What Gordon Ramsay Taught Me About Data Visualization
What Gordon Ramsay Taught Me About Data Visualization

Lessons from the culinary world

Photo courtesy of Keith Dykstra

If you are an avid fan of reality cooking shows such as MasterChef or enjoy cooking yourself, then you likely know how much effort (and, seemingly, chaos) takes place in the kitchen to prepare the food and how much creativity and attention to detail is required to plate the meal.

You also know that, in the world of fine dining, presentation is equally as important as taste.

I am a MasterChef fan who tries to apply what I learn from these shows into my day-to-day and special occasion cooking. The same is true of data visualization — I am in awe of data viz specialists who share their mastery with the community. Food and data visualization are two of my favourite things, so it was only natural that I started seeing the similarities!

While many parallels can be drawn between culinary arts and data visualization, it is the food plating technique and its importance to the dining experience that has fascinated me. I have been inspired by celebrity chefs and those in restaurants who are able to express their creativity through their cuisine. The question is, what can we, as data visualization practitioners, learn from these chefs?

Does food presentation really matter?

Gordon Ramsay is an international celebrity chef and MasterChef judge whose restaurants have been awarded sixteen Michelin stars. Not only are his dishes and recipes lauded world-wide, he has particular artistic flair when it comes to plating a meal. He is known both onscreen and in real life for his bluntness, fiery temper, and harsh critiques. He demands excellence. He doesn’t hold back his praise for talent, nor does he hold back when he sees unthinkable atrocities being committed in the kitchen or on the plate!

On MasterChef, contestants are rated on their organizational skills in the kitchen, appropriate use of tools, taste, and presentation. Gordon Ramsay continually reminds the contestants that they must pay attention to the finer details of their presentation — the dish should look as amazing as it tastes.

But is that really true?

In a study in the journal Flavour, participants were asked to rate three salads that used the same ingredients but were arranged differently. The first (panel B in the image below) was arranged using “Painting #201” (panel A) by the artist Kandinsky as inspiration; the second (panel C) was arranged in a more traditional form; and the third (panel D) was presented with the deconstructed ingredients neatly arranged on a plate.

The Kandinsky painting used as the inspiration for the dish (A), and the three different visual arrangements presented (B, C, D). The three arrangements consisted of the same quantity of the same ingredients. (Source)

Prior to tasting, the study participants were asked which salad they preferred. They generally chose the Kandinsky-inspired presentation. After tasting each of the plates, they rated the Kandinsky-inspired arrangement as much tastier. The study concluded that, even though all dishes included the exact same ingredients, participants believed the artistically arranged salad was the tastiest and indicated they would be willing to pay more for it.

These results suggest that, yes, the visual presentation of food can influence a person’s expectations and their ensuing experience of the dish.

We eat with our eyes first. What about in data visualization?

We know that eating is a sensuous and memorable experience: even before food enters the mouth, the brain has already processed the appearance of the food, and the salivary glands are activated.

A well designed data visualization should have a similar impact. In data visualization, the placement on a dashboard and use of colour and other pre-attentive attributes all contribute to how quickly the user forms an opinion about the data. The “five-second rule” for dashboards (not to be confused with the five-second rule when food is dropped!) suggests that the user should be able to find the most important information within five seconds. By that time, the mind has already begun to decode the visualization in anticipation of consuming useful insights.

Example of a data viz that exemplifies the 5 second rule. I won’t be eating a Big Mac in Switzerland!

Trust the food. Trust the data.

While chefs may have a vision for the presentation, they need to first plan the preparation, ensure they are using high quality ingredients, and have the right tools to create a tasty dish. The diner, in anticipation of eating something as delicious as it looks, has complete trust in the food they are about to eat. That trust is influenced by the chef’s reputation, the restaurant rating, and the service, among other factors. But what if the first bite is disappointing or downright distasteful? According to the website Chef’s Resources:

“Visual beauty without fantastic flavor is garbage.”

The same is true in data viz. No matter how beautiful a data visualization is, if the information is inaccurate, then the credibility of the data source, the analysis, and the designer will be questioned. The trust factor has diminished, and the degree of skepticism for future dashboards has heightened. Would you return to the same restaurant if you did not enjoy the meal? Would you trust what was in front of your eyes, whether a dashboard or a meal, if you did not trust the source?

7 lessons from plate presentation

Keith Dykstra, who leads an analytics team at InterWorks during the week and spends his weekends making feasts for his friends, embraces the connection between food and data visualization:

“We eat with our eyes first. If you present me with a plate of food that looks disgusting — even if you tell me that it’s going to taste delicious — I will have a hard time eating it. But a beautifully arranged plate makes me excited to dig in. Similarly with dashboards, people may simply pass by a dashboard if it looks unappealing. Those who do decide to use it may have a frustrating experience: The dashboard might answer their questions, but the process is not enjoyable. A well-designed dashboard, however, draws people in and invites them to spend time exploring the data. The visual design of a dashboard can have a significant impact on its adoption.”

Knowing this, what have I learned from the culinary masterpieces created by Gordon Ramsay and other chefs? Here are seven lessons:

Plate colour, size, and shape become the canvas for the chef. Most chefs prefer to use use white plates, although some experiment with dark blue or black. Darker plates require more attention to appropriately contrast the colours of the food. Similarly, patterned plates are rarely used as they take attention away from the food. In data visualization, white backgrounds are likewise the most common, although darker backgrounds can work with appropriate contrast. The size and shape of the plate - or dashboard - are also important in establishing the aesthetic. Negative or white space frames the food and draws attention to what is important. Filling a plate too full leaves little room for imagination and emphasis. Similarly, white space is a critical component of dashboards. There can be a tendency for designers to want to maximize the real estate on their dashboards, if they perceive white space as wasted space. However, in her book Storytelling with Data, Cole Knaflic talks about “the powerful effect that white space used strategically can have on our visual communications.” Data visualization designers need to be comfortable with white space. Placement of food ensures that the main dish is the focal point. In the kitchen, a common plating method is to follow a clock by placing the main protein between 3 and 9 o’clock (closest to the diner), the starch between 9 and 12 o’clock, and the vegetable between 12 and 3 o’clock. Similarly, data visualization designers can draw attention to a dashboard’s most important insights by placing them where the reader will look first — typically, in the upper left corner. Contrasting colours make the dish look appetizing. Chefs usually avoid monochromatic colour schemes, and for foods with bland colours, they introduce a burst of colour with a garnish or sauce. There is a tendency for designers to try to make their dashboards dazzle by using too many colours. In fact, using colours consistently and using a limited number of colours are best practices. How to Choose Colors for Your Data Visualizations describes different colour palettes for dashboards and how best to use them. Simplicity helps hold attention. While the dish itself may be intricate, it should appear simple. Some guidelines suggest having no more than six elements on a plate to avoid overcrowding. (Compare the appeal of an elegantly plated meal with a plate from an all-you-can-eat buffet!) Visual clutter on a dashboard is no different. Too much information will leave the user feeling overwhelmed and disengaged enough that they may stop reading altogether. Balance between plate size, portion sizes, and white space is important. The plate as a whole needs to appear balanced, regardless of its size. An oversized (or undersized) plate will impact the diner’s perception of portion size. Likewise, dashboards need to be designed with device types in mind, to demonstrate a sense of balance regardless of screen size. Extras such as visual texture, garnishes and sauces provide a flair of creativity and bring the plate to life. Extra features on a data visualization could include things like logos, background images, or icons. These should be used subtly to avoid visual overload.

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

I had never thought about my meal telling a story until I heard world-famous chef Grant Achatz say on an episode of MasterChef:

“The food needs to taste amazing, but you have to tell a story with the way it looks.”

The same is true with data visualization. Data visualization professionals are skilled at allowing their visuals to do the talking and engaging the user to take the next step, which could mean clicking to explore the data further, sharing the visual, or making a decision on the spot. So the next time you are served a beautiful plate of delectable cuisine, take a few minutes to appreciate the plating techniques used. Then, think about your own data work:

What would Gordon Ramsay say about your visualizations?

Be your own Gordon Ramsay! Apply his critical eye to your viz and ask yourself — would you devour your own data visualization?
['Vanitha Lucas']
['Information Design', 'Culinary', 'Television', 'Design', 'Data Visualization']