Working with numbers, analytics—all of it always ends the same way: with graphical representation to clearly present data to ordinary people, management, shareholders, or even to understand it yourself. Many authors focus on the skill of presenting information in this form, although it’s often just a single chapter in books on broader topics. Even from those mentioned in my blog, you can refer to “The Numbers Game“ by Vasiliy Sabirov or “How to Lie with Statistics“ by Darrell Huff.
Following a recommendation from Vasiliy Sabirov, I read a book entirely dedicated to the correct way to convey any information through charts—“Charts That Persuade Everyone” by Alexander Bogachev. As a manager, I encounter charts frequently, but even I hadn’t considered some of the finer details that can drastically change how information is perceived.
This is a very short book—240 pages, nearly half of which are examples of various charts. But this is precisely its value: there’s almost no filler here; everything is strictly focused on the topic.
The author’s main idea is that charts should be instantly understandable. You shouldn’t need to spend tens of minutes trying to figure out what is being shown, why it’s being shown, and, most importantly, why it matters to you. A chart should convince you of the message its creator intends to convey. This is why the author refers to charts as “persuasive.”
Although Alexander Bogachev has been working in the field of infographics for many years now, having led relevant departments in several major Russian companies and teaching at the Higher School of Economics, his career started in a very unexpected way. By profession, he is a doctor. His initial ideas began to take shape while working with patient examination charts, which he presented as dots on timelines. It was during this period that his thoughts on data representation started to develop. At the age of 27, he left medicine and focused solely on infographics, though initially, he specialized in medical infographics before expanding into broader fields.
After spending a significant amount of time developing this subject and teaching it, he decided to share his accumulated knowledge with a wider audience. He believes that the ability to work with data and visualize it is not a narrow, specialized skill but one that should be taught to high school students. And I fully support this idea.
If I were to briefly summarize the key ideas of the book, no one could do it better than the author himself. Here are the main points Alexander Bogachev highlights at the very end of the book as a summary:
A chart conveys a message convincingly and effectively if the following conditions are met:
- It is based on relevant, trustworthy, up-to-date, verified data that can be interpreted in real-world terms. You have conducted a thoughtful analysis of this data.
- A clear message has been formulated based on the analysis.
- The optimal type of visualization and key elements to facilitate interpretation—such as scales, grids, and labels—have been selected for this message.
- All unnecessary elements have been removed from the chart. Useful information is prioritized by importance to minimize cognitive load.
- Colors or other means are used to emphasize the key message, making its essence visually clear.
- The message itself is conveyed in the title, aligned with the emphasis in the visualization.
From the very first chapter, I was ready to give the book a solid five stars of five—the way the material was presented really inspired me. However, as I progressed, I ended up slightly lowering my rating.
The book contains relatively little text but is packed with examples, which is a huge plus. Each chapter is structured with its own conclusions at the end. There’s also a summary outlining how to approach working on charts overall, where to start, and what to focus on.
That said, there are some examples of charts and approaches where the author lists possibilities without delving into details. On one hand, this is good because it keeps the narrative focused and avoids unnecessary digressions. On the other hand, when you show different types of charts to readers who may not be familiar with them (such as candlestick charts often used in finance), they might feel confused, as the image alone doesn’t convey much without explanation. Later, the author does briefly describe one type of chart, but again, only in passing.
It felt as though the author had a few favorite chart types that he strongly (and rightly) recommends for most scenarios. However, if you’ve already shown such a variety of options, it would be interesting to hear about specific cases where these less common types might make sense—or perhaps they shouldn’t be mentioned at all.
Despite this, it’s one of those books I highly recommend to almost everyone. It won’t take up much of your time, but it will help you approach data and its presentation more effectively, while also saving you from some common mistakes. (For example, there were small details I hadn’t paid attention to before, and reading this was a revelation—even with my years of experience.)
My rating: 4/5
[…] Charts That Persuade Everyone by Alexander Bogachev. While Vasiliy Sabirov only briefly touches on the topic of data visualization in his book, Alexander Bogachev devoted years of his work to it, and therefore wrote a separate book on how to present data correctly if you want to convey your idea as clearly as possible. […]