Abstract

Data visualization for action: sensemaking and preferences among nutrition stakeholders in Nigeria

Tricia Aung, MSPH¹, Olutayo Adeyemi, PhD², Rebecca Heidkamp, PhD¹ (1)Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA, (2)Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

Background
In Nigeria, there are numerous nutrition data monitoring and accountability products at various stages of development, which integrate data visualization—the process of graphically displaying data to tell a story—to organize and communicate data. Data visualization can only be impactful when an intended audience can make sense of what’s being presented. There is limited evidence on whether the data visualization approaches used align with audience preferences and interpretation capacity in Nigeria.

Objective/Purpose
Explore data visualization sensemaking and preferences among Nigerian stakeholders that work in nutrition.

Methods
We conducted an online survey (n=177) and follow-up interviews (n=8) with nutrition professionals working at federal and state levels in Nigeria. Participants were recruited through nutrition stakeholder groups and Twitter. The online survey tasked participants with answering interpretation questions based on sensemaking tasks identified from data visualization literature and ranking preferences for different graphs visualizing Nigeria nutrition-related data. We conducted follow-up interviews with select individuals that took the online survey to expand on survey responses and test new iterations of data visualizations. We tabulated survey results using Stata and used a thematic analysis approach to synthesize findings from interviews.

Results
Most participants correctly answered questions used to assess basic interpretation skills (e.g., retrieve values, identify ranges, notice trends). Participants struggled with more advanced data literacy skills including identifying overall key messages and retrieving information from multiple data sources. There was a substantial preference for bar charts over alternative options that represented more unique data visualization approaches such as connected dot plots and bubble plots. However, participants expressed an openness to data visualizations beyond bar charts to incite curiosity and interest.

Discussion/Conclusions
Identifying key audience sensemaking capacity and preferences is an important step to creating impactful data visualizations. To better optimize nutrition data monitoring and accountability products that rely on data visualization in Nigeria, addressing gaps in advanced sensemaking and designing for audience needs is critical to inspiring use.