Effective Visual Communication for the Quantitative Scientist

• Main Authors: Marc Vandemeulebroecke, Mark Baillie, Alison Margolskee, Baldur Magnusson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2019-10-01
• Series: CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1002/psp4.12455

Effective visual communication is a core competency for pharmacometricians, statisticians, and, more generally, any quantitative scientist. It is essential in every step of a quantitative workflow, from scoping to execution and communicating results and conclusions. With this competency, we can better understand data and influence decisions toward appropriate actions. Without it, we can fool ourselves and others and pave the way to wrong conclusions and actions. The goal of this tutorial is to convey this competency. We posit three laws of effective visual communication for the quantitative scientist: have a clear purpose, show the data clearly, and make the message obvious. A concise “Cheat Sheet,” available on https://graphicsprinciples.github.io, distills more granular recommendations for everyday practical use. Finally, these laws and recommendations are illustrated in four case studies.