In my late 1970's human ecology classes, I remember that the state of Kerala had a socialist/communist government for quite a while. The government adopted a number of people-focused policies, particularly equality for women and universal elementary education. (I seem to recall their theory of development was that society would be better off if they put resources into ensuring that everyone could read and do mathematics to a 6th grade level rather than investing in higher education for a few). I seem to recall that there were social statistics showing remarkable progress (e.g. smaller family size, which meant greater family wealth), despite being one of the poorest states at the time. An investment in basic education for girls produces women who more successfully engage in family planning.

Good point. Visual data is just another form of communication, so can be analyzed, modeled and/or planned using a simple communication diagram. "Who's the audience for this?" is a key question, along with "What's the message we're sending, and what outcome do we want?", "What medium are we using?", "Who's sending the message?" and "What's the context/environment for this communication?"