5 Questions to Ask When Deciding Which Type of Data Visualization to Use
1) Do you want to compare values?
Charts are perfect for comparing one or many value sets, and they can easily show the low and high values in the data sets. To create a comparison chart, use these types of graphs:
2) Do you want to show the composition of something?
Use this type of chart to show how individual parts make up the whole of something, such as the device type used for mobile visitors to your website or total sales broken down by sales rep.
To show composition, use these charts:
3) Do you want to understand the distribution of your data?
Distribution charts help you to understand outliers, the normal tendency, and the range of information in your values.
Use these charts to show distribution:
4) Are you interested in analyzing trends in your data set?
If you want to know more information about how a data set performed during a specific time period, there are specific chart types that do extremely well.
You should choose a:
5) Do you want to better understand the relationship between value sets?
Relationship charts are suited to showing how one variable relates to one or numerous different variables. You could use this to show how something positively effects, has no effect, or negatively effects another variable.
When trying to establish the relationship between things, use these charts:
Borrowed from Hubspot
"I recently guest lectured a Strategic Communications class, part of the MBA program at Stanford University. Here, I've recorded a 20-minute segment from that lecture, which covers two basic things you should do when communicating with data: 1) be sparing and intentional in your use of color and 2) put your thoughts into words. Check out the video for some quick lessons and examples." --