survey is easy if you use a tool like SurveyMonkey or Pollfish. You could also simply make a survey using Google Forms.
When crafting your survey questions, consider the point you are trying to prove. There should be a central focus connecting all of the other questions (for example: who is your business’ main buyer persona?). This will help keep your questions from drifting off topic. Too many questions will cause respondents to lose interest and the quality of their responses will suffer greatly. Also, be sure to provide a variety of types of questions (multiple choice, spectrum questions, open-ended questions, etc.) so that you can get quality answers from all participants.
2. Find the Story in Your Data
Once you’ve collected your data, analyze the results for trends and connections. These will reveal the “story” behind your data–the human element that people will connect with.
For example, if you’re analyzing a customer satisfaction survey, look for the major causes of stress for customers. Once you’ve addressed that by providing some possible solutions, people will understand the overall goal of the survey. Without a larger picture, the data collected serves little purpose other than to make surveyors feel useful and those surveyed feel bored.
3. Choose the Right Charts and Graphs
A well made chart illustrates data in a way that is quick and easy to understand. A poorly made chart will skew and obscure the meaning of the data. The type of chart you should use depends on the type of question you are visualizing. Follow these guidelines to keep everything as organized and comprehensive as possible:
- Pie Charts – binary question responses
- Data Maps – large samples of data
- Line Charts (or combination charts) – to show a trend over time
- Pie Charts – rating scale/spectrum question responses
- Bar Graphs – open-ended question responses (categorize answers)
4. Use a Design That Has High Visual Impact
The answers are set, the story has been established and the graphs are chosen; it’s time to create an infographic! The key to a high quality infographic is two-fold: it must be easy to read and visually interesting. If you’re not sure where to begin, you could try following one of these basic formats:
- Pose a question that your data answers.
- Show the “before” and “after” of your data.
- Break your data into sections.
Using an infographic template is a good place to start, as it will guide your organization of information. Check out all the information you learned here in an infographic.
