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For this assignment, I utilized the data visualization software, Flourish, to produce three charts depicting government debt data from the OECD
Naturally, each of the three data visualizations have their merits and consequently their demerits in representing the government debt data from OECD countries. Albeit lacking color, having cluttered country labels on the x-axis, and ultimately being drab aesthetically, the bar chart in Viz I hosts an excellent visual comparison between each nation’s debt percentages of their respective GDPs in the single year 2021. The grid of lines chart adds a bit more dimension in its single maroon color as well as a clearer abbreviated labeling of nations, but most importantly, Viz II shows a time scale of the government debt ratio between the nations from 1995-2021–an element the other two visualizations lack. However, the grid of lines chart does not encapsulate an intutitive comparison element between the 40 states’ debt-to-GDP ratios as the line charts are quite small and plentiful over the six rows of seven grids (OECD averages and totals included). The time series may not be applicable in the world projection map, yet Viz III is a strong visual comparison of 2021 government debt. With its gradient blue color scale (lighter colors indicating less debt-to-GDP ratio and vice versa), search bar, titles and subtext, and interactive elements, the world projection map serves as a more user-friendly visualization than the grid of lines chart that is simultaneously more adept at comparing the debt ratios than its fellow single-year bar chart.