how do I know when I'm done revising my visual?

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Through virtual and in-person workshops around the globe, we have taught tens of thousands of people how to communicate effectively with data. This series captures some of the noteworthy questions we hear during those sessions—and our answers.

I know it’s important to iterate and get feedback when I’m creating a graph or building a slide. But with so many ways to modify the design—changing the chart type, adjusting the font style, using different colors, experimenting with alignment, and so on—I sometimes get caught in an endless cycle of iterating and refining. How do you know when you’re done?

This question resonates with me personally, as I feel like nothing is ever really done—it’s always just the “most recent iteration.” If I revisit a graph I designed a year ago, I guarantee I’ll make some tweaks. At some point, though, I have to stop, because my changes don’t have much of an impact. Hence the saying, “Done is better than perfect!” 

Here are three signs to help you (and me!) determine when your current version can be the final one.

1. You’re out of time. 

The range of possible formatting changes may seem infinite, but the time we have to make these changes isn’t. Use time constraints, whether external or self-imposed, to your advantage. 

If you have only a few minutes to optimize a graph or slide, don’t spend time thinking about every potential revision to implement. Instead, focus on the quick changes that will have the biggest impact. Often, this means simple changes like modifying the use of color, adding annotations, or adjusting a slide title. 

Time constraints can seem like a limiting factor, but it can also be freeing if you are someone who gets caught in an endless pursuit of the “perfect” visual.

2. You’ve received positive feedback. 

I strongly recommend incorporating feedback into your creative process and throughout all stages of a project—the earlier, the better. It’s often through those informal feedback sessions that you’ll get insight into whether your approach is sufficient. If someone else understands the primary purpose of your communication, then you can probably stop there. Feel free to keep iterating, but know that you can also move on, confident that further revisions probably aren’t critical.

There’s always a balance between being effective and being a perfectionist, so talking it over with someone else will help you determine the right balance for your scenario.

3. The situation is low-stakes.

In addition to the above stopping indicators, I also recommend taking a step back and reflecting on the stakes of your work. Are you going to be communicating with an important audience member? Will there be high visibility? If so, then it’s reasonable to want your final product to be pixel-perfect in every dimension. Not every data communication will call for such a high level of polish. Routine, ad hoc, or low-stakes slides and graphs don’t warrant nearly as many iterations.

Think critically about how likely it is that the formats and changes you want to make will actually matter—or even be noticeable—to your audience. If you realize that it will make more of a difference to you than to them, it’s probably time to move on to the next task.  

I’ve shared some of my thoughts here, but I’m curious: how do YOU know when you’re done with a visual? Share in the comments below!