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Guideline Catalog

Browse visualization guideline records with sections, labels, and references.

781 records

Page 24 of 33

  1. Use a diverging color scale when the data have a meaningful midpoint

    For comparison in quantitative color-encoded charts, use a diverging color scale on data with a meaningful midpoint to improve insight and address one-directional magnitude readings for readers interpreting values above and below that midpoint.

    • purpose:refine
    • basis:heuristic
    • task:compare
    • data:quantitative
    • quality:insight
    • +3

  2. Use a diverging color scale when the story depends on both extremes

    For extreme-value emphasis in quantitative color-encoded charts, use a diverging color scale on data where both low and high ends matter to improve insight and address one-sided emphasis on only the highest values for readers scanning extremes.

    • purpose:refine
    • basis:heuristic
    • task:extreme
    • data:quantitative
    • quality:insight
    • +3

  3. Use a diverging color scheme around a meaningful center

    For overview comparison of regional deviations around a meaningful center, use a diverging color scheme on a choropleth to improve readability and mitigate hiding one side of the scale for readers scanning both extremes.

    • purpose:refine
    • basis:heuristic
    • chart:choropleth
    • quality:readability
    • lever:encoding
    • +3

  4. Use a diverging colormap when values have a meaningful midpoint

    For ordered or continuous value comparison around a meaningful midpoint, use diverging color encoding on color-mapped charts to improve fidelity and mitigate weak baseline comparison for readers interpreting deviation from a reference value.

    • purpose:refine
    • basis:empirical
    • data:ordinal
    • data:quantitative
    • quality:fidelity
    • +2

  5. Use a diverging luminance-stepped palette for high-frequency pattern matching on continuous maps

    For spatial profile matching on high-spatial-frequency continuous maps, prefer a diverging palette with stepped luminance on a color-encoded map to improve pattern discrimination and mitigate missed fine-grained features for viewers matching patterns across space.

    • purpose:refine
    • basis:empirical
    • task:trend
    • chart:map
    • quality:fidelity:use
    • +2

  6. Use a diverging palette when values deviate from a baseline

    For baseline comparison in quantitative charts, use a diverging color gradient on the value encoding to improve insight and mitigate weak separation between below-baseline and above-baseline values for readers.

    • purpose:refine
    • basis:heuristic
    • data:quantitative
    • quality:insight
    • lever:encoding
    • +3

  7. Use a dot plot when grouped bars get crowded

    For comparing multiple values within each category, prefer a dot plot over grouped bar charts to improve readability and mitigate crowded multi-value category displays for general audiences.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:heuristic
    • chart:dotplot:use
    • chart:bar:avoid
    • density:dense
    • +3

  8. Use a dual-axis line chart when correlation is the main message

    For communicating the relationship in ordered-time paired series, prefer a dual-axis line chart over a connected scatterplot to improve insight and address missed positive or negative correlation cues for readers unfamiliar with connected scatterplots.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:empirical
    • task:relate
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • +5

  9. Use a histogram instead of a box plot for novice distribution reading

    For distribution reading, prefer a histogram over a box plot on quantitative data to improve readability and mitigate dependence on quartile-based statistical knowledge for novice readers.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:empirical
    • task:distribute
    • chart:histogram:use
    • chart:box-violin:avoid
    • +3

  10. Use a histogram instead of a boxplot when distribution shape matters

    For one-dimensional distribution analysis, use a histogram on quantitative data to improve fidelity and mitigate the mistake of treating identical boxplots as identical distributions for readers comparing shape.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:empirical
    • task:distribute
    • chart:histogram:use
    • chart:box-violin:avoid
    • +3

  11. Use a hue-varying palette for exact value lookup on continuous maps

    For exact value lookup on continuous quantitative maps, prefer a hue-varying palette on a color-encoded map to improve quantitative accuracy and mitigate location-matching errors for viewers reading mapped values.

    • purpose:refine
    • basis:empirical
    • task:retrieve
    • chart:map
    • quality:fidelity:use
    • +3

  12. Use a line chart for a single value over time

    For showing one value over ordered time, prefer a line chart instead of an area chart to improve readability and mitigate an unnecessary zero-baseline requirement for readers following the trend.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:heuristic
    • task:trend
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • +4

  13. Use a line chart instead of a table for ordered-value comparison

    For comparison tasks on ordered-time quantitative data, prefer a line chart over a table to improve fidelity and mitigate slow mental transformations for viewers comparing relative differences across periods.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:empirical
    • task:compare
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • +3

  14. Use a line chart to emphasize a trend across ordered points

    For reading change across ordered data points, use a line chart instead of a bar chart on ordered values to improve readability and mitigate isolated point-by-point reading for viewers relying on common graph conventions.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:empirical
    • task:trend
    • chart:line:use
    • chart:bar:avoid
    • +3

  15. Use a line chart to show one share overtaking another

    For ordered-time comparison when the message is that one share overtook another, use a line chart instead of stacked columns to improve readability and mitigate hidden crossover patterns for readers tracking changes between series.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:heuristic
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • chart:bar:avoid
    • +3

  16. Use a line chart to show poll movement over time

    For trend comparison across ordered time, use a line chart instead of a bar chart on repeated poll series to improve insight and mitigate snapshot-only summaries for readers following campaign movement.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:heuristic
    • task:trend
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • +3

  17. Use a line chart when differences between values are very small

    For comparing multiple values over ordered time, prefer a line chart on temporal series instead of an area chart to improve fidelity and mitigate hidden small differences for readers who need to see subtle change.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:heuristic
    • task:compare
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • +3

  18. Use a line chart when poll change over time is the message

    For campaign explanation over ordered time, use a line chart on repeated poll data to improve insight and mitigate snapshot-based interpretation for readers tracking changes in public opinion.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:heuristic
    • task:trend
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • +3

  19. Use a line chart when the main task is comparing shares directly

    For comparing shares over ordered time, prefer a line chart instead of an area chart to improve readability and mitigate hard cross-series comparison for readers who need to see one share overtake another.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:heuristic
    • task:compare
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • +4

  20. Use a line chart when the task is to read x–y relationships

    For relationship reading on quantitative x–y data, use a line chart instead of a bar chart to improve readability and mitigate misreading of x–y structure for readers interpreting standard charts.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:empirical
    • task:relate
    • chart:line:use
    • chart:bar:avoid
    • +2

  21. Use a line chart when the total is not part of the message

    For showing multiple values over ordered time, prefer a line chart on temporal series instead of an area chart to improve readability and mitigate unnecessary emphasis on the stacked total for readers who mainly need the series trends.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:heuristic
    • task:trend
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • +3

  22. Use a line chart when totals are not the message

    For ordered-time trend reading on part-to-whole time series, use a line chart instead of stacked columns when totals are not important to improve readability and mitigate hard-to-decipher stacked segments for readers scanning change over time.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:heuristic
    • time:ordered-time
    • chart:line:use
    • chart:bar:avoid
    • +3

  23. Use a line graph to show general trends

    For overview trend reading, prefer a line chart on quantitative point sequences to improve insight and mitigate point-by-point detail emphasis for viewers who need the gist.

    • purpose:select
    • basis:empirical
    • task:trend
    • chart:line:use
    • chart:bar:avoid
    • +3

  24. Use a linear bar layout for exact reading of daily patterns

    For exact lookup and comparison in cyclic-time daily patterns, use a linear layout on bar charts to improve fidelity and mitigate slow value decoding and AM/PM selection mistakes for non-expert readers.

    • purpose:refine
    • basis:empirical
    • time:cyclic-time
    • chart:bar
    • quality:fidelity
    • +3