6 Questions to Ask When Deciding Which Type of Chart to Use for Your Visualization:
Effective data visualization relies on selecting the appropriate chart type that best represents your information. With a multitude of options available, it’s crucial to ask yourself five fundamental questions before making a decision.
By answering these questions, you’ll make an informed choice and create impactful visualizations.
1. Do you want to compare values?
Charts and graphs 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:
Eg: Bar chart, Column chart, Grouped bar/column chart, Lollipop chart, Bullet chart, Dot plot, Dumbbell, Pictogram, Icon chart, Range chart, Waterfall chart, Matrix chart, Small multiples, Word cloud, .
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, like the device type used for mobile visitors to your website or total sales broken down by sales rep. To show composition, use these charts:
Eg; Stacked bar/column chart, Diverging bar chart, Population pyramid, Icon array, Pie chart, Donut chart, Treemap, Venn diagram, Circular gauge, Sunburst chart, Funnel & pyramid chart.
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.
Eg; Density plot, Ridgeline plot, Horizon chart, Histogram, Radial histogram, Strip plot, Jitter plot, One-dimensional heatmap, Box chart, and Violin plot.
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 particular chart types that do exceptionally well.
Eg: Area chart, Stacked area chart, Stream graph, Bump chart, Bump area chart, Line chart, Spline chart, Step line chart, Candlestick chart, Gantt chart.
5. Do you want to better understand the relationship between value sets?
Relationship charts can show how one variable relates to one or many variables. You could use this to show how something positively affects, has no effect, or negatively affects another variable.
Eg; Heatmap, Bubble chart, Scatter plot, Connected scatter plot, Hexagonal binning, Contour plot.
6. Do you want to gain a deeper understanding of geospatial relationships?
Geospatial charts can unveil intricate connections between geographic locations and various data points. By using maps and visualizing data overlays, you can explore how different variables relate to specific geographical regions
Eg; Geographic heatmap, Choropleth map, Chord diagram, Arc diagram, Sankey, Network diagram, Flowchart.
PS; The type of charts available to you are dependent on the software you are using.
