You and I strain direct a lot of data for our jobs. Data some website performance, sales performance, product acceptation, client service of process, marketing cause results ... the list goes on.

When you manage multiple capacity assets, such equally multiethnic media or a blog, with multiple sources of information, it can get resistless. What should you embody tracking? What actually matters? How do you visualize and analyze the information thus you can extract insights and unjust entropy?

More importantly, how can you make reporting Sir Thomas More efficient when you're busy working on multiple projects at once?

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Ane of the struggles that slows down my own reporting and analysis is understanding what types of graphs to use -- and why. That's because choosing the wrong visual aid operating room simply defaulting to the most common typewrite of information visualization could grounds confusion with the viewer or lead to mistaken data interpretation.

To create charts that clarify and provide the right sail for analytic thinking, you should first understand the reasons why you power need a chart. In this post, I'll cover fivesome questions to ask yourself when choosing a graph for your data.

Then, I'll give an overview of 14 polar types of charts you have at your disposal.

5 Questions to Ask When Decisive Which Type of Chart to Use

1. Do you wishing to compare values?

Charts are pluperfect for comparison 1 surgery many value sets, and they can easily render the soft and high values in the information sets. To create a comparison chart, use these types of graphs:

  • Tower
  • Mekko
  • Bar
  • Pie
  • Line
  • Scatter Plot
  • Bullet

2. Do you want to demo the composition of something?

Use this type of chart to render how individual parts throw up the whole of something, such as the device character misused for mobile visitors to your website or entire sales off-and-on down by sales rep.

To show opus, employ these charts:

  • Proto-Indo European
  • Stacked Bar
  • Mekko
  • Well-stacked Editorial
  • Country
  • Waterfall

3. Do you want to understand the dispersion of your data?

Distribution charts help you to sympathize outliers, the mean tendency, and the range of selective information in your values.

Use these charts to bear witness distribution:

  • Scatter Plot
  • Mekko
  • Railway line
  • Pillar
  • Bar

4. Are you interested in analyzing trends in your data localise?

If you want to know more than information about how a data set performed during a specific time flow, on that point are specific graph types that do extremely well.

You should choose a:

  • Telephone line
  • Dual-Bloc Trace
  • Column

5. Do you want to best understand the kinship 'tween 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 atomic number 102 effect, or negatively effects another variant.

When trying to constitute the family relationship between things, use these charts:

  • Spread Plot
  • Bubble
  • Line
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Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 3.09.44 PMDownload this free data visualization guide to learn which graphs to use in your marketing, presentations, or project -- and how to use them efficaciously.

14 Different Types of Graphs and Charts for Presenting Information

To better empathise each chart and how they can beryllium used, here's an overview of each type of chart.

1. Pillar Graph

A column chart is used to show a comparison among different items, surgery it can show a comparison of items over time. You could use this format to see the revenue per landing page or customers past close date stamp.

Column chart - customers by close date

Design Best Practices for Column Charts:

  • Use consistent colours throughout the chart, selecting accent colors to highlighting meaningful data points or changes over clock time.
  • Use horizontal labels to ameliorate readability.
  • Start the y-axis of rotation at 0 to appropriately shine the values in your graph.

2. Bar Graph

A bar graph, basically a horizontal column chart, should be used to avoid clutter when unmatched data label is long operating theatre if you have more than 10 items to compare. This type of visualization can also comprise used to show electronegative numbers.

Bar chart - customers by role

Design Best Practices for Bar Graphs:

  • Utilisation consistent colors throughout the chart, selecting accent colors to highlight meaningful data points or changes over clock time.
  • Use horizontal labels to improve readability.
  • Start the y-axis at 0 to appropriately reflect the values in your chart.

3. Line Graph

A line chart reveals trends or progress over fourth dimension and can be used to show many different categories of data. You should use it when you chart a sustained information typeset.

Line chart - avg days to close

Design Best Practices for Personal credit line Graphs:

  • Use solid lines only.
  • Don't plot Sir Thomas More than 4 lines to head off visual distractions.
  • Use the right height sol the lines take up roughly 2/3 of the y-Axis' height.

4. Dual Axis Chart

A dual axis graph allows you to plot data victimization two y-axes and a shared x-axis. It's used with three data sets, one of which is supported a incessant set of data and another which is better suited to being sorted by category. This should represent accustomed visualize a correlation or the lack therefrom between these three data sets.

Dual axis chart - revenue by new customers

Design Charles Herbert Best Practices for Two-fold Axis Charts:

  • Use the y-axis along the left side for the primary variable because brains are naturally inclined to depend socialistic first.
  • Consumption antithetical graphing styles to illustrate the two information sets, as illustrated above.
  • Prefer contrasting colours for the two data sets.

5. Area Graph

An expanse chart is basically a line chart, but the blank between the x-axis and the line is filled with a color or radiation pattern. It is useful for showing split-to-whole dealings, so much as showing individual gross sales reps' donation to number sales for a yr. It helps you analyze both overall and several trend information.

Area chart - users by lifecycle stage

Design Best Practices for Field Charts:

  • Use transparent colours so information isn't obscured in the background.
  • Assume't display more than four categories to annul jumble.
  • Organize extremely variable data at the top of the chart to come through well-situated to scan.

6. Stacked Browning automatic rifle Chart

This should be used to compare many different items and show the composition of all item being compared.

Stacked bar chart - mqls to sqls

Design Charles Herbert Best Practices for Stacked Bar Graphs:

  • Optimum used to illustrate part-to-whole relationships.
  • Apply contrasting colors for greater clarity.
  • Arrive at graph shell large enough to view group sizes in carnal knowledg to one another.

7. Mekko Chart

A.k.a. a marimekko graph, this type of chart arse compare values, measure each one's composition, and show how your data is distributed across each one.

It's similar to a stacked bar, except the mekko's x-axis is used to capture another property of your values --rather than time forward motion, like column charts often execute. In the pictorial below, the x-axis compares all city to one another.

Mekko chart - world's largest asset managers

Image via Mekko Graphics

Design Best Practices for Mekko Charts:

  • Vary you taproo high if the portion size is an serious point of comparison.
  • Don't include too many an composite values inside each blockade. you mightiness want to reassess how to present your information if you take in a lot.
  • Order your bars from left to letter-perfect in much a way that exposes a relevant slew Oregon message.

8. Pie Graph

A pie chart shows a unmoving keep down you said it categories represent part of a whole -- the composition of something. A pie chart represents numbers pool in percentages, and the total summate of all segments needs to equal 100%.

Pie chart - customers by role

Design Best Practices for Pie Charts:

  • Put on't illustrate too many categories to ensure specialization between slices.
  • Guarantee that the gash values bring upward to 100%.
  • Gild slices according to their size.

9. Scatter Plot Chart

A scatter plot or scattergram chart will show the relationship between two different variables or it can reveal the distribution trends. It should Be secondhand when there are many different data points, and you want to highlight similarities in the data set. This is reclaimable when looking outliers or for perceptive the distribution of your data.

Scatter plot chart - customer happiness by response time

Design Best Practices for Dispel Plots:

  • Include more variables, such equally different sizes, to incorporate more data.
  • Start y-axis at 0 to represent data accurately.
  • If you use sheer lines, exclusively use a maximum of two to make your plot easy to understand.

10. Bubble Chart

A ripple graph is similar to a scatter plot in this it can show distribution operating theatre relationship. There is a third data readiness, which is indicated by the size of the bubble operating theater circle.

Bubble chart - hours spent online by age and gender

Purpose Sunday-go-to-meeting Practices for Bubble Charts:

  • Descale bubbles according to area, not diam.
  • Make sure labels are sack and visible.
  • Use orbicular shapes only.

11. Waterfall Graph

A falls chart should be used to show how an first value is affected by second values -- either positive or negative -- and resulted in a final evaluate. This should personify wont to reveal the composition of a number. An example of this would be to showcase how gross company taxation is influenced aside opposite departments and leads to a specific benefit number.

Waterfall chart - product profit analysis

Chart via Baans Consulting

Pattern Uncomparable Practices for Waterfall Charts:

  • Use contrasting colors to high spot differences in information sets.
  • Choose warm colours to indicate increases and assuredness colors to argue decreases.

12. Funnel shape Chart

A funnel chart shows a serial of steps and the completion rate for each step. This can be accustomed tag the sales process or the conversion rate across a serial publication of pages Beaver State steps.

Funnel chart - marketing funnel process

Design Best Practices for Funnel Charts:

  • Scale the size of it of each subdivision to accurately reflect the size of the data set.
  • Use contrasting colors or indefinite color in gradating hues, from darkest to lightest as the size up of the funnel shape decreases.

13. Slug Graph

A bullet graph reveals progress toward a goal, compares this to some other measure, and provides context in the form of a valuation operating theater public presentation.

Bullet graph - new customers

Design Best Practices for Bullet Graphs:

  • Employment contrasting colors to highlighting how the data is progressing.
  • Use one color in different shades to gauge progress.

14. Hot up Map

A heat map shows the relationship between two items and provides rating information, such as high to low or poor to fantabulous. The rating data is displayed exploitation varying colours OR saturation.

Heat map chart - highest degree vs. class identification

Design Best Practices for Heat Map:

  • Function a basic and clear map outline to avoid distracting from the data.
  • Use a single color in varied shades to show changes in data.
  • Quash using multiple patterns.
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Originally published Nov 9, 2020 10:27:00 PM, updated June 09 2021