This is an old story, but it’s one of my favorites that FiveThirtyEight has ever done. It simply does a great job of telling a story. It quantifiably explains Katie Ledecky’s dominance and visually displays it in ways that are easy to ready. Headlines at FiveThirtyEight are typically fantastic, and so is this one — Somebody Get Katie Ledecky a Time Machine. In my opinion, the best infographic in this story is the one that explores what was referenced in that headline. It shows a timeline of when Ledecky would have been the fastest swimmer on the planet. For people who don’t understand the sport, these infographics effectively convey Ledecky’s swimming success.
I also liked the depiction of Ledecky vs. History because it showed the methodology behind determining when Ledecky would have been the best in the world. However, I think it would have been better if all six graphs used labels on the x-axis. It’s a bit difficult to understand until you scroll down and see the years. In Introduction: Infographics and Visualization, it said, “Graphics, charts, and maps aren’t just tools to be seen, but to be read and scrutinized.” FiveThirtyEight’s graphics intend for readers to do just that. While this story on Ledecky is simple, it still requires some analysis on the readers’ part in order to be properly understood. You can’t rely on a quick glance when it’s more than just a bar chart.
As mentioned in the Visualizing Trouble article, one of the most common issues I see with infographics is that people overdo it when it comes to colors, amount of data displayed, etc. FiveThirtyEight usually does a decent job of keeping its infographics simple (sometimes I still think the site makes graphics too complex). Particularly in this one about Ledecky, it’s very simple and that’s partially why I think this story is so strong. It’s easy to follow and understand. When people cannot understand a graphic, it’s impossible to tell a story.
This is a different graphic, but FiveThirtyEight’s election forecast is incredible. When I read The Fundamental Principles of Analytic Design, my mind jumped to this forecast because it perfectly epitomized the section about multivariables. The more variables you have, the better your predictions are and the more likely you are to tell meaningful stories.