Infographic Design Case Studies & Practical Application 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A nonprofit wants to show how $1 donated splits across programs, overhead, and fundraising. Which infographic type best communicates this breakdown?
- Pie or donut chart with labeled segments (Correct answer)
- Timeline showing donation milestones
- Scatter plot of donation frequency
- Flow chart of donor acquisition steps
Correct answer: Pie or donut chart with labeled segments
A pie or donut chart directly visualizes part-to-whole relationships, making budget allocation immediately clear to donors.
Question 2: A healthcare company's infographic on vaccine safety shows a 0.001% adverse event rate next to a 98% efficacy rate using the same visual weight. What is the primary design flaw?
- Inconsistent visual scaling misleads readers about relative magnitude (Correct answer)
- The infographic uses too many colors
- There is no headline summarizing the data
- The font size is too small for the statistics
Correct answer: Inconsistent visual scaling misleads readers about relative magnitude
Using the same visual weight for vastly different values creates a false equivalence that distorts the reader's perception of risk.
Question 3: When redesigning an existing infographic that tested poorly for comprehension, which first step is most valuable?
- Conduct user testing to identify which sections caused confusion (Correct answer)
- Reduce the total word count by 50%
- Switch to a different color palette
- Add more decorative icons to increase visual interest
Correct answer: Conduct user testing to identify which sections caused confusion
User testing reveals exactly where comprehension breaks down, giving designers actionable data before making changes.
Question 4: A news outlet publishes a map infographic showing crime rates by neighborhood. Readers complain it looks like a map of poverty. What design principle was likely violated?
- The designer used raw counts instead of rates normalized by population (Correct answer)
- The map legend used too many color steps
- Street labels were omitted from the base map
- The projection distorted geographic area
Correct answer: The designer used raw counts instead of rates normalized by population
Raw counts favor densely populated areas, making high-population neighborhoods appear more dangerous regardless of actual crime rate.
Question 5: A startup pitches investors using an infographic where the Y-axis of a bar chart starts at 80% instead of 0%, making 82% vs 84% look dramatically different. This is an example of:
- Truncated axis manipulation (Correct answer)
- Cherry-picking data
- Confounding variable error
- Misleading color encoding
Correct answer: Truncated axis manipulation
Truncating the Y-axis exaggerates small differences by removing the visual baseline, creating a false impression of large change.
Question 6: An e-commerce brand creates an infographic comparing its return rate (2%) to the industry average (5%). To be credible and ethical, the infographic should:
- Cite the source of the industry average and methodology (Correct answer)
- Only show their own return rate to keep the message simple
- Use a logarithmic scale to widen the visual gap
- Round both numbers up to the nearest whole number
Correct answer: Cite the source of the industry average and methodology
Citing the source and methodology allows readers to verify the comparison and builds trust in the data presented.
Question 7: A university creates an infographic about graduation rates for prospective students. Accessibility guidelines require that data encoded in color also be encoded in:
- A secondary attribute like pattern, label, or shape (Correct answer)
- A larger font size for all text
- An audio description embedded in the file
- A QR code linking to the raw data table
Correct answer: A secondary attribute like pattern, label, or shape
Redundant encoding with patterns or labels ensures color-blind users can still distinguish data categories without relying on color alone.
Infographic Design Case Studies & Practical Application 2
A nonprofit wants to show how $1 donated splits across programs, overhead, and fundraising.
Which infographic type best communicates this breakdown?