Comparing Effectiveness and Engagement of Data Comics and Infographics

TLDR

Infographics are widely used while comics are gaining popularity for explaining complex concepts, yet empirical comparisons of their effectiveness and engagement remain scarce. The study compares the effectiveness of data comics versus infographics for data‑driven storytelling and reports results from both a controlled experiment and a real‑world study. The authors conducted two complementary studies—one controlled and one in the wild—to evaluate the formats. Participants preferred data comics for enjoyment, focus, and overall engagement, and comics improved understanding and recall, informing the design of more effective data comics and infographics.

Abstract

This paper compares the effectiveness of data comics and infographics for data-driven storytelling. While infographics are widely used, comics are increasingly popular for explaining complex and scientific concepts. However, empirical evidence comparing the effectiveness and engagement of infographics, comics and illustrated texts is still lacking. We report on the results of two complementary studies, one in a controlled setting and one in the wild. Our results suggest participants largely prefer data comics in terms of enjoyment, focus, and overall engagement and that comics improve understanding and recall of information in the stories. Our findings help to understand the respective roles of the investigated formats as well as inform the design of more effective data comics and infographics.