Visualizing Performance Measures

ByFrank Broen
Visualizing Highway Performance measures showing Visual, Audience, and Story elements on a cube

NCHRP SYNTHESIS 584 is the most downloaded TRB publication in July 2022

Here is a quick summary of key takeaways.

See how states tell their performance story with visualizations that resonate with their audience.

Telling meaningful data-based performance stories is more than just reporting data.

  • Effectively communicate a clear story that brings data to life for its intended audience.
  • Dashboards can tell a story that enables collaboration.
  • A few dedicated people can transform data into performance stories.

This synthesis showcases hundreds of examples from around the country. Some key success factors include:

  • Keep it simple. Use line, bar, and pie charts with a title that tells the story.   
  • Make data transparent. Accurate, consistent information builds trust over time.
  • Connect to the audience. Deliver information they can use.
  • Tell a clear story. Visualizations reinforce the story that will be remembered. 

Although the synthesis reports on highway performance measures, the lessons learned can be applied to any visualization used to tell a story. 

The Synthesis is free. See the survey results and read how five different states used visualization to tell their performance story.