Knowing that so many people have trouble making up their minds, you have probably faced this problem before: how can I get my audience to choose the option I want them to? Or, how can I help my audience make the best, most informed choice?
You probably know from experience that giving your audience a dense, lengthy reports explaining their options doesn’t really stick. Most people won’t bother even reading the whole thing.
A common problem you may face is figuring out which comparison chart choice is best for what you’re doing. This depends on what information you’re trying to display. Throughout this post we will be looking at different examples of comparison charts to guide you in deciding what works best for you.
Infographics visualize information using a combination of visuals like icons and charts, and decorative fonts (get a full definition of infographics). A comparison infographic that summarizes the information can make it a lot easier for readers to wrap their heads around different options.
You can try starting with an engaging comparison infographic template.
Downloadable Templates:
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Here are 6 comparison infographic templates to help you compare information.
Remember this classic piece of advice: make a list of pros and cons. Writing down your options can make it easier to weigh aspects of each.
Using visuals–like comparison infographics–to illustrate options is even better. In fact, a study at Michigan State University found that the part of the brain responsible for our vision is also largely involved in our decision making.
Follow the pros and cons list model by dividing your infographic in half and placing both lists side by side. Organize your information by categories, using bold headers. Icons are also a great way to visualize ideas and make specific text points stand out.
You can tell someone your product is better…but most people won’t believe it until they see it with their own eyes.
List the features down the middle of the infographic and compare two similar products. Include product shots to make the products more recognizable. A comparison infographic like this can be useful to highlight the superiority of a product you’re selling, or to help people pick the best product for their needs.
Another way of using icons is to contrast them against a solid colour so that they are the main focus of your comparison infographic.
Wrapping your head around multiple options can be challenging. Especially if the information is technical.
Sure, you could use a spreadsheet. But unless you’re a particularly enthusiastic accountant, spreadsheets have a way of making a lot of people go cross-eyed. But an infographic table is an effective way to show multiple options. Icons and strategic color use help keep the snores at bay, while also making the information easier to understand.
Colors influence how we perceive information. Most people will recognize, for example, that green equals “go” or “good”, while red equals “stop” or “bad”. Colors can help influence what people perceive to be the right choice and the wrong choice.
In cases where you want to encourage your audience to make a decision, highlighting the “right” choice in green will indicate that they should go for that choice. For a more examples of how you can use colors strategically, read our guide to color selection.
Sometimes we don’t realize how ridiculous a piece of information is until we stand it up against the truth. Comparison infographics can be very effective tools for educating your audience–they’re easy to share on social media and perfect for including in presentations.
Compare myths in one column directly with the truth in another column. Infographics like this are great for spreading awareness about commonly misunderstood causes.
You don’t have to stick with the typical vertical page split. When you create an infographic, you have the opportunity to get creative with your design. Arrange the text and visuals on your infographic to reflect the theme of your information.
Split your infographic horizontally to show gains and losses–literal upsides and downsides. Use directional cues like arrows to direct readers’ eyes towards key information.
A classic venn diagram is a great way to show where two things differ and where they overlap. If a typical venn diagram seems too boring, you can spice it up by using brightly contrasting colors and icons.
Do you want to compare journeys for your different customer personas? Or the new employee onboarding processes for different departments?
There are a whole bunch of reason why you would want to compare timelines. That’s where a timeline template can come in handy. Use different colors for each timeline to help them stand apart. You can also use icons to code the information–to show where there are similarities, and where the different timelines diverge.
Perhaps you want to compare the same metric across different user segments, different channels, or different time period. Using the same type of chart to compare data can highlight the differences.
Generally speaking, it’s good practice to use only one type of icon in your design. This will help your design look consistent.
If you want to draw attention to specific numbers or statistics, then write those numbers in a bigger font that your other body text. You can also use a contrasting color to help them really pop out from the page.
A quadrant layout shows four options sides-by-side. Similar to how you can use two different colors to differentiate between two options, you can use four colors to help each quadrant stand out.
Sometimes it can be hard to look past data to see the story behind it. That’s where images can help. Including photos and illustrations in your data visualization can help make data more meaningful to readers.
One infographic design hack is to use a photo as the background for your infographic. Pick a photo that illustrates the topic or theme of your data. Then, use a transparent color overlay to help your text pop from the background. You can do this using the color picker tool in Venngage.
If you want to compare customer satisfaction, or preferences, or opinions on a topic, then there’s a good chance the answers won’t be black or white. Instead, people may fall somewhere in the middle.
A slider rating scale allows you to get an exact percentage rating. That’s why it’s often considered a more accurate way of rating customer experiences, as opposed to, say, simply asking people to rate something on a scale of 1-5.
Bubbles charts are a fun and creative way to group topics together. You can create a hierarchy of information by putting the most important information in the biggest bubble and the supporting information in smaller bubbles.
For example, this comparison infographic template uses two big circles to introduce the two types of animals (reptiles and mammals), and smaller bubbles to compare their various characteristics.
Another example of a bubble chart template is this simple one. A common mistake newbie designers make is not experimenting with different shapes for comparison charts. You can see below that each bubble separates different ideas to explain a concept, and is also visually appealing. Within the bubble you can also add icons and images. Colors help to differentiate each idea.
If you’re creating infographics for Instagram or Twitter, long designs won’t fit in those feeds. That’s why it’s worth it to create short, punchy infographics that focus on one interesting statistic.
Here’s an infographic marketing hack: pull a key statistic from a longer infographic and create a condensed version of the infographic for social media. That will give you an opportunity to point readers to the full infographic on your site.
If you’re concerned about overcomplicating your design, it’s perfectly fine to play it safe. A classic bar graph is a great way to compare data. Plus, there are still ways you can make the design more engaging than your typical Excel chart.
For example, emphasize certain data points with a different color. Or decorate your graph with icons that help to visualize the data.
Icons allow you to visualize and represent information in one concise vector graphic. They’re both functional and decorative.
The key is to make sure that the meanings behind your icons are fairly easy to understand. Look for symbols that are commonly used to represent certain things–for example, a light bulb for ideas, or a paint pallet for art/creativity.
We’ve already looked at a bunch of examples of infographics that use icons to visualize information. Here’s another great infographic example of how icons can be used to visualize concepts.
Here’s another simple hack for a bold design: split your infographic down the middle and invert the color scheme on either side.
This kind of color scheme is particularly effective for visualizing diametrically opposing data. For example, look at how the inverted color scheme reflects day and night in this comparison infographic template.
Give certain metrics or types of information specific colors. That way, readers should be able to skim your infographic and understand it more quickly.
For example, this infographic uses three colors to represent each topic (career, family, security) across the different geographical locations. This makes it easier for readers to understand the compare the data.
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