Article | How do I pick the appropriate chart type?

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Islam Soliman

Islam Soliman | May 23, 2023

Business Analyst | Data Analyst | Data Visualization | Business Development | Programmer

 

Considering your data kind, goal, and message will help you choose the best chart type. Based on Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals, the following advice:

Identify the data type:

Identifying the data type is the first step. Knowing your data type is crucial for selecting the appropriate mathematical methods and chart kinds to draw conclusions from the data. Nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio data are the four primary forms of information.

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Knowing your data type and objectives is the next step. What do you hope to demonstrate with your data? With a visualisation, you may show four different categories of information: Relationship, comparability, composition, and distribution

 

Great Tools to Create Animated Charts (10 Best Options) Select the kind of chart:

The third step is to decide which sort of chart is best for your data and goal. Although there is no hard and fast rule for this, some chart formats work better than others for particular applications. Here is a table summarising a few popular chart types and their applications:

 

 

Comparison

Comparison determines whether two or more items are comparable (or not). In order to compare categorical data, line, bar, bubble, and treemap charts are frequently utilised.

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Composition

The composition of an element reveals its component pieces. To visualise composition, donut, pie, stacked bar, and stacked column charts are frequently employed.

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Relationship

The connection shows how one variable influences other others. In order to visualise the link, scatter and bubble charts are frequently utilised.

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Hierarchy

Hierarchy is a system where elements are arranged or ranked. Treemap, Sunburst, and Circle chart are used to visualize hierarchy.

 

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Distribution:

The connection shows how one variable influences other others. In order to visualise the link, scatter and bubble charts are frequently utilised.

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Flow

The connection shows how one variable influences other others. In order to visualise the link, scatter and bubble charts are frequently utilised.

Flowcharts

You can also combine different chart types to create more complex and interactive visualizations, such as dashboards or infographics.

For more information and examples of different chart types, you can check out these sources:

Books

  • Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic. This book teaches you how to use data visualization to communicate effectively and persuasively with your audience. It covers the principles of good design, how to choose the right chart type, and how to craft a compelling narrative with data1
  • Data Points: Visualization That Means Something by Nathan Yau. This book explores how to make sense of data and present it in meaningful ways. It covers topics such as data collection, analysis, visualization tools, and design techniques. It also showcases examples of creative and innovative visualizations from various domains.
  • The Truthful Art: Data, Charts, and Maps for Communication by Alberto Cairo. This book explains how to use data visualization to inform, enlighten, and inspire your audience. It covers the foundations of data journalism, the ethics of data visualization, and the best practices of design and storytelling. It also provides practical exercises and case studies to help you improve your skills.

Links

  • FlowingData [https://flowingdata.com/]: This is a website that features news, articles, tutorials, and projects on data visualization. It is run by Nathan Yau, the author of Data Points and Visualize This.
  • Information is Beautiful [https://informationisbeautiful.net/]: This is a website that showcases stunning examples of data visualization and infographics. It is run by David McCandless, the author of Information is Beautiful and Knowledge is Beautiful.
  • The Pudding [https://pudding.cool/]: This is a website that creates interactive and engaging visual essays on various topics such as culture, politics, sports, and history. It is run by a team of journalists, developers, and designers who use data visualization to tell stories.

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