# How data visualizations work

Human beings aren't capable of understanding the raw information in a [database](database.md) in any complete way.

- Our minds have a tendency to quickly assign [meaning](meaning.md) as we perceive the information, so columns of numbers will represent as a feeling instead of being held as separate values.
- Even when they're low-enough on the [autism spectrum](mind-neurodivergence.md), a database has to be comparatively smaller for them to understand the information.
- The data may evoke a [story](stories.md) as a collective set of information that would never be expressed on an element-by-element basis.

Therefore, we must use more articulate ways to express this information.

The easiest way to express data is through a visualization, mostly because our eyes give more absolute information to our brains than any of our other senses. It's *possible* to express data as a sound (e.g., [notifications](engineering-design.md)), but that doesn't mean it's effective in conveying anything precise.

## Reports

The simplest way to express data is through a report. This often requires [numerical data](math.md) (since it'll often be summarized via calculation), but it can also be numerically calculated by counting instances of non-numerical information directly.

For any report to be effective, it needs to have several qualities:

- Actionable - It must serve to advance or promote some sort of [purpose](purpose.md).
- Accessible - It must be easy to [understand](understanding.md).
- Auditable - The information must be easily reproducible for someone else to [verify](trust.md).

To that end, good reports intentionally *omit* useless information and provide the supporting data as an accompaniment. The report should also draw directly from the data, and *not* use an intermediate system that could generate error or inaccuracy.

## Flow charts

A flow chart is possible when there is a flow of [logic](logic.md) (especially across time) or [decisions](https://gainedin.slite/decisions/).

The general appearance of flow charts allows a visual representation of complexities that would otherwise be difficult to show via text.