CHART TYPES
This chart is best for showing trends over time.
line graph
What’s wrong with a chart that has no title or axis labels?
It’s unclear what the chart is showing.
A line chart of website visits from Jan–Dec, labeled and scaled correctly.
a good data visualization
What should every axis have?
A label and units
Netflix showing the “Top 10 Shows” is usually a version of this chart.
a bar chart
This chart is often misused and hard to read when there are too many slices.
pie chart
A chart shows 45%, 35%, and 30% — what’s the issue?
The total is 110% — incorrect data.
A pie chart with 6 slices, 3 of which are labeled “Other.”
a poor data visualization
This is the most important label of a chart — it tells what the whole thing is about.
The title
During the pandemic, this type of chart showed case counts over time.
line graph/chart
This type of chart is best replaced by bar charts when comparing values across categories.
3D pie chart
A pie chart with only one slice or an excessively small number of categories
lack of content/information
A chart uses visuals but doesn’t show units or a time range.
misleading data visualization
What is the purpose of a caption in a data viz?
To summarize or explain what the data is showing.
Spotify Wrapped is an example of this type of data viz. What kind of data viz is this?
personal data visualization
This chart groups data into bins to show frequency distribution.
histogram
A chart uses 10 bright colors with no meaning. What should you do?
Use fewer, consistent colors with purpose.
A bar chart with two bars, but the taller one has no label.
incomplete or misleading
What do we call the little numbers along the Y-axis?
tick marks or scale values
A social media post compares screen time across apps — what chart is best?
a bar chart
This chart displays relationships between two numerical variables.
scatter plot
What’s a better way to display 12 categories than a pie chart?
Use a bar chart
A chart that uses stickers and emojis instead of clear data points.
distracting/unprofessional
This part of a chart helps explain what each color or symbol represents.
A legend
A high school teacher wants to determine if there is a correlation between the number of hours students study and their scores on an end-of-term exam. What graph should she use?
scatter plot