Although many of the examples in this guide are static jpg maps there are many different types of visuals that you could use to show the information you are given. It is important to chose the most appropriate format to answer the question(s) and the one that will make it easiest for them to make their decisions. Here is a quick guide to the different formats using the same data to start with.
Maps
Great for understanding spatial data - where was the earthquake, where are the affected people, where are nearest water points to the camp? The map will show you the geographic scope and scale of a disaster and of the response. It will help users understand if the response is focused on one area when there might be other locations and people affected to. So any time the question has where in it start to think about a map.
There are two basic formats of maps - static and web maps.
Static maps
These are the traditional paper based maps where the information shown is reasonably limited. Field workers like them because they can be printed out, written and drawn on and kept in your pocket. Headquarters like them because they can be added to reports and presentations. They do however lack the ability for a lot of interaction, able to add additional data or do detailed and complex analysis. They are normally produced using GIS desktop tools such as ArcGIS or QGIS and require a certain amount of technical skill and knowledge.
Web maps
These are online maps and much more common these days and we have been using them more in our everyday lives as the internet and mobile phones have developed. They allow for more complex interaction from zooming and panning around at different scales, to route finding and searching, to switch layers of data on or off, adding additional layers of data and performing complex analysis.
They are more complex in nature to setup and require a greater level of support including web hosting, data management and more often than not the internet. There is the ability to for web maps to have close-to- or near-realtime data fed to them. There are numerous online tools that you may have used day to day such as Google Maps and Google Earth to more complex web tools such as Mapbox, Leaflet and ArcGIS Online. They require technical skill and knowledge, a way of hosting and publishing them.
Other visuals
There are other formats beyond a map and can be equally valid formats to use.
Tables
Tables allow for reporting of text and numbers where precision is needed. Think about the layout of the table and consider sorting the data rows into something meaningful. i.e. if the table is to show the top five priorities of the affected population, sort the table so that the highest priority is shown first. You can use a spreadsheet or word document to produce a table.
Charts and graphs
There are many types of charts and graphs and most of us will be familiar with bar and pie charts. They are good at showing the relationships and trends of data. They are an easy way to convey data in visual way if done well. Aim to keep them as simple as possible with minimal categorisation. Look to highlight the trends and relationships. Spreadsheet tools such as Excel and Google Sheets allow for graphs and charts to produced, or you can use more complex coding tools such as D3.js and Chart.js for more complex, data driven, interactive versions.
Infographics
A combination of words, graphs, maps and other graphics, infographics aim to provide the user with information quickly and easily. They take time to design and create and most likely be done away from the hustle and bustle of a busy coordination centre. You can generate these using a variety of tools (excel, word, powerpoint) to produce the individual elements before adding the all into a single graphic or use tools like Adobe Illustrator to generate it all in one place.
Dashboards
More often than not these are online and provides an up to date summary of indicators and act as a progress report of what is going on in a response. They may contain tables, charts and graphs and maps. They can be fed information close-to- or near realtime so that they are always current. There are a variety of dashboard tools such as Tableau, PowerBi and Google Data Studio.