Gun Deaths in America by Five Thirty Eight
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gun-deaths/
This presentation was created with Georgie Haydon.
What story does it tell?
This data visualisation tells the story of the annual gun deaths in America and what it will take to get the number down. It offers real life stories about different incidents and solutions on how to change the amount of deaths in that certain category. The data within this visualisation reveals that contrary to the image painted by the media, that the most gun deaths are suicide not violent shootings.
How does it tell it?
This data visualisation tells the story of the annual gun deaths in America through a slideshow of visualisations where 1 square = 1 death, with a title above showing the different causes of death.
Does it allow for different levels of interrogation that can be seen or used on the part of the reader? E.g. can they drill down to discover more detail?
The visualisation is presented in a particular order intended by the designer, however the reader then is presented with the opportunity to explore the data visualisation themselves through 4 search fields. The sterile nature of the way the data is presented means that the reader can look deeper into the topic and understand the pure data without emotion. However, the real life stories provided to explore create emotive depth where the reader is encouraged to engage with personal stories.
Are you able to create multiple stories from it? If so, what are they?
The reader does have the opportunity to create multiple stories from the data provided. The reader can select different causes of death and then compare against gender, age and race to reveal a unique story depending on the reason for death.
The reader also has the opportunity to take the information they learn through the interactive data visualisation and compare against real life stories provide in the drop down menu.
What can you say about the visual design – layout, colour, typography, visualisation style?
The visual design is quite simple – using 1 square to equal 1 death. Colour is used, whilst each individual visualisation is not reliant on the colour used, the end image that displays all gun deaths is. A sans serif font is used which gives the visualisation a modern feel. The style is simple with priority on the effective communication of the data.
What improvements would you suggest?
There are really only two things we thought could be improved. Firstly, the user experience could be enhanced if the user had the option to expand the visualisation beyond the websites boundaries. The visualisation is quite small, therefore the option to make it larger would mean the information would be easier to read.
Secondly, the use of colour could be more thought out to consider the blind or visually impaired. For example, slide 8 would be difficult to visualise. Perhaps, an element of sound where the data is read could be an option to improve this.
Where does the data come from? Comment on its source.
The data in the visualisation comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Multiple Cause of Death database. They collect the death certifcates from all 50 U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia. This database is considered the most comprehensive estimate of firearm deaths making it a reputable source for the data visualisation.
Reference:
FiveThirtyEight. (2018). Annual gun deaths in america. FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved August 13, 2018 from https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/gun-deaths/
Beautiful Data 