The most valuable part of dataviz or infographics to end user is… a story! To be told properly, as a dataviz creator, you need to ensure that the user will understand the numbers correctly. To do this you need to choose correct type of graphs according to what message you’d like to display. Earlier we’ve already published a quick guide how to choose what type of chart to use. However today we will add details and even more examples.

This is the reason we created this ultimate guide how to choose which type of graph to use.

Tables

Work well if you need to emphasize and compare individual numbers

Lines

Use lines to chart time-series or how value is changing during the time. It is perfect mean to see patterns and trends. For ex.

• Stock Price Dynamics
• Web site Users per Day
• Application Downloads per day

Lines are good for nominal comparison of two or more groups (actually up to 3) when you need to show the relationships between one and another group (order of groups is significant).

By using Lines we see how seed round and round A relate to each other in terms of investment size. # of deals sized $5-25 increase dramatically in round A. It wouldn’t be so obvious if we used columns.

Use lines to show deviation of value in time. Don’t forget to include reference line to make the graph clear (ex. plan level, or fixed price level).

Frequency Distribution: when you need to emphasize overall shape of data.

It is obvious that most deals are made in June usually. There are peaks in January and October. Distribution line can help in making decision when to start asking for investments.

Columns and bars

Best for nominal comparison of individual groups. Show independence and meaning of each category you have. Here the order of categories doesn’t matter. For ex.,

• Sales By Region
• Web Site SignUps by Acquisition Channel
• Leads by Status

Use horizontal columns (bars) when categorical labels are long. Be pretty!

Use to show time-series (vertical columns only), especially if you have several metrics to compare in time.

Sort bars ascending or descending to rank categories to see more or to highlight high or low values. Now we can easily compare how great was World War Z!

Use bars to chart part of a whole. That works better than pie charts. However make sure that bars add up to 100%.

Use bars to show deviance. Works when charting actual to plan values by different groups.

Show frequency distribution when individual values are significant. Most deals are sized $1-5M. So we can assume that the industry is not saturated.

If only you need to show whole value and its parts simultaneously use Stacked Bars or Columns

In the majority of cases simple charts like lines and bars are best to visualize data because using them you can get out a message clearly and simply. However there are some more complicated graphs that can be used in specific situations.

Maps

It’s simple; the best way to plot large-scale geographical data is geographical map. Less steps in color works better (5 is optimal)

Discover Geographical Trends

Heatmap is also appropriate to describe large amount of information. It is useful to show whole picture.

Bubbles

Best to discover correlation – positive or negative; strong or weak. Add additional metrics as size or color to learn more. However it is better to limit the number of elements in this case.

The majority of sequels have the same margin as their originals

PS: don’t try to show as much as possible, use filters, tops and controls to make your dashboard clear and interactive