Exploring Data Visualization Tools

When it comes to health, numbers alone don’t always make the biggest impact. Telling someone they have any percent chance of developing some sort of disease may sound important, but without visuals, it can feel abstract or hard to interpret. That’s where health risk infographics and visualizations come in. They translate data into something immediate, accessible, and memorable.

Risk Calculator

                                    Figure 1.1 (Low Risk)                             Figure 1.2 (High Risk)

When I used the Visualizing Health Risk calculator with the youngest age range (30–34) and answered “no” to diabetes, smoking, and high blood pressure medication, my result was just a 1% chance of cardiovascular disease. In the visualization, this low risk was clearly displayed in green, which is a color associated with safety and health. Figure 1.1 showed a small “your risk” label and a pie chart, alongside the larger bar graph that placed the number in the very low category (<5%). This use of color coding made the meaning behind the number obvious at a glance.

Then, I changed the inputs to represent a different profile: age 60–64, “yes” to smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure medication. The result jumped to a >30% chance of cardiovascular disease. This visualization looked very different. It switched to red, a strong visual signal of danger, and added a direct message to “See Doctor.” Even without reading the exact number, the bold colors and warning text made the seriousness of the result impossible to miss as seen in figure 1.2.

Icon Array

Figure 2 (iconarray.com creation)

Next, I tried out the Icon Array generator on iconarray.com. At first it took a minute to figure out the controls, but once I got the hang of it, I made an 80 out of 100 icon array. The 20% blocked and green, and the 80% shown as red person icons to highlight the group at higher risk. Setting it up that way really drove home how color and icon choice affect the perception of the data. The red figures felt urgent, while the green blocked icons felt safe. The icon array in figure 2 made the probability feel tangible (you actually see 80 worried people out of 100), which I think is way more effective than a bare percentage.

Overall, working with both the risk calculator and the icon array showed me just how powerful data visualization can be in health communication. On their own, numbers can feel distant or easy to dismiss, but once they’re paired with color, symbols, and a specific, appropriate layout, the information becomes way more engaging and easier to understand. 

Both Visualizing Health and iconarray.com turned abstract risk percentages into something concrete, and I think they’re excellent tools for learning about data visualization in general. They not only helped me see the importance of clear design choices but also demonstrated how visuals can be used to influence understanding and decision-making in meaningful ways. I realized that the way a statistic is presented can completely change how someone reacts to it, whether they feel reassured, alarmed, or motivated to take action. For me, both tools made the risks feel more real, and I can see how using visuals like these could make health education much more effective in everyday life.