various charts used in presentation of data

16 Best Types of Charts and Graphs for Data Visualization [+ Guide]

Published: June 08, 2023

There are more type of charts and graphs than ever before because there's more data. In fact, the volume of data in 2025 will be almost double the data we create, capture, copy, and consume today.

This makes data visualization essential for businesses. Different types of graphs and charts can help you:

• Motivate your team to take action.
• Impress stakeholders with goal progress.
• Show your audience what you value as a business.

Data visualization builds trust and can organize diverse teams around new initiatives. Let's talk about the types of graphs and charts that you can use to grow your business.

Free Excel Graph Templates

Tired of struggling with spreadsheets? These free Microsoft Excel Graph Generator Templates can help.

• Simple, customizable graph designs.
• Data visualization tips & instructions.
• Templates for two, three, four, and five-variable graph templates.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Different Types of Graphs for Data Visualization

1. bar graph.

A bar graph should be used to avoid clutter when one data label is long or if you have more than 10 items to compare.

Best Use Cases for These Types of Graphs

Bar graphs can help you compare data between different groups or to track changes over time. Bar graphs are most useful when there are big changes or to show how one group compares against other groups.

The example above compares the number of customers by business role. It makes it easy to see that there is more than twice the number of customers per role for individual contributors than any other group.

A bar graph also makes it easy to see which group of data is highest or most common.

For example, at the start of the pandemic, online businesses saw a big jump in traffic. So, if you want to look at monthly traffic for an online business, a bar graph would make it easy to see that jump.

Other use cases for bar graphs include:

• Product comparisons.
• Product usage.
• Category comparisons.
• Marketing traffic by month or year.
• Marketing conversions.

Design Best Practices for Bar Graphs

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

2. Line Graph

A line graph reveals trends or progress over time, and you can use it to show many different categories of data. You should use it when you chart a continuous data set.

Line graphs help users track changes over short and long periods. Because of this, these types of graphs are good for seeing small changes.

Line graphs can help you compare changes for more than one group over the same period. They're also helpful for measuring how different groups relate to each other.

A business might use this graph to compare sales rates for different products or services over time.

These charts are also helpful for measuring service channel performance. For example, a line graph that tracks how many chats or emails your team responds to per month.

Design Best Practices for Line Graphs

• Use solid lines only.
• Don't plot more than four lines to avoid visual distractions.
• Use the right height so the lines take up roughly 2/3 of the y-axis' height.

3. Bullet Graph

A bullet graph reveals progress towards a goal, compares this to another measure, and provides context in the form of a rating or performance.

In the example above, the bullet graph shows the number of new customers against a set customer goal. Bullet graphs are great for comparing performance against goals like this.

These types of graphs can also help teams assess possible roadblocks because you can analyze data in a tight visual display.

For example, you could create a series of bullet graphs measuring performance against benchmarks or use a single bullet graph to visualize these KPIs against their goals:

• Customer satisfaction.
• Average order size.
• New customers.

Seeing this data at a glance and alongside each other can help teams make quick decisions.

Bullet graphs are one of the best ways to display year-over-year data analysis. You can also use bullet graphs to visualize:

• Customer satisfaction scores.
• Customer shopping habits.
• Social media usage by platform.

Design Best Practices for Bullet Graphs

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

Different Types of Charts for Data Visualization

To better understand these chart types and how you can use them, here's an overview of each:

1. Column Chart

Use a column chart to show a comparison among different items or to show a comparison of items over time. You could use this format to see the revenue per landing page or customers by close date.

Best Use Cases for This Type of Chart

You can use both column charts and bar graphs to display changes in data, but column charts are best for negative data. The main difference, of course, is that column charts show information vertically while bar graphs show data horizontally.

For example, warehouses often track the number of accidents on the shop floor. When the number of incidents falls below the monthly average, a column chart can make that change easier to see in a presentation.

In the example above, this column chart measures the number of customers by close date. Column charts make it easy to see data changes over a period of time. This means that they have many use cases, including:

• Customer survey data, like showing how many customers prefer a specific product or how much a customer uses a product each day.
• Sales volume, like showing which services are the top sellers each month or the number of sales per week.
• Profit and loss, showing where business investments are growing or falling.

Design Best Practices for Column Charts

2. dual-axis chart.

A dual-axis chart allows you to plot data using two y-axes and a shared x-axis. It has three data sets. One is a continuous data set, and the other is better suited to grouping by category. Use this chart to visualize a correlation or the lack thereof between these three data sets.

A dual-axis chart makes it easy to see relationships between different data sets. They can also help with comparing trends.

For example, the chart above shows how many new customers this company brings in each month. It also shows how much revenue those customers are bringing the company.

This makes it simple to see the connection between the number of customers and increased revenue.

You can use dual-axis charts to compare:

• Price and volume of your products.
• Revenue and units sold.
• Sales and profit margin.
• Individual sales performance.

Design Best Practices for Dual-Axis Charts

• Use the y-axis on the left side for the primary variable because brains naturally look left first.
• Use different graphing styles to illustrate the two data sets, as illustrated above.
• Choose contrasting colors for the two data sets.

3. Area Chart

An area chart is basically a line chart, but the space between the x-axis and the line is filled with a color or pattern. It is useful for showing part-to-whole relations, like showing individual sales reps’ contributions to total sales for a year. It helps you analyze both overall and individual trend information.

Best Use Cases for These Types of Charts

Area charts help show changes over time. They work best for big differences between data sets and help visualize big trends.

For example, the chart above shows users by creation date and life cycle stage.

A line chart could show more subscribers than marketing qualified leads. But this area chart emphasizes how much bigger the number of subscribers is than any other group.

These charts make the size of a group and how groups relate to each other more visually important than data changes over time.

Area graphs can help your business to:

• Visualize which product categories or products within a category are most popular.
• Show key performance indicator (KPI) goals vs. outcomes.
• Spot and analyze industry trends.

Design Best Practices for Area Charts

• Use transparent colors so information isn't obscured in the background.
• Don't display more than four categories to avoid clutter.
• Organize highly variable data at the top of the chart to make it easy to read.

4. Stacked Bar Chart

Use this chart to compare many different items and show the composition of each item you’re comparing.

These graphs are helpful when a group starts in one column and moves to another over time.

For example, the difference between a marketing qualified lead (MQL) and a sales qualified lead (SQL) is sometimes hard to see. The chart above helps stakeholders see these two lead types from a single point of view — when a lead changes from MQL to SQL.

Stacked bar charts are excellent for marketing. They make it simple to add a lot of data on a single chart or to make a point with limited space.

These graphs can show multiple takeaways, so they're also super for quarterly meetings when you have a lot to say but not a lot of time to say it.

Stacked bar charts are also a smart option for planning or strategy meetings. This is because these charts can show a lot of information at once, but they also make it easy to focus on one stack at a time or move data as needed.

You can also use these charts to:

• Show the frequency of survey responses.
• Identify outliers in historical data.
• Compare a part of a strategy to its performance as a whole.

Design Best Practices for Stacked Bar Graphs

• Best used to illustrate part-to-whole relationships.
• Use contrasting colors for greater clarity.
• Make the chart scale large enough to view group sizes in relation to one another.

5. Mekko Chart

Also known as a Marimekko chart, this type of graph can compare values, measure each one's composition, and show data distribution across each one.

It's similar to a stacked bar, except the Mekko's x-axis can capture another dimension of your values — instead of time progression, like column charts often do. In the graphic below, the x-axis compares the cities to one another.

Image Source

You can use a Mekko chart to show growth, market share, or competitor analysis.

For example, the Mekko chart above shows the market share of asset managers grouped by location and the value of their assets. This chart clarifies which firms manage the most assets in different areas.

It's also easy to see which asset managers are the largest and how they relate to each other.

Mekko charts can seem more complex than other types of charts and graphs, so it's best to use these in situations where you want to emphasize scale or differences between groups of data.

Other use cases for Mekko charts include:

• Detailed profit and loss statements.
• Revenue by brand and region.
• Product profitability.
• Share of voice by industry or niche.

Design Best Practices for Mekko Charts

• Vary your bar heights if the portion size is an important point of comparison.
• Don't include too many composite values within each bar. Consider reevaluating your presentation if you have a lot of data.
• Order your bars from left to right in such a way that exposes a relevant trend or message.

6. Pie Chart

A pie chart shows a static number and how categories represent part of a whole — the composition of something. A pie chart represents numbers in percentages, and the total sum of all segments needs to equal 100%.

The image above shows another example of customers by role in the company.

The bar graph example shows you that there are more individual contributors than any other role. But this pie chart makes it clear that they make up over 50% of customer roles.

Pie charts make it easy to see a section in relation to the whole, so they are good for showing:

• Customer personas in relation to all customers.
• Revenue from your most popular products or product types in relation to all product sales.
• Percent of total profit from different store locations.

Design Best Practices for Pie Charts

• Don't illustrate too many categories to ensure differentiation between slices.
• Ensure that the slice values add up to 100%.
• Order slices according to their size.

7. Scatter Plot Chart

A scatter plot or scattergram chart will show the relationship between two different variables or reveal distribution trends.

Use this chart when there are many different data points, and you want to highlight similarities in the data set. This is useful when looking for outliers or understanding your data's distribution.

Scatter plots are helpful in situations where you have too much data to see a pattern quickly. They are best when you use them to show relationships between two large data sets.

In the example above, this chart shows how customer happiness relates to the time it takes for them to get a response.

This type of graph makes it easy to compare two data sets. Use cases might include:

• Employment and manufacturing output.
• Retail sales and inflation.
• Visitor numbers and outdoor temperature.
• Sales growth and tax laws.

Try to choose two data sets that already have a positive or negative relationship. That said, this type of graph can also make it easier to see data that falls outside of normal patterns.

Design Best Practices for Scatter Plots

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

8. Bubble Chart

A bubble chart is similar to a scatter plot in that it can show distribution or relationship. There is a third data set shown by the size of the bubble or circle.

In the example above, the number of hours spent online isn't just compared to the user's age, as it would be on a scatter plot chart.

Instead, you can also see how the gender of the user impacts time spent online.

This makes bubble charts useful for seeing the rise or fall of trends over time. It also lets you add another option when you're trying to understand relationships between different segments or categories.

For example, if you want to launch a new product, this chart could help you quickly see your new product's cost, risk, and value. This can help you focus your energies on a low-risk new product with a high potential return.

You can also use bubble charts for:

• Top sales by month and location.
• Customer satisfaction surveys.
• Store performance tracking.
• Marketing campaign reviews.

Design Best Practices for Bubble Charts

• Scale bubbles according to area, not diameter.
• Make sure labels are clear and visible.
• Use circular shapes only.

9. Waterfall Chart

Use a waterfall chart to show how an initial value changes with intermediate values — either positive or negative — and results in a final value.

Use this chart to reveal the composition of a number. An example of this would be to showcase how different departments influence overall company revenue and lead to a specific profit number.

The most common use case for a funnel chart is the marketing or sales funnel. But there are many other ways to use this versatile chart.

If you have at least four stages of sequential data, this chart can help you easily see what inputs or outputs impact the final results.

For example, a funnel chart can help you see how to improve your buyer journey or shopping cart workflow. This is because it can help pinpoint major drop-off points.

Other stellar options for these types of charts include:

• Deal pipelines.
• Conversion and retention analysis.
• Bottlenecks in manufacturing and other multi-step processes.
• Marketing campaign performance.
• Website conversion tracking.

Design Best Practices for Funnel Charts

• Scale the size of each section to accurately reflect the size of the data set.
• Use contrasting colors or one color in graduated hues, from darkest to lightest, as the size of the funnel decreases.

11. Heat Map

A heat map shows the relationship between two items and provides rating information, such as high to low or poor to excellent. This chart displays the rating information using varying colors or saturation.

Best Use Cases for Heat Maps

In the example above, the darker the shade of green shows where the majority of people agree.

With enough data, heat maps can make a viewpoint that might seem subjective more concrete. This makes it easier for a business to act on customer sentiment.

There are many uses for these types of charts. In fact, many tech companies use heat map tools to gauge user experience for apps, online tools, and website design .

Another common use for heat map graphs is location assessment. If you're trying to find the right location for your new store, these maps can give you an idea of what the area is like in ways that a visit can't communicate.

Heat maps can also help with spotting patterns, so they're good for analyzing trends that change quickly, like ad conversions. They can also help with:

• Competitor research.
• Customer sentiment.
• Sales outreach.
• Campaign impact.
• Customer demographics.

Design Best Practices for Heat Map

• Use a basic and clear map outline to avoid distracting from the data.
• Use a single color in varying shades to show changes in data.
• Avoid using multiple patterns.

12. Gantt Chart

The Gantt chart is a horizontal chart that dates back to 1917. This chart maps the different tasks completed over a period of time.

Gantt charting is one of the most essential tools for project managers. It brings all the completed and uncompleted tasks into one place and tracks the progress of each.

While the left side of the chart displays all the tasks, the right side shows the progress and schedule for each of these tasks.

This chart type allows you to:

• Break projects into tasks.
• Track the start and end of the tasks.
• Set important events, meetings, and announcements.
• Assign tasks to the team and individuals.

Download the Excel templates mentioned in the video here.

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

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:

• Scatter plot

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:

• Stacked bar

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.

Use these charts to show distribution:

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

If you want more information about how a data set performed during a specific time, there are specific chart types that do extremely well.

You should choose one of the following:

• Dual-axis line

5. Do you want to better understand the relationship between value sets?

Relationship charts can show how one variable relates to one or many different variables. You could use this to show how something positively affects, has no effect, or negatively affects another variable.

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

Featured Resource: The Marketer's Guide to Data Visualization

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24 Essential Types of Charts for Data Visualization: Examples & Use Cases

19 min read

There are more types of charts and graphs than ever before. Graphs and charts are a great way to display statistics and visualize data points.

As we move deeper into the era of data, data visualization is even more important. It helps product managers motivate teams to action, impress stakeholders, and quickly derive actionable insights.

But as any data visualization expert will tell you, few things are as annoying as the wrong use of visualizations. This article explores 24 types of charts and graphs and how they are used.

• Funnel charts are excellent tools for visualizing how data flows through a funnel. It illustrates how sequential data progresses until the final step.
• The bar chart is a chart for numerical data that uses the length of bars to indicate the size of data points.
• Stacked bar graphs are modified bar charts that show the composition of each variable through the divisions on the bar.
• Dual-axis charts combine two different charts to show the relationship between data sets of different scales.
• Pie charts are circular graphs and charts divided into slices to represent the size of each component variable.
• Heatmaps use colors on a grid to represent large and complex numeric data.
• Flow charts illustrate how a process flows from its beginning to its end.
• The scatter plot shows the correlation between two numeric variables. It is also a great tool for finding outliers.
• The bubble chart is a modified scatter plot that demonstrates the relationship between three numerical variables.
• A bullet graph is a merger of a progress bar and a bar chart. It is used to compare actual data with a target value.
• A radar chart compares a minimum of three quantitative values using a series of radii. The length of the radii corresponds to the data value.
• Others include area charts, control charts, Pareto charts, treemaps, etc.

Funnel charts

A funnel chart is useful in business contexts for tracking how visitors or users flow through a pipeline. The chart shows a series of steps and tracks the completion rates for those steps.

The width of each part of the chart shows how many users make it to each stage relative to other stages. If you have two or more stages of sequential data, the funnel chart can help you see how each stage impacts the final result.

The most common use cases for funnel charts include:

• Conversion tracking and analysis.
• Measuring progression through sales and marketing funnels .
• Identifying bottlenecks in multi-step processes like manufacturing.
• Analyzing deal pipelines.

A practical example of a funnel chart usage

In this example, a funnel chart displays an onboarding or signup process . The chart helps you to see which steps have the most drop-offs in the process, enabling you to track the problem source easily.

The bar chart is one of the first types of charts you’ll learn about. This chart indicates values by the length of bars, with each bar corresponding to a measured group.

A bar chart can be oriented vertically or horizontally. The horizontal bar chart is ideal when you have a lot of data points and, as a result, a lot of bars to plot. It also gives you more space to write out bar labels.

Bar charts are excellent numeric comparison tools, with bar sizes revealing the relative difference in sizes. This visual comparison chart makes it easy to see which data group is the biggest or most common. Its use cases include:

• Comparing products or categories.
• Visualizing web traffic or product usage by month or year.
• Tracking marketing conversions , etc.

A practical example of a bar chart usage

As earlier noted, bar charts are great when comparing numeric values. In this example, the bar chart compares the number of standard, free, and enterprise invoices created over the last 7 days.

Stacked bar chart

The stacked bar chart is a modified bar chart with each bar divided into smaller bars. This division allows you to compare different items and show the composition of each item.

So, in addition to comparing primary groups like a regular bar chart, the stacked chart also illustrates the breakdown of each group’s constituent parts.

Stacked bar charts are useful for comparing more than one grouping of variables. This can be ideal, for example, when comparing sales distribution over time. Each bar can represent a period (say, a month) and be further segmented to show sales across different categories.

Other use cases include:

• Tracking website traffic and its composition.
• Comparing survey results .
• Analyzing event distribution over multiple platforms.

A practical example of a stacked bar chart usage

In this example, the stacked bar chart is used to compare how many users created a specific type of invoice each day for the last 7 days.

Dual-axis charts

Dual-axis charts are visualization tools that use two different axes to display the relationship between data series with potentially different scales or units of measurement.

Also known as combination charts, they overlay two different charts for easy comparison. This can be useful to compare two perspectives on the same chart, allowing for deeper insights.

The typical dual-axis chart combines a line chart with a bar chart. Some common use cases for this chart type include:

• Analyzing trends with different units.
• Highlighting correlation across scales.
• Identifying hidden patterns and outliers.

A practical example of a dual-axis chart usage

In this example, the dual-axis chart compares sales values and profit margins for each year – from 2016 to 2021. Here, we see that profit margins are unconnected to sales values, and they’ve declined since peaking in 2019.

One of the most popular types of charts, pie charts are circular charts that visualize a part-to-whole relationship. The complete chart is a pie, with each slice representing the portion of the pie occupied by a variable.

Each slice in the pie, therefore, represents a percentage of the pie, with the total sum of all slices adding up to 100%. This form of data representation, thus, makes it easy to see the relative size of each data point to the whole.

Typical use cases for pie charts include:

• Percentage of profit or sales from different channels .
• Number of users to perform one action versus another.
• Size of different customer personas versus the total number of customers, etc.

A practical example of a pie chart usage

This pie chart example illustrates the number of new signups who perform a key action. From the chart, you can easily see that more users tried to identify a user, with fewer users creating or saving a contract.

Heatmaps present data as a grid of values and are useful for showing variances between two items. Each data point on the heatmap is assigned a color based on its value.

Higher values are represented on the chart using hotter colors or saturation, while lower values are indicated with cooler colors. This gradient creates a visual hierarchy that instantly guides your eye to areas of concentration.

Heatmaps are ideal for complex information and large datasets. Thanks to how they represent data, they are great for comparison, trends, and correlations. Typical use cases include:

• Website or product analytics .
• Analysis of marketing campaign performance and impact.
• Product usability tests , etc.

A practical example of a heatmap usage

In this example, a product analyst uses a heatmap to visualize feature engagement across different user segments.

Flow charts

Flow charts are used to visualize workflows, depicting each step in the process and how they relate. It enables you to sequence a process step-by-step, from beginning to end, making analysis and documentation easy.

A simple flow chart can connect straight lines from point A through C. However, flow charts can also have multiple pathways and journeys, illustrating more complex sequences with multiple conditions and decisions.

The typical flow chart enjoys many organizational uses, including:

• Mapping out the customer journey from discovery to activation, retention, etc.
• Planning and documenting project flows in project management.
• Planning and auditing UX and UI flows and processes.

A practical example of a flow chart usage

This fairly simple flow chart illustrates the flow of a user from new signup to referrer. Given how referral programs work – with users bringing new users who bring others – it’s no surprise that the chart’s design is cyclical.

Scatter plots

Also known as scatter charts, scatter plots visualize the relationship between two numeric variables. It consists of two axes, each representing a data set, with points plotted using dots at the intersection of each axes.

A scatter plot shows the correlation between numeric variables – whether that correlation is linear or non-linear, strong or weak, positive or negative. It enables you to identify outliers and understand your data’s distribution easily.

The scatter plot is ideal when you have two numeric data sets and want to quickly see the pattern in the data or the relationship between both variables. This type of chart can be useful when comparing:

• Web traffic numbers with the number of new customers.
• Sales growth versus advertising spend.
• Trial users versus paid users, etc.

A practical example of a scatter chart usage

The scatter plot in this example shows the relationship between car prices and the car’s age. Very quickly, we notice this is a negative relationship, with prices dropping as the car’s age increases.

Bubble charts

Also known as a bubble plot, the bubble chart derives from a scatter plot. It is a chart that demonstrates the relationship between three numerical data points. It can also be modified for three numeric and one categorical variable.

Your typical scatter plot shows the distribution or relationship between two numeric variables. When a third numeric variable is added, the bubble chart builds on the base plot by having the third variable’s value determine the size of each point.

Bubble charts are great for visualizing trend lines over time. They’re also great for demonstrating the relationship between multiple variables. Some ideal use cases include:

• Analyzing product usage and feature adoption patterns.
• Tracking campaign performance metrics such as clicks, conversions, and impressions to visualize their impact on investments.
• Analyzing team performances. For example, you could compare sales reps based on their close rate, pipeline value, and deal size.

A practical example of a bubble chart usage

The bubble chart below demonstrates how many hours each age group spends online. The bubble colors are a factor of the gender of the group, and bubble sizes are affected by their engagement level while online.

Bullet charts/Bullet Graphs

The bullet chart is a compact and visually compelling tool used to present data comparisons within a single chart or metric. This type of chart is like a progress bar fused into a bar/column chart.

How the chart works is fairly simple. An external bar shows the values from the desired metric, maxing out at a target value. Then, an inner “bullet” bar shows the actual value.

A bullet chart is an excellent tool for comparing performance against goals. It’s ideal for visualizing KPIs (such as revenues, profits, etc.) against their goals/targets. It’s also great for:

• Comparing product usage data year-over-year.
• Analyzing actual customer satisfaction scores versus target values.
• Analyzing year-over-year customer shopping habits, etc.

A practical example of a bullet chart usage

In the above example, the bullet graph compares the target revenue (120k) versus the actual revenue (82k) for the previous month.

Radar charts

Also known as a spider chart, star chart, or web chart, the radar chart compares a minimum of three quantitative variables. The chart consists of a series of radii, each representing a different category, splayed out from a center point.

Data points are plotted along their corresponding axes, forming a polygon. The closer a data point is to the outermost circle, the higher its value. This visual representation enables quick comparison across metrics.

The radar chart type can be useful when:

• Comparing marketing campaign performances across metrics like impressions, clicks , conversions , cost per acquisition , etc.
• Measuring feature impact using metrics like user adoption, revenue growth, and customer satisfaction.

A practical example of a radar chart usage

In this example, a radar chart is used to compare three products across six quantitative data points (price, usability, quality, advertising, etc.).

Area charts

Area charts and graphs begin with the same foundation as line charts. Data points are plotted using dots, with a line connecting each point. The only difference is that the space between the x-axis and the line is shaded.

The shading on the area chart makes it easy to visualize changes in volume over time. Thus, rather than focus on specific values, it shows the general changes that occur over a period.

A practical example of an area chart usage

In this example, the area chart visualizes the page views of a segment of users over the last 7 days.

Stacked area charts

The stacked area chart is a combination of multiple area charts (multiple data series) on the same graph. It is particularly designed as a comparison chart and is useful for showing part-to-whole relations.

Stacked area charts are comparison tools for multiple data sets (or series) over time. Some use cases include:

• Comparing products or product categories’ performances over time.
• Visualizing the outcome vs. goals of key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Comparing overall trends in the industry, etc.

A practical example of a stacked area chart usage

The stacked area chart below visualizes the number of user actions (page views, invoice creation, and project creation) over 7 days.

Column charts

Column charts are very similar in style to bar charts. Also known as the grouped bar chart, you can think of these types of charts as bar charts in columns.

Each group contains color-coded bars for different categories or items, with each category making an appearance for each data point. Columns for each data point are separated using spacing.

Column charts are ideal when comparing multiple series, as opposed to a bar chart which represents data from one series only. Example use cases include:

• Comparing average order value for different customer segments .
• Charting the number of active users or feature adoption rates for different features, etc.

A practical example of a column chart usage

In the example below, the column chart shows the evolution of a company’s sales volume over an 8-month period. You can easily see that sales peaked in April 2015 and were lowest in November 2014.

Gantt charts

Gantt charts are visual project management tools that help you plan, track, and coordinate tasks over time. They bring all completed and uncompleted tasks into one place.

The left side of the chart displays all tasks, while the right side represents the project timeline (in days, weeks, or months). In addition to schedules and timelines, the chart also highlights dependencies and milestones.

Gantt charts are great tools for analyzing, planning, and monitoring projects. This makes it excellent for:

• Planning and tracking product development tasks and timelines.
• Tracking leads in a sales process, etc.

A practical example of a Gantt chart usage

The Gantt chart below was designed for the project planning phase. Using color codes, it identifies who is in charge of each task. Other graphics also identify different milestones and their expected completion dates.

Line charts

A line chart or a line graph is one of the best types of charts for visualizing data trends over time. Amongst the oldest charts and graphs out there, they are versatile, simple, and easy to use.

The chart typically has a numeric variable on the vertical axis and a timeline on the horizontal axis (in days, weeks, months, etc.). The intersection of both values is plotted with a dot, and all dots are connected by a line.

Line charts are ideal for visualizing trend lines over a period. They make it easy to see positive spikes and negative downturns. Some of its use cases include:

• Comparing sales prices over time.
• Visualizing trends in customer acquisition over a period.
• Measuring the performance of your service channels over time, etc.

A practical example of a line graph usage

The chart below combines two line graphs for comparison purposes. It compares the number of users who started onboarding versus the number who completed it in the last 180 days.

Sunburst charts

The sunburst chart is a type of multi-level pie chart used to illustrate hierarchical data. It consists of a series of concentric outward rings, with each ring corresponding to a different hierarchical category.

Each outer ring represents a higher hierarchy and is sliced up according to its relationship to the inner (parent) circle. Although the sunburst chart is often a better alternative to treemaps, it typically takes up a lot more space.

The sunburst chart is ideal for illustrating hierarchical data, such as an organizational chart, or creating a sort of historical hierarchy by breaking down data by periods.

For example, branches of an organization can be represented by designated colors, with different levels showing divisions in the organization and taking on the parent color.

A practical example of a sunburst chart usage

The sunburst chart in this example breaks down a store’s sales of mobile devices. It starts from the total sales, moves out to sales by brand, and ends at sales by device models.

Waterfall charts

A waterfall chart is a special chart type for showing how an initial value changes over time. It records all intermediate changes, whether positive or negative, as well as the final value.

By providing the story beyond the starting and ending points, the waterfall chart makes it easy to understand how different factors impact your data.

This type of chart is useful for understanding the progression of numbers. This makes it ideal in financial sectors, human resources, and customer analysis. Some use cases include:

• Visualizing positive and negative changes in customer churn over a period.
• Illustrating changes in free trial, new, or current users over time.
• Visualizing changes in revenue or profit over time, etc.

A practical example of a waterfall chart usage

The waterfall chart below illustrates a product’s financial performance over a financial year. Here, we notice every revenue and expense that impacts its growth positively or negatively in the lead-up to the reported growth for financial year 13.

Treemap chart

Much like sunburst charts, treemap charts are ideal for hierarchical data. They use nested rectangles of varying sizes and colors to represent data points within a defined hierarchy.

Categories in a treemap can be subdivided into smaller rectangles if the data contains subcategories. This makes them a great tool for visualizing relationships, both within and between categories.

The treemap chart is a major upgrade on the regular bar chart as it easily visualizes which items (products, features, functionalities, etc.) contribute the most to an overall value/goal.

For example, you can use a treemap chart to visualize feature engagement levels. Each rectangle represents a feature (e.g. file sharing, task management, etc.), with its size reflecting the feature’s usage share.

Other sample use cases include:

• Analyzing user behavior and feature preferences across different customer segments to tailor your offerings.
• Uncovering unexpected relationships between feature/product categories.
• Comparing product performances (revenue, sales, adoption, etc.) to identify similarities or anomalies within and between different categories.

A practical example of a treemap chart usage

The detailed treemap chart below shows the sales volume for different product categories and sub-categories for a company that sells bikes and bike gears.

There are four main categories – bikes, components, clothing, and accessories, each sub-divided into smaller product categories for easy comparison.

Mekko charts

Also known as the Marimekko chart, the Mekko chart is a powerful visualization tool for dissecting data and representing part-to-whole relationships.

Mekko charts resemble treemap charts but work like stacked bar graphs. Like the treemap, it begins with a large rectangle divided into groups and sub-groups according to size.

However, these groups are organized side-by-side, with each group sub-divided proportionally based on their sub-categories. Unlike stacked bar graphs, though, Mekko’s x-axis isn’t limited to comparing time progression.

Although it is a rarely used chart type, the Mekko is ideal for situations where you want to emphasize scale differences between data groups. For example, you could use the chart to:

• Track the composition of leads generated by different channels (paid, organic, referral, etc.) and their conversion rates .
• Analyze feature adoption rates for different features across customer segments to reveal product-market fit variations.
• Visualize the progression of users through different user journey stages to identify drop-off points and areas for improvement, etc.

A practical example of a Mekko chart usage

The Mekko chart below illustrates the market share of different smartphone operating systems and the age composition for each. A glance at the chart reveals that Android, Apple, and BlackBerry enjoyed the majority (and similar) market shares at the time of publishing.

Hierarchy diagrams

Hierarchy diagrams are similar in appearance to flow charts. Also known as an organizational chart or organigram, this chart type illustrates the structure of an organization and the relationships within it.

Hierarchy diagrams excel at visually depicting relationships within a system or organization, revealing the order and flow of information. It usually consists of shapes that represent individual elements and clear connection lines depicting relationships and hierarchical flow.

Common use cases for hierarchy diagrams include:

• Depicting organizational structure, relationships, roles, and responsibilities.
• Visualizing the architecture and flow of features and functionalities within a product.
• Mapping out user access levels and permissions to ensure data security and control, etc.

A practical example of a hierarchy diagram usage

Below is an example of a simple hierarchy diagram depicting roles and communication lines for a new project. There is an overall project manager and three teams, each with a head and two members.

Pareto charts

A Pareto chart is designed to reveal the most important information among many. Also known as the 80/20 chart, it provides a visual representation of the Pareto principle: 20% of causes influence 80% of outcomes.

To do this, it combines a bar graph with a line graph to illustrate the individual values of each category and the cumulative value of the entire total.

The bars on the chart reveal the value of each item, ranked in descending order of value. Meanwhile, the cumulative line graph shows the percentage of the total value added by each bar.

Pareto charts highlight the top contributors to an outcome, making it easy to identify priority areas. Some sample use cases include:

• Analyzing traffic sources for a SaaS website or product to find the top 20%.
• Identifying the 20% of customer care issues that generate the most support tickets.
• Determining the 20% of product features used by 80% of users to guide future resource allocation and development plans, etc.

A practical example of a Pareto chart usage

In this chart, a company tries to determine the top 20% of defects affecting food products. The visualization makes it easy to see that the first three problems account for over 80% of food defects.

Control charts

A control chart compares a data set to a predetermined “control” set. Also known as a process behavior chart, it excels at visualizing process performance over time, enabling you to detect variations promptly.

Control charts typically display a central line representing an average or expected value. There may also be upper and lower control limits to define expected boundaries for normal data.

Points outside of these boundaries, therefore, are identified as outliers and marked for further investigation.

There are many different types of control charts, each designed for a specialized purpose. Depending on your choice of control chart, sample use cases may include:

• Tracking average ticket resolution times to identify outliers that may indicate bottlenecks.
• Tracking the frequency of software errors to identify patterns and unmask underlying issues.
• Monitoring churn rates to identify spikes in subscription cancellation and take remedial action, etc.

A practical example of a control chart usage

In this example, a control chart is used to track NPS history and compare it to prior trends, enabling you to easily identify progress or setbacks.

Stock charts

Stock charts are visual representations of a stock’s price movement over time. These charts are popular in the financial market and are used by traders and investors to analyze trends, identify opportunities, and make decisions.

The typical stock chart is an adaptation of the line graph into a histogram. Each line tracks the changes in a stock’s price, and multiple lines can be layered over themselves to compare multiple stock performances.

Stock charts are hyperspecific to the financial market. Use cases include:

• Portfolio management.
• Trading signals and algorithms.
• Investment research and analysis, etc.

A practical example of a stock chart usage

The stock chart below tracks the performance of the $NYAD index, an excellent tool for assessing the overall health of the market.

When to use each type of charts and graphs?

Knowing the different types of charts and graphs is only the first step. To succeed with data visualization, you must also know how to choose the right chart for your data.

What follows is a good rule of thumb that can help you make that decision.

• Comparison charts : The column , mekko , bar , pie , line , scatter , and bullet charts are ideal if you want a visualization that helps you compare data points and value sets.
• Part-to-whole charts : These charts help you visualize the parts of a larger item. They include the pie, stacked bar, waterfall, area, stacked area charts, etc.
• Distribution charts : These charts help you to visualize the distribution of your data and identify outliers. They include the scatter plot, Mekko, line, column, and bar charts, among others.
• Trend Analysis : Graphs and charts like the line , dual-axis , and column charts help you easily determine how a data set performed at a specific time.
• Relationship charts : Charts such as the bubble chart and scatter plot are ideal when you want to show how one variable relates to one or more variables.

There are many more charts and graphs not mentioned in this piece. However, all of the most popular types of charts and some not-so-popular but very useful ones have all been captured.

Thankfully, with Userpilot, you don’t have to think too hard for the best chart for visualizing your product data. Once connected, Userpilot does the rest. To get started, book a demo today !

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Discover 20 Essential Types Of Graphs And Charts And When To Use Them

Table of Contents

1) What Are Graphs And Charts?

2) Charts And Graphs Categories

3) 20 Different Types Of Graphs And Charts

4) How To Choose The Right Chart Type

Data and statistics are all around us. It is very likely that you have found yourself looking at a chart or graph at work, in the news, sports, media, advertising, and many other places at some point in your life. That is because graphical representations of data make it easier to convey important information to different audiences. That said, there is still a lack of charting literacy due to the wide range of visuals available to us and the misuse of statistics . In many cases, even the chart designers are not picking the right visuals to convey the information in the correct way. 

So, how do you make sure you are using and understanding graphs and charts in the right way? In this post, we will provide you with the necessary knowledge to recognize the top 20 most commonly used types of charts and graphs and give insights into when and how to use them correctly. Each type of chart will have a visual example generated with datapine’s professional dashboard software . 

This knowledge will be valuable if you are a data visualization designer, a business user looking to incorporate visual analytics into his/her work, or just an average viewer looking to learn more about the topic. Let’s start this journey by looking at a definition. 

What Are Graphs And Charts?

A graph or chart is a graphical representation of qualitative or quantitative data. It uses different symbols such as bars, lines, columns, tables, box plots, maps, and more, to give meaning to the information, making it easier to understand than raw data. 

As you probably already know, multiple kinds of graphs and charts are widely used in various fields and industries such as business decision-making or research studies. These visual tools are used to find relationships between different data sets and extract valuable conclusions from them. In some cases, they are built by hand, and in others, most commonly, they are built using visualization tools. 

That said, the type of chart or graph you use will vary depending on the aim of the analysis. For instance, percentages are better viewed through a pie or bar chart while data that is changing over time is better viewed over a line chart. For that reason, it is important to have a clear understanding of the different chart types to make sure you are using the right one. 

Below we will discuss the graph and chart categories. These categories will build a solid foundation that will help you pick the right visual for your analytical aims. Let’s dive into them. 

Charts And Graphs Categories

As mentioned, asking the right questions will form the foundations for choosing the right types of visualization graphs for your project, strategy, or business goals. The fundamental categories that differentiate these questions are based on:

• Relationship : Understanding connections between different data points can significantly help discover new relevant insights. For instance, in the medical field, analyzing relationships between diseases and gene interactions can help discover a treatment for a particular disease. When it comes to visuals, a few graphics can help you easily identify and represent relationships. Scatter plots are valuable when you want to represent smaller data sets of two variables while bubble graphs are best for larger information with three or more variables. 
• Distribution: In statistics, distribution refers to the possibility of the occurrence of an outcome. To understand this, scientists and analysts use charts to represent the frequency distribution of the data and extract conclusions from it. For this purpose, they use line charts to analyze trends, scatter plots to highlight similarities across variables, and histograms to see the frequency distribution of a single variable across categories. 
• Composition : The purpose of business graphs and charts for composition is to compare parts to a whole in absolute numbers and normalized forms, usually a percentage. It is one of the most common and traditionally used visualization categories and it is usually limited by the simplicity of the chart types. Common composition graphs include pies, tree maps, and stacked bar charts. 
• Comparison: As its name suggests, this category refers to the comparison of multiple variables or multiple categories within a single variable. When comparing information it is fundamental to pick a chart that will make it easier to understand the differences. These differences can be within multiple elements, for example, top-selling products, or over time, such as the development of sales for different products over a year. For this purpose, tables, spiders, lines, columns, or area graphs are always a good choice.

To get a clearer impression, here is a visual overview of which chart to select based on what kind of data you need to show:

**click to enlarge**

Discover 20 Different Types Of Graphs And Charts

Now that you understand the key charting categories you are ready to dive into the main types of graphs and when to use them. Here, we will focus on the 20 most common types of visuals to represent your data in the most meaningful way possible. Each chart type has a visual example generated with datapine .

1) Number Chart

When to use 

A real-time number chart is essentially a ticker that will give you an immediate overview of a particular KPI . At a glance, you can see any total such as sales, percentage of evolution, number of visitors, etc. This is probably the easiest visualization type to build with the only consideration being the period you want to track. Do you want to show an entire history or simply the latest quarter? It is crucial to label the period clearly so your audience understands what story you are telling. Adding a trend indicator compares your number to the previous period (or to a fixed goal, depending on what you are tracking).

Other considerations

Number charts are often the first thing people see and are the quickest to read, so if there are too many, your narrative can get diluted. Using too many can also make your dashboard a little superficial. If you want more in-depth information, limit the number of number graphs and leave room for other types of data visualization that drill down a little deeper.

When you add a trend indicator, we suggest you compare numbers from the same period. For example, if you are tracking total sales for the current quarter, compare that data to the same quarter last year (or last period – depending on your story). If you select a target manually (perhaps you have no accurate past data), be sure to set realistic goals to be able to get on top of your KPI management practice. Again, remember to label the trend indicator clearly so your audience knows exactly what they are looking at.

2) Line Chart

The purpose of a line chart is to show trends, accelerations (or decelerations), and volatility. They display relationships in how data changes over a period of time. In our example above, we are showing Revenue by Payment Method for all of 2019 . Right away, you can see that the credit card payments were the highest and that everything took a dip in September. The takeaways are quick to register yet have depth.

Too many lines (variables) can make your chart complicated and hard to decipher. You may also find your audience constantly referencing the legend to remind them which one they are looking at. If you have too many variables, it’s time to consider a second (or even third) chart to tell this story.

When it comes to layout, keep your numbers relevant. When you set up your axis scale, keep it close to the highest data point. For example, if we had set the y-axis above to track all the way to 200K (when our highest data point is just over 90K), our chart would have been squished and hard to read. The top half would have been wasted space, and the data crammed. Let your data breathe a little!

One more thing!

A great feature of line graphs is that you can combine them with other types of visualizations, such as bar graphs. Using a double y-axis, one for the bar graph and one for the line, allows you to show two elements of your story in one graph. The primary y-axis below shows orders (bar graph), and the secondary y-axis is sales totals (line). The metrics are different and useful independently, but together, they tell a compelling story.

Maps are great at visualizing your geographic data by location. The information on a map is often displayed in a colored area map (like above) or a bubble map. Because maps are so effective at telling a story, they are used by governments, media, NGOs, nonprofits, public health departments – the list goes on. Maps aren’t just for displaying data; they also direct action. This was seen most recently through the Zika outbreak. Mapping the spread of the disease has helped health officials track it and effectively distribute resources where they are most needed.

Even if you aren’t saving the world from Zika, maps can help! For example, they are great at comparing your organization’s sales in different regions.

Everyone loves maps. However, that doesn’t mean you always need to display one. If the location isn’t a necessary part of your analytics story, you don’t need a map. They take up a lot of room, so only use them when necessary. Also, don’t just fill your maps with data points. Clickhole did a good job of satirizing this common data visualization type by placing 700 red dots on a map. Filling your map with data points doesn’t tell a compelling story; it just overwhelms the audience.

4) Waterfall Chart

This extremely useful chart depicts the power of visualizing data in a static, yet informative manner. It shows the composition of data over a set time period, illustrating the positive or negative values that help in understanding the overall cumulative effect. The decrements and increments can cause the cumulative to fall below or above the axis at various points, causing a clear overview of how the initial value is affected. It is often used in financial departments for analytical purposes, usually depicting the changes in revenue or profit. For example, your MRR ( monthly recurring revenue ), new revenue, upsell, lost, and current revenue. In our example above, we can conclude that our current revenue increased in our set time period.

Waterfall charts are static in their presentation so if you need to show dynamic data sets, then stacked graphs would be a better choice. Also, showing the relationship between selected multiple variables is not optimal for waterfall charts (also known as Cascade charts), as bubble plots or scatter plots would be a more effective solution.

5) Bar Graphs

There are three key types of bar graphs that we will cover in this section: Horizontal, Grouped and Stacked. Although all are in the same chart family, each serves a distinct purpose. Let’s discuss each of them in detail below. 

a) Horizontal Bar Graphs

Horizontal charts are perfect for comparative ranking, like a top-five list. They are also useful if your data labels are really long or complex. Keep them in an order that makes sense, though. Either list by value (like we did above) or, if that’s not the strength, choose a logic for the labels that makes sense, like listing them alphabetically.

Because time is best expressed left to right, it’s better to leave showing an evolution for the column chart. Also, like many charts, when you have too many values, a horizontal bar graph quickly becomes cluttered.

b) Grouped bar graph

When to Use 

Grouped bar charts follow the same logic as horizontal bars, except that they show values for two variables instead of one. The two variables are often displayed in disparate colors to help differentiate them from each other. It is recommended to use this chart type when you want to compare elements within a specific category or across other categories on the chart. For instance, in our example generated with a customer service analytics tool, we can see customer service tickets by channel divided between the total and solved ones. In this case, the grouped chart can help compare the values between the total and unsolved tickets as well as compare the number of solved tickets across channels and extract conclusions.  

Just like with the horizontal one, you need to be careful not to add too many categories into this graph type as they can make it look cluttered. The chart becomes difficult to read with the increase in categories, therefore, it is not the best when it comes to relationship or distribution analysis. 

c) Stacked bar chart

When to Use

A stacked bar chart is a variation of the traditional bar graph but, instead of dealing with one categorical variable, it deals with two or more. Each bar is divided into multiple subcategories that are compared with each other usually using a percentage. In the example above, the chart is comparing management and non-management positions (first categorical variable) that are being occupied by female and diverse employees vs male employees (second categorical variable). This allows the users of the bar to not only focus on the comparisons between the bars themselves but also extract conclusions based on the subcategories from each individual bar. 

When building a successful stacked bar graph it is important to carefully decide which of the two categorical variables will be the primary one. The primary one is the most important one and it will define the overall bar lengths. The secondary one will define the subcategories. Usually, if you are dealing with time ranges or numerical values, these make the best primary variables. However, it will vary from case to case. 

6) Column Graphs

When to use

Column charts are the standard for showing chronological data, such as growth over specific periods, and for comparing data across categories  (you can see this in the example where the accounts payable turnover is being compared based on date ranges). In general, for these kinds of charts, the categories are typically displayed on the horizontal axis while the numerical values are displayed vertically using rectangular columns. The size of the columns is proportional to the values displayed on the chart and their height allows people to easily extract conclusions at a glance. Unlike the bar chart which can display larger or more complex datasets, the column chart has a size limitation making it best to display smaller data. This makes it the go-to visualization for anyone looking for an easy and understandable way to display their information. 

Aside from the obvious design mistakes like using too many colors or too many categories, other things you want to make sure of are: if there is no natural order for the data (e.g. age categories or time ranges), it is recommended to order the values from higher to lowest or lowest to highest. Additionally, the y-axis should always start at 0, otherwise, the height of the columns can become misleading.  

c) Grouped column chart 

Just like the grouped bar chart, the grouped column chart compares two categorical variables instead of one using vertical columns instead of horizontal bars. The purpose of this graph is to see how the subcategories from the secondary variable change within each subcategory of the primary variable. Comparisons can be done within-group or between groups depending on the aim of the analysis.  In our sales data analysis example, Amount of Sales per Channel and Country (last year) , it is clear that we are comparing six regions and five channels. The color coding keeps the audience clued into which region we are referencing, and the proper spacing shows the channels (good design is at the heart of it all!). At a glance, you can see that SEM was the highest-earning channel, and with a little effort, the Netherlands stands out as the region that likely enjoyed the highest sales.

An important consideration when it comes to this graphic is to not use it to compare totals within the different levels of the categorical values. For this purpose, it is better to use a stacked column chart which we will discuss below.  

b) Stacked Column Chart

Stacked charts handle part-to-whole relationships. This is when you are comparing data to itself rather than seeing a total – often in the form of percentages. In the example above, the story isn’t about the total number of customers aged 15-25, but that 22% of the customers were 15-25 in the first quarter of 2014 (and 26% in Q4). The numbers we are working with are relative only to our total.

When showing single part-to-whole relationships, pie charts are the simplest way to go. Twenty-two percent of our customers are 15-25, leaving the other 78% to fit into the pie somehow. People get pie charts. They’re easy. But what if we want to show the same information over different periods? This would be a multiple part-to-whole relationship, and for this, we use a stacked bar graph. Again, we are telling the story of the percentage of customers in a certain age range, per quarter . The total number of each isn’t relevant here (although that information is used in the calculations). With proper spacing, we see each quarter clearly, and the color coding shows that overall, 46-55-year-olds are the most difficult customers to attract.

Aesthetically speaking, when you have too much data, columns become very thin and ugly. This also leaves little room to properly label your chart. Imagine we had 10 different age ranges per column. Some results, if not most, would be only slivers. To make your chart easy to understand, use good colors, proper spacing, and a balanced layout. This invites people to look at your chart and even enjoy it. A pretty chart is a much nicer way to consume data than squinting at a table.

7) Pie Charts

The much-maligned pie chart has had a bad couple of years. In fact, it has become pretty cliché to talk about how bad pie charts are. We understand the pie chart doesn’t do a lot, but it does do some things quite well. Pie charts are useful when demonstrating the proportional composition of a particular variable over a static timeframe. Let’s look at some particular cases:

• When the parts add up to 100%: The “part-to-whole relationship” is built right into it a pie chart in an obvious way. At a glance, any user knows a pie chart is splitting a population into parts and that the total of those parts equals 100%.
• When approximating is okay: The pie chart is particularly effective when eyeballing values are enough to get the conversation going. Also, it’s easier to estimate the percentage value of a pie chart compared to, let’s say, a bar chart. That’s because pies have an invisible scale with 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% built-in at four points of the circle. Our eyes can easily decipher these proportions, driving the conversation about what variables do and don’t take up most of the pie. Your audience doesn’t have to guess the proportions – you can easily add data labels or build the sister of the pie chart, the donut chart, to display additional information.
• When there aren’t many proportions to the variable or they are combined: Pie charts are great when answering questions like, “What two largest suppliers control 65% of the market?”

Your audience isn’t always going to be comprised of data scientists. Accordingly, your presentation should be tailored to your particular audience. This brings us to another pie chart strength: people are familiar with pie charts. Any audience member will feel comfortable interpreting what the pie chart is presenting. As a bonus, circles generate more positive emotions: our brains like to look at circles over sharp corners. In the end, a pie chart simplifies the data story and encourages the audience.

Data visualization guru Edward Tufte famously declared that “pie charts are bad, and the only thing worse than one pie chart is lots of them.” We already talked about the pros of pie charts and why we don’t adhere to this strict no-pie-chart philosophy. We should also state that there are plenty of instances where you should not use a pie chart. First off, pie charts portray a stagnate time frame, so trending data is off the table with this visualization method. Make sure your audience understands the timeframe portrayed and try to document or label this applied filter somewhere.

Pie charts are also not the best types of data charts to make precise comparisons. This is especially true when there are multiple small pieces to the pie. If you need to see that one slice is 1% larger than another, it’s better to go with a bar chart. Another thing about multiple pieces to your pie – you don’t want too many. Pie charts are most effective when just displaying two portions. They lose presentation value after six segments. After six, it is hard for the eyes to decipher the slice's proportion. It also becomes difficult to label the pie chart, and valuable online dashboard /reporting real estate is often wasted in the process.

This brings us to the last issue: circles take up space. If you are using multiple pie charts in a dashboard, it is probably best to combine the data in one chart. We recommend checking out the stacked bar chart for these cases. You can also have a look at the different pie charts that are commonly used and explore the disadvantages of pie charts .

8) Gauge Charts

Gauge charts , also known as dial charts or speedometer charts, use needles and colors to show data similar to reading on a dial/speedometer, and they provide an easily digested visual. They are great for displaying a single value/measure within a quantitative context, such as to the previous period or to a target value. The gauge chart is often used in executive dashboards and reports to display progress against key business indicators. All you need to do is assign minimum and maximum values and define a color range, and the gauge chart will display an immediate trend indication.

Gauge charts are great for KPIs and single data points. After that, they can get a bit messy. With only one data point, you can’t easily compare different variables. You also can’t trend data using gauge charts. All of this makes taking actionable insight from a gauge chart difficult. Furthermore, they take up a lot of space – if your live dashboard has precious real estate, it may not be most efficient to fill it with multiple gauge charts. Using one chart to summarize multiple KPIs, you will likely get more bang for your buck.

9) Scatter Plot

Scatter plot is not only fun to say – it’s what you need when looking for the correlation in a large data set. The data sets need to be in pairs with a dependent variable and an independent variable. The dependent (the one the other relies on) becomes the y-axis, and the independent – the x-axis. When the data is distributed on the plot, the results show the correlation to be positive, negative (each to varying degrees), or nonexistent. Adding a trend line will help show the correlation and how statistically significant it is.

Scatter plots only work when you have a lot of data points and a correlation. If you are only talking about a few pieces of information, a scatter plot will be empty and pointless. The value comes through only when there are enough data points to see clear results. If you only have a little data or if your scatter plot shows no correlation at all, this chart has no place on your business dashboard. 

10) Spider Chart

Spider charts, or radar charts, are comparative charts used when multivariate data is displayed with three or more quantitative variables (aspects). This is useful when you want to evaluate two or more “things” using more than three aspects, all of which are similarly quantifiable. It’s certainly a mouthful, but it’s simple when you put it into use. Spider charts are great for rankings, appraisals, and reviews. For example, the three “things” we are comparing in our e-commerce example above are regions: Australia, Europe, and North America. The aspects we are comparing against are products sold are Cameras, TVs, Cell Phones, Games, and Computers. Each variable is being compared by how many units were sold – between 0 and 500. Europe is clearly outselling in all areas, and Australia is particularly weak in Cameras and Cell Phones. The concentration of strengths and weaknesses is evident at a glance.

This is not the easiest data analysis chart to pull off, but it really impresses when done correctly. Using this chart if you have more than five values in your dimension (five “things” to evaluate) makes it hard to read, which can make it pointless altogether. Whether you use solid lines or shaded areas, too many layers are difficult to interpret. Naturally, it is not a choice when you want to show time (the whole circular thing...).

We know – tables aren’t technically a graph. But sometimes, you really just need a table to portray your data in its raw format. With a table, you can display a large number of precise measures and dimensions. You can easily look up or compare individual values while also displaying grand totals. This is particularly beneficial when your audience needs to know the underlying data or get into the “weeds.” Tables are also effective if you have a diverse audience where each person wants to look at their own piece of the table. They are also great at portraying a lot of text or string values.

Remember – just because you are using a table doesn’t mean it can’t be visually pleasing. You can use various colors, border styles, font types, number formats, and icons to highlight and present your data effectively.

There are many reasons to use a table, but there are also many instances where different types of charts are a better choice. It all comes down to our eyes and brain. Tables interact primarily with the verbal system – we read tables. This reading includes processing the displayed information in a sequential fashion. Users read down columns or across rows of numbers, comparing one number to another. The keywords here are reading, processing, and time. Tables take longer to digest.

Graphs, on the other hand, are perceived by our visual system. They give numbers shape and form and tell a data story. They can present an immense amount of data quickly and in an easy-to-consume fashion. If data visualization is needed to identify patterns and relationships, a table is not the best choice. Also, while it is fun to get creative with colors, formatting, and icons, make sure your formatting and presentation choices are increasing your perception. The tables are hard enough to read as is!

12) Area Charts

The area chart is closely related to the line chart. Both chart types depict a time-series relationship, show continuity across a dataset, and are good for seeing trends rather than individual values. That said, there are some key differences between the two. Because of these differences, “when to use area charts” does not equal “when to use line charts.”

Line charts connect discrete but continuous data points through straight line segments. This makes them effective for facilitating trend analyses. Area charts technically do the same, except that the area below the plotted lines is filled with color. In this case, an un-stacked area chart is the same thing as a line chart – just with more coloring. The problem you run into here is occlusion: when you start comparing multiple variables/categories in an unstacked area chart, the upper layers obscure the lower layers. You can play around with transparency, but after three variables, un-stacked area charts are hard to read.

This brings us to the most commonly used area chart: the stacked area chart. Like stacked bar charts, stacked area charts portray a part-to-whole relationship. The total vertical of a stacked area chart shows the whole, while the height of each different dataset shows the parts. For example, a stacked area chart can show the sales trends for each region and the total sales trend. There are two different stacked area chart types you can use to portray the part-to-whole relationship.

Traditional Stacked Area Chart: The raw values are stacked, showing how the whole changes over time.

Stacked Percentage Area Chart: Percentages are stacked to show how the relationship between the different parts changes over time. This is best used to show the distribution of categories as parts of a whole where the cumulative total is less important.

As we hinted earlier, for the most part, you should stay away from un-stacked area charts. If you are just comparing 2-3 different variables that don’t obscure each other, then go ahead. But in general, they are often messy and don’t follow data visualization and dashboard design best practices . When it comes to stacked area charts, don’t use them when you don’t need to portray a part-to-whole relationship – use a line graph instead. Also, if you are trying to compare 7+ series, a stacked area graph becomes hard to read. In this case, you should once again turn to the line graph.

13) Bubble Plots

Bubble charts, or bubble graphs, are among the best types of data graphs for comparing several values or sets of data at a glance. If you’re looking to show the relationship between different product categories, revenue streams, investment risks, costs, or anything similar, bubble charts or plots are incredibly effective.

For instance, our example bubble plot showcases the relationship between a mix of retail product categories, primarily the number of orders and profit margin.

Here, you can tell that the TV & Home Theater product category has the highest number of orders (around 3,000 as you can see from the number scale on the left) as well as the highest profit margin, and therefore, it is the biggest bubble on the chart. Comparatively, the camera category shows the lowest number of orders in addition to the smallest profit margin and naturally is the smallest bubble on the chart.

The bubble plot is extremely powerful for visualizing two or more variables with multiple dimensions. And here, the bigger the bubble, the higher the profit margin. Not only are bubble plots visually stimulating, but they are also incredibly effective when building a comparative narrative for a specific audience.

It's difficult to go too far wrong with bubble charts, but the most common mistake with these types of business charts is focusing on varying the “radius” of the values rather than the “area” they take up on the chart. Doing so sometimes makes the bubbles on the plot disproportionate to the graph, making the information misleading at a glance. In short, your bubbles should be accurate in terms of size compared to the values. Get this right, and you’ll get the results you deserve. 

14) Boxplot 

Just like the histogram, the box plot is a graph that is used to represent the distribution of numeric data using boxes and lines. Each box is composed of five elements also known as the “Five-number summary” which are the minimum, first quartile, median (second quartile), third quartile, and maximum. Each of these elements represents a value and how it is distributed within the data set. Anything outside these values would be considered an outlier. An outlier is any value that is extremely high or extremely low compared to the nearest data point. Outliers (which are usually plotted as dots in the chart) need to be identified because they can affect the end result of the analysis and box plots are the best visuals to do so.  

Just like other types of charts on this list, box plots are not the best choice when it comes to big data sets. Their visual simplicity makes it hard to see details about the distribution results which makes it more difficult to interpret, especially when dealing with complex data. Plus, this chart works at its best when comparing different groups (as seen in our example above). So, if you are trying to look at the distribution of one single group a histogram is a better choice. 

15) Funnel chart 

As its name suggests, a funnel chart is a visualization type used to show how data moves or flows through a specific process. They are commonly utilized to display sales, recruitment, or order fulfillment funnels where the values are often decreasing as the funnel becomes smaller. This can be seen in the example above in which the number of potential clients decreases at each stage of the sales funnel. This is a natural progression that happens because not every person that shows interest in the opportunities stage will end up buying the product or subscribing to the service. 

In some cases, the sizes of the sections of the funnel chart are plotted proportionately with the value they are representing. This means the top section is 100% and the rest will represent their corresponding percentage with their size. This is not the case with our example in which the sections are sized to match the funnel shape, not the values contained in each section. 

Funnel graphics are very specific visuals that can only be used in particular cases. You should only use it if your data goes through a sequence of stages and the values are decreasing with each stage. Plus, they are only useful to represent a single variable which means they cannot be used to visualize relationships between variables. A good alternative for a funnel graph is a bar or column chart. 

16) Bullet chart 

A bullet chart is a variation of a bar or column chart but it provides some extra visual elements to give more context to the data. It is usually used for performance tracking to make comparisons against a goal or other relevant values and it is composed of three key elements. A single measure is represented by a darker shade bar with a length that represents the performance of that value, qualitative ranges are represented by lighter shades in the background, and a target or comparative measure which is represented with a small line that is perpendicular to the orientation of the graph. Bullet charts are great alternatives to gauge charts, especially when you are working with a KPI dashboard and don’t want to take up too much space from it. 

It is important to note that bullet charts are complex visuals that might be challenging to understand for non-technical audiences. In some cases, some people might choose to remove the shaded background to focus only on the actual value against the target or remove the target and focus on the qualitative ranges to make the chart friendlier to analyze.    This variation is also known as an overlapping bullet chart and it can be done using columns and bars, as we will see in our two examples below.

1. Overlapping bars bullet chart 

As we saw with different graph types previously, the bullet chart can be vertical (using columns) or horizontal (using bars). It is recommended to use bars when you want to display more categories or longer category names to avoid making the visual cluttered. In the example above, we can see the number of orders by product of the current year compared to a target. In this case, due to the number of products, a bar bullet graph is the best choice as it contains a lot of information without affecting the readability of the data.

2. Overlapping columns bullet chart 

On the other side, a bullet column chart is a better choice when you want to organize categories from left to right or when you have fewer categories to show. In this case, we can see the number of orders by product category. Given that product categories are fewer than the actual number of products, it is a good choice to pick columns to represent this data. In a traditional bullet chart, the number of orders by a quarter could be added for additional context as qualitative measures.

17) Treemap chart 

A treemap is a chart type used to display hierarchical data through rectangles that decrease their size as the value decreases, this process is also referred to as nesting. It is used to display large amounts of raw data in a visually appealing way that allows users to easily extract valuable conclusions at a glance. Its name comes from the shape of a tree, as the chart can be divided into multiple categories with different “branches” and “sub-branches”. Each of these categories should have a different color and the dimensions of the rectangles are based on the size of the data being displayed. 

Given that a treemap is used to visualize massive amounts of raw data, they can display an infinite amount of subcategories (or sub-branches) which can make them harder to understand. However, in most cases, users can drill down into the different categories to dig deeper into the data and answer different questions that might arise. 

If you are not trying to show hierarchical data then you should stay away from treemaps. Just like it happens with pie charts, this visualization is simply showing parts-to-whole relationships, therefore, it becomes useless for other purposes. You should also avoid treemaps if the data being displayed is too close in size. This defeats the purpose of the graph which is to easily identify the largest item from a specific category. A few alternatives for treemaps include column charts and scatter plots.

18) Stream charts 

A stream graph is considered a variation of the area chart with the difference that, while the area chart is plotted with a fixed x-axis, the stream graph has values displayed around a central axis. Hence, the flowing river-like shape. They are frequently used to identify trends and patterns in big datasets with multiple categories and evaluate how they change over time. Just like with other kinds of charts on this list, the width and length of the streams are proportional to the values being displayed. The colors can represent different categories or other specific criteria. In our example above, we can see the number of orders by product categories each month. The width of each stream can provide valuable insights into the performance of each category. For instance, from June to August orders for TVs and Home Theaters decreased a lot compared to other months so some conclusions need to be drawn.

In general, if your aim is to use the chart to deeply analyze the data and extract conclusions from it, then the stream is not your best option. They are often cluttered with a lot of information which can lead to legibility issues. This can happen especially when you have smaller categories that end up looking way too small compared to bigger ones. For that reason, it is best to use stream charts as interactive visuals instead of static or printed ones. 

19) Word Cloud 

A word cloud is a straightforward type of graph that displays a set of words concerning a specific topic. The words are arranged in different directions and the sizes of the words will vary depending on specific criteria. For example, if a word cloud is generated based on a text from product reviews, the size of the words can be influenced by the number of times each word is mentioned within the text. On the other hand, if you are generating a word cloud of all the countries in the world, the names of the countries can be bigger or smaller depending on their population. From an analytical perspective, word clouds don’t provide a lot of value apart from being an engaging and visually appealing way of presenting a topic or supporting discussions. 

There is no general rule when it comes to colors on a word cloud. Some might use different colors to provide meaning to certain words while others might use standard colors to match their branding. Whichever case you are using, the rule of not adding too many colors to avoid overcrowding the visual still applies when it comes to word clouds. 

20) Progress chart 

As its name suggests, this chart is used to track the progress of a specific activity or scenario usually in a percentage form. It can be represented using bars or columns and is often tracked against a set target, as seen in the graph examples below, in which you can see a colored area representing the completed percentage and a lighter shade representing the remaining percentage to complete 100%. Progress graphs are wildly popular when tracking the development of a project as they provide a clear overview of the status of different tasks. They are also valuable visuals when you are trying to show any kind of percentage value or progress against a target. 

Progress charts are very straightforward and don’t provide a lot more information than the development of a metric. If you want to gain more insights you can explore using a bullet chart as they provide more context to the data. 

• Progress bar graph 

The progress bar chart is used to track the progress of a specific activity or metric using horizontal bars. The example above is tracking the percentage of purchases in time and budget from a procurement department. Ideally, the end goal for each category would be 100% as this means all purchases are made on the expected time and budget. However, this is not always the case and the progress bar is a great way to see how far from the expected target the values actually are. In this case, the average is represented by a darker color of green, and the remaining percentage to reach 100% is represented by a lighter shade.  

• Progress column graph 

The progress column chart is a type of progress chart that uses columns to represent different data values. In this case, our example is showing the average time to fill a position by the department where each department has a predefined target they are expected to reach. In this case, the target value is represented by a dark purple dot, in other cases, it could be represented with a lighter shade of the same purple from the column. Using a progress chart to represent this metric is a great way to compare the different departments and see if any of the processes need to be optimized to better reach the expected target. 

How To Choose The Right Chart Type: 9 Essential Questions To Ask

To go further into detail, we have selected the top 9 questions you need to consider to ensure success from the very start of your journey.

1. What story do you want to tell?

At its core, data charts are about taking data and transforming it into actionable insight by using visuals to tell a story. Data-driven storytelling is a powerful force as it takes stats and metrics and puts them into context through a narrative that everyone inside or outside of the organization can understand.

By asking yourself what kind of story you want to tell with your data and what message you want to convey to your audience, you’ll be able to choose the right data visualization types for your project or initiative. And ultimately, you’re likely to enjoy the results you're aiming for.

For more on data storytelling, check out our full guide for dashboard presentation and storytelling.

2. Who do you want to tell it to?

Another key element of choosing the right data visualization types is gaining a clear understanding of who you want to tell your story to – or in other words, asking yourself the question, “ Who is my audience ?”

You may be aiming your data visualization efforts at a particular team within your organization, or you may be trying to communicate a set of trends or predictive insights to a selection of corporate investors. Take the time to research your audience, and you’ll be able to make a more informed decision on which data visualization chart types will make the most tangible connection with the people you’ll be presenting your findings to.

3. How big is your data? 

As you probably learned from our list of the essential types of charts and when to use them, the size of your data will significantly affect the type of visualization you decide to use. Some charts are not meant to be used with massive amounts of data due to design aspects while others are perfect for displaying larger information. 

For example, pie charts are not good if you are trying to show multiple categories. For that purpose, a scatter plot works best. Another example is with column and bar charts. Bar charts use horizontal bars that make it easier to represent larger data sets. On the other side, column charts are limited by size due to their vertical orientation, making them better for smaller data. 

4. What is the type of data you are using? 

Another important question to ask yourself is what type of data you are using. As we saw at the beginning of the post, there are 4 key categories when it comes to data visualization: composition, distribution, relationship, and comparison. There are also qualitative and quantitative data that can be better represented using a particular graphic. For this reason, it is important to carefully define the type of data you are using before thinking about visualizing it. In the following questions, we will see what you need to ask yourself based on the mentioned categories. 

5. Are you looking to analyze particular trends?

Every data visualization project or initiative is slightly different, which means that different data visualization chart types will suit varying goals, aims, or topics.

After gaining a greater level of insight into your audience as well as the type of story you want to tell, you should decide whether you're looking to communicate a particular trend relating to a particular data set, over a predetermined time period. What will work best?

• Line charts
• Column charts
• Area charts

6. Do you want to demonstrate the composition of your data?

If your primary aim is to showcase the composition of your data – in other words, show how individual segments of data make up the whole of something – choosing the right types of data visualizations is crucial in preventing your message from becoming lost or diluted.

In these cases, the most effective types of visual charts include:

• Waterfall charts
• Stacked charts
• Map-based graphs (if your information is geographical)

7. Do you want to compare two or more sets of values?

While most types of data visualizations will allow you to compare two or more trends or data sets, there are certain graphs or charts that will make your message all the more powerful.

If your main goal is to show a direct comparison between two or more sets of information, the best choice would be:

• Bubble charts
• Spider charts
• Columned visualizations
• Scatter plots

Data visualization is based on painting a picture with your data rather than leaving it sitting static in a spreadsheet or table. Technically, any way you choose to do this count, but as outlined here, there are some charts that are way better at telling a specific story.

8. Is timeline a factor?

By understanding whether the data you’re looking to extract value from is time-based or time-sensitive, you’ll be able to select a graph or chart that will provide you with an instant overview of figures or comparative trends over a specific period.

In these instances, incredibly effective due to their logical, data-centric designs, functionality and features are:

• Dynamic line charts

9. How do you want to show your KPIs?

It’s important to ask yourself how you want to showcase your key performance indicators as not only will this dictate the success of your analytical activities but it will also determine how clearly your visualizations or data-driven stories resonate with your audience.

Consider what information you’re looking to gain from specific KPIs within your campaigns or activities and how they will resonate with those that you’ll be sharing the information with - if necessary, experiment with different formats until you find the graphs or charts that fit your goals exactly.

Here are two simple bonus questions to help make your data visualization types even more successful:

• Are you comparing data or demonstrating a relationship?
• Would you like to demonstrate a trend?

At datapine, data visualization is our forte. We know what it takes to make a good dashboard – and this means crafting a visually compelling and coherent story.

"Visualization gives you answers to questions you didn’t know you had." – Ben Shneiderman

Design-thinking In Data Visualization

When it comes to different data visualization types, there is no substitute for a solid design. If you take the time to understand the reason for your data visualization efforts, the people you’re aiming them at, and the approaches you want to take to tell your story, you will yield great results.

Here at datapine, we’ve developed the very best design options for our dashboard reporting software , making them easy to navigate yet sophisticated enough to handle all your data in a way that matters.

With our advanced dashboard features , including a host of global styling options, we enable you to make your dashboard as appealing as possible to the people being presented with your data.

Your part in creating an effective design for the different types of data charts boils down to choosing the right visualization to tell a coherent, inspiring, and widely accessible story. Rarely will your audience understand how much strategic thought you have put into your selection of dashboards – as with many presentational elements, the design is often undervalued. However, we understand how important this is, and we’re here to lend a helping hand.

In this guide, we covered different types of charts to represent data, explored key questions you need to ask yourself to choose the right ones, and saw examples of graphs to put their value into perspective. By now, you should have a better understanding of how each type of visual works and how you can use them to convey your message correctly. 

To summarize, here are the top types of charts and their uses:

• Number Chart - gives an immediate overview of a specific value .
• Line Chart - shows trends and changes in data over a period of time .
• Maps - visualizes data by geographical location.
• Waterfall Chart - demonstrates the static composition of data.
• Bar Graphs - used to compare data of large or more complex items .
• Column Chart - used to compare data of smaller items. 
• Gauge Chart - used to display a single value within a quantitative context.
• Pie Chart - indicates the proportional composition of a variable.
• Scatter Plot - applied to express relations and distribution of large sets of data.
• Spider Chart - comparative charts great for rankings, reviews, and appraisals.
• Tables - show a large number of precise dimensions and measures .
• Area Chart - portrays a part-to-whole relationship over time .
• Bubble Plots - visualizes 2 or more variables with multiple dimensions.
• Boxplot -  shows data distribution within multiple groups.
• Funnel Chart - to display how data moves through a process.
• Bullet Chart - comparing the performance of one or more primary measures .
• Treemap - to plot large volumes of hierarchical data across various categories.
• Stream Graph - shows trends and patterns over time in large volumes of data.
• Word Cloud - to observe the frequency of words within a text.  
• Progress Chart - displays progress against a set target or goal.

But in our hyper-connected digital age, there are many more different kinds of graphs you can use to your advantage. Putting everything together in a professional business dashboard is even better. These visual tools provide centralized access to your most important data to get a 360-view of your performance so you can optimize it and ensure continuous growth.

Complete with stunning visuals, our advanced online data visualization software can make it easy for you to manipulate your data and visualize it using professional dashboards. The best part is, you can try it for a 14-day trial , completely free!

Blog > Dataviz Resources

80 types of charts & graphs for data visualization (with examples).

Ask any dataviz expert and they will tell you there aren’t many things as annoying as the wrong use of data visualizations. Well, duh. It’s easy to say if your job is to know all about it. But what about the rest of us? What about those who don’t make a face when they look at a simple pie chart? How do we know when to pick the right chart type and avoid disapproval from the entire community of dataviz geeks and lovers?

First and foremost, ask yourself what is it you actually want to show and who is your audience? Sounds simple, I know. But remember, you can’t please everyone. And sometimes, a pie chart is really fine. We don’t hate pie charts and actually, there are cases when they’re quite appropriate charts to use to communicate data. 

Yes, you can try to explore variations and alternatives to different chart types, it is encouraged. But before you gather all of your data and start creating beautiful graphs and visualizations, take a step back for a second and think. Who do you want to show your data to? Are the viewers equally knowledgeable about dataviz best practices? It’s very likely that you just want to present your information to someone who needs to easily understand it.

For this reason, it’s equally important to consider the right type of data visualization for you.

Read this article if you want to learn about the way you can display your data and how to tell your data story to your specific audience.

Now, if you want to include different charts and graphs in your final product, it’s a great next step to explore your options. There are many, many chart types and we won’t be able to cover all of them. In this article, we will show you some of the most important charts that can effectively convey a message and communicate your data, creating engaging data storytelling for your readers. Below, you might find charts you are familiar with and some that are less common. Either way, we hope you explore all chart types and find the most suitable ones for you and your data visualization project. The list consists of eighty types of charts and graphs, many of which you can create online for free with Datylon Online , or with our chart maker plug-in Datylon for Illustrator .

We divided the charts below into six categories that vary per use case. Sometimes, some of the charts can fall under multiple categories, so to make it easier, we only listed them once.

1. Comparison

Alternative name: Bar graph

One of the most common chart types out there. A bar chart is a set of rectangles with a length proportional to the values it represents. Each rectangle – the bar, is a representation of one category. Bar charts are great for comparison. The differences in bar length are easier to perceive, than, for example, differences in size and color.

Bar charts are commonly used charts due to their simplicity. Viewers mostly need to decode their bars' length and position, making bar charts very easy to understand. The general public is fairly capable of reading bar charts, so no additional dataviz expertise is necessary. For this reason, bar charts are doing their job really well. That's why, if the data structure and the actual message you're trying to convey allow for it, you should consider using bar charts in your data visualization.

It’s worth noting that to be really correct, bar charts display the bars horizontally. If you turn them 90 degrees, you will get a column chart. But, remember that long labels don’t suit column charts because of easy overlapping. You don’t have that issue in a bar chart.

If you want to improve your dataviz skills and design the best bar chart, we recommend you read this article about bar charts . But you can also check our bar chart resource page and discover even more pro design tips. You can also find some bar chart examples on our inspiration page .

Column chart

Alternative names: Column graph , Vertical bar chart

Long story short, you can say that a column chart is the same thing as a bar chart, turned by 90 degrees. Indeed, a column chart is a type of chart that resembles a bar graph with bars positioned vertically. They are often considered the same type of chart but from the dataviz point of view, that’s wrong. The main difference between a column chart and a bar chart is in the usage of categorical labels. Long labels don't suit column charts because of easy overlapping. But it might be useful if the labels are short and don’t take up a lot of horizontal space. Still, when it comes to design recommendations, you can use our bar chart resource page to learn how to greatly improve the readability of your column chart as well. You can find column chart examples on the inspiration page .

Grouped bar/column chart

Alternative names: Paired bar/column chart , Clustered bar/column chart

Made with Datylon - Edit

A grouped bar chart (or a grouped column chart if the bars are positioned vertically) is a multi-series variation of a bar/column chart where every category is represented by several columns communicating different aspects of the main category. Columns of each category are separated from the other categories using spacing. We use this type of chart to compare multiple series. Opposite to a basic bar chart, which doesn’t require any data to be formatted, to create a grouped bar/column chart, the data must be first organized. You can find more grouped bar chart examples on inspiration page .

Lollipop chart

Alternative name: Lollipop plot

A lollipop chart can be a sweet alternative to a regular bar chart if you are dealing with a lot of categories and want to make optimal use of space. It shows the relationship between a numeric and a categorical variable. This type of chart consists of a line, which represents the magnitude, and ends with a dot, or a circle, which highlights the data value. So it probably suffices to say that it is designed to resemble a bunch of lollipops. You can find more examples of lollipop charts on inspiration page .

Bullet chart

Alternative name: Bullet graph

A bullet chart is a type of chart designed to benchmark against a target value and ranges. It’s a very space-efficient chart used primarily for displaying performance data. Visually, bullet charts resemble a combination of bar/column charts and progress bars. The results are shown in a single bar or column. The ranges bar is constructed based on values from a category that comparison will be based on (for example competitor sales figures). All these values are then divided into a certain number of sub-ranges (in most cases it’s quartiles). Target shows the value which is aimed for. And the bar shows the actual figures. You can find more examples of bullet charts on inspiration page .

Alternative name: Dot chart

A dot plot (shows one or more quantitative values per category by plotting one or more dots per category on a numerical (or date-time) axis. A dot plot with only one value per category makes a comparison between those categories very easy. When the dot plot has multiple values per category, you can also compare within the categories. This results in a chart type that packs a lot of information in a small space. This chart may need gridlines that turn a dot plot into a chart with a proper context. We wrote a very interesting article about dot plots.

Make sure to also check our dot plot resource page and discover pro design tips. You can find more examples of dot plot on inspiration page .

Alternative names: Dumbbell plot , Dumbbell chart , Connected dot plot , Dumbbell dot plot , DNA chart , Barbell chart

A dumbbell is a type of dot plot with two connected values per category. Use it when you want to emphasize the delta (change) between the two values (data points, i.e. two points in time) and to compare and visualize this size in a difference between these two values across all categories. A dumbbell consists of dots (or circles) and connectors (or lines). Not adding marks and only leaving the connector makes it a range chart. We mentioned dumbbells throughout deep dive article about dot plots . You can find more examples of dumbbell charts on inspiration page .

Alternative names: Pictorial chart , Proportional unit chart , Picture graph

A pictogram chart is a type of chart that uses icons or symbols, or even small images, to represent data. Each of these icons corresponds to a certain category. Pictogram charts to some extent resemble bar charts, but instead of using a bar, they show icons. Some data visualization experts might argue this type of chart is very basic, to the point that it’s widely used in schools and kindergarten. While this is true, it’s also very important to keep in mind that using a pictogram chart helps overcome language barriers and it’s really easy to interpret. Moreover, it makes your data story memorable!

Alternative name: Proportional area chart

An icon chart will be a perfect choice if the position of the marks is not driven by data. Values can be bound to the color and size of the icons. The icon chart uses area rather than length to visualize values, which allows it to display a larger range of values in a compact way. But keep in mind, if you’re planning to use an icon chart in your visualization, it’s important to use the area and not the radius to present your value. This helps better compare the icons visually, as the difference between the categories will be much bigger if you use the radius. This will be misleading to your readers. See other icon chart examples on the inspiration pagehere .

Alternative name: Range chart

A range plot sometimes looks like a bar chart. The difference is that a range plot shows two values of a category, instead of just one. A range plot shows two points with a connecting line between them. This line indicates the difference, or a gap, between these points and suggests a direction of such change. So using this type of chart is great if you want to highlight this difference, rather than the values themselves. A use case example is any sort of demographical gap, i.e. gender pay gap. See examples of similar charts on our inspiration page .

Radial bar chart

Alternative name: Circular bar chart

A radial bar chart is simply a variation of a regular bar chart with the main difference being the circular shape of the chart. The chart itself is plotted on what is called a polar coordinates system. It means that each bar appears in a circle. The larger the value, the longer the bar. What's really great about radial bar charts is they are really beautiful, even impressive charts that can be used to compare key metrics in your data. The challenge that comes with using radial bar charts is that they're not the easiest to interpret. Some websites refer to radial bar charts as multilayered donut charts or multi-level doughnut charts but it's worth pointing out that it's not the same type of chart. You can find more details about this chart type on Data Viz Project .

Parallel coordinates

Alternative names: Parallel plot , Parallel coordinates plot

The parallel coordinates chart resembles a line chart, but instead of time values, categories are plotted on the horizontal axis. It allows you to plot a multitude of categories/dimensions without compromising the readability in a simple 2d space - all of the dimensions follow the same pattern. A dimension can have both a separate axis or just one of the gridlines if all the dimensions share the same data range. The simplicity of the chart, however, adds some limitations. Maximum two neighboring dimensions relationships can be followed at a time, so the ordering plays a crucial role in this chart.

Radar chart

Alternative names: Spider chart , Spider graph , Web chart , Spider web chart , Star chart , Star plot , Cobweb chart , Irregular polygon , Kiviat diagram

A radar chart shows a comparison between multiple data points or groups (minimum of three). It consists of several axes, all coming from the same point in the center (which resembles a spider web). Although it’s a very interesting chart to use, it’s important to keep in mind that it is harder to read. As it is designed in a circular fashion, it requires extra visual perception, in contrast to the more common linear types of charts and graphs. It is often easier to replace it with another type of chart. If all axes in your chart have the same scale, then a bar chart or sometimes a lollipop will suffice. If the axes have a different scale, it’s good to use parallel coordinates.

Nightingale chart

Alternative names: Nightingale's graph , Nightingale rose chart , Rose diagram , Coxcomb chart ,  Polar area chart

This chart is visually similar to a pie chart, but a Nightingale chart does not communicate a part-to-whole relationship. It compares values between categories like a bar chart does, only this one is radial.

Waterfall chart

Alternative names: Flying bricks chart , Mario chart , Bridge chart , Cascade chart

A waterfall chart is a type of graph that usually shows positive and negative values of change between two points, which helps in understanding the cumulative effect of these changes (so the net change). This chart does not only look at the starting value and the ending value of your data set but also visualized each individual positive or negative change that happened. As you can imagine, this type of chart is quite useful in financial sectors or human resources, but also in other industries (think of inventories, revenue tracking, etc.). Last but not least, the waterfall chart takes its name from the fact it looks like a waterfall. In the chart, the first value (column) typically starts from the baseline of zero, as does the ending value. They are connected by a number of seemingly floating shorter bars (that represent the said changes). The whole shape of the chart resembles then a waterfall.

Matrix chart

Alternative name: Matrix diagram

A matrix chart is a very common type of chart that helps in visualizing the relationship between two or more variables in a data set. Specifically, it shows the presence and strengths of such relationships and it does so in a grid format. It can have six different forms (shapes) depending on how many groups must be compared (L, T, Y, X, C, R, and roof-shaped). This chart usually presents a huge amount of data, so its visual display is limited. A matrix chart is very suitable for (but not limited to) project managers.

Small multiples

Alternative name: Trellis chart , Lattice chart , Panel chart

Unlike all the other graphs in this article, Small multiples are more of a visualization concept than a graph itself. That is because Small multiples use the same type of chart in it and multiply it within a grid to show different slices of the data set. The main advantage of using small multiples is the possibility of showing three or (usually) more variables presenting different values in the same graph without confusing your audience. If you go for this type of data visualization, make sure not to apply multiple colors in the charts as it might decrease the readability. You can find more Small multiples examples on our inspiration page .

Alternative name: Tag cloud , word collage , wordle

A word cloud is not a typical type of chart but it deserves its place in this list as it still is an instrument used to visualize qualitative (text) data. A word cloud is nothing more than a visual cluster of different words which vary in size accordingly to their frequency within the data set. In other words, the more often a certain word (or a keyword) appears in the text, the bigger (and perhaps bolder) it will be in a cloud. This type of chart is quite common across so many industries and segments. It can be a great visualization tool for students working on their dissertation who want to analyze their interviews. But just so you know, there are much more creative ways to show qualitative data.

Slope chart

Alternative name: Slopegraph

A slope chart is a chart that emphasizes the evolution between two values by using the angle of the slope to communicate the difference. It can be a change over time or a transition. A slope chart can be a good alternative for a line chart, grouped- or stacked bar chart, if we only have two points in time we want to address. See other slope chart examples See other slope chart examples on inspiration page .

Table chart

A table chart is a chart that helps visually represent data that is arranged in rows and columns. Throughout all forms of communication and research, tables are used extensively to store, analyze, compare, and present data.

Categorical scatter plot

A categorical scatter plot differs from a regular scatter plot by the presence of a categorical axis. It can be just one categorical axis or both of them. A categorical scatter plot can be quite similar to a dot plot. See other scatter plot examples See other scatter plot examples on our inspiration page .

Quadrant chart

Alternative names: matrix diagram , matrix chart , 4-quadrant matrix chart

A quadrant chart is very similar to a scatter plot but it’s divided into four equal parts (quadrants) in a 2x2 matrix. It is useful if we want to group distinctly data marks for some specific type of analysis. One of the best and most well-known examples of using the quadrant chart is for a SWOT analysis.

2. Correlation (relational)

Alternative names: Heat map , Heat table , Density table

A heatmap shows data variances, such as patterns, trends, and correlations. It does this by using color, hue, or intensity, as well as data labels, as a direct representation of the values. By adding a date or a time scale on the x-axis it shows how the values evolve over time. The data in a heatmap is structured as a table. Using a heatmap as a chart lets you explore the data and gives hints on where to look for outliers, other viewpoints, or specific angles. If you would like to explore the fascinating world of heatmaps, we definitely recommend you this article.

Also, make sure to check our heatmap resource page and discover pro tips on how to design the best heatmap chart yourself. You can find more heatmaps examples on the inspiration page.

Bubble chart

Alternative name: Bubble plot

Deriving from a scatter plot, a bubble chart is a chart that looks at a relation between three (numeric) variables. Two of those variables are represented by dots located between axes. The third value is represented by the size of a bubble. But with some expansions, a bubble chart can represent up to seven variables at once. But as it’s very easy to overwhelm a reader with too much information, it’s better not to plot too many variables. Being really popular among researchers and analysts, a bubble chart is also a chart with one of the best data/space ratios. One of the most interesting things about bubble charts is that they can be colored in many different ways. Make sure to check out a blog post taking a closer look at bubble charts .

Also, refer to our bubble chart resource page and discover pro tips on how to design the best bubble chart yourself. And if you want to see other bubble chart examples, find them on the inspiration page .

Scatter plot

Alternative names: Scatterplot , Scatter chart , Scattergram , Scatter diagram , Scatter graph

A scatter plot shows values for two numerical variables by plotting them as dots between horizontal and vertical axes. Simple one-sized data marks give a clear view of every observation’s positioning in a two-variable plane. A scatter plot is often used to show correlations between numeric variables and identify patterns. Being a swiss knife among the charts, a scatter plot is usually the first one for data exploration. It is a chart with one of the best data/space ratios. A scatter plot is also known for its versatility. It gives a lot of inspiration to infographic designers and data visualization specialists. It can be turned into almost any chart: heatmap, dot plot, icon chart, tilemap, or some hybrid chart. On the inspiration page you will find more scatter plot examples .

Connected scatter plot

Once upon a time, a line chart fell in love with a scatter plot. Were they to have a baby, it would look exactly like a connected scatter plot. This type of chart consists of a scatter plot with two variables and a line drawn between the dots in a continuous path. See other scatter plot examples on the inspiration page .

Hexagonal binning

Alternative names: hexagonal plot , hexagonal bin plot

A hexagonal binning is a method that uses hexagons in order to show the density of the data points. It is a good alternative to a scatter plot if the data gets too dense to interpret. The hexagons are binned into the area of the chart, and the color or hue (color intensity) is assigned accordingly to the number of observations it covers.

Contour plot

A contour plot allows you to visualize three-dimensional data in a two-dimensional plot/plane. Contour plots are typically used in cartography, as their contour lines can nicely indicate elevations. But they can also be used in meteorology, astrology, and similar scientific fields, where the contour lines would represent density or temperature.

3. Part-to-whole & hierarchical

Stacked bar chart & stacked column chart.

Being a variant of a bar chart (or a column chart, if plotted vertically), a stacked bar/column chart shows a relation of stacks to the whole bar or column and relations between whole bars/columns. The whole bar/column can be also presented as 100%. In this case, the stacks show a relative part to the whole bar/column in percentages. You can find more examples of bar chart on inspiration page .  

Diverging (stacked) bar/column chart

A diverging bar chart (or, if plotted vertically, a diverging column chart) is a chart that resembles a regular bar chart. However, a crucial difference is a baseline located in the middle (usually corresponding to a zero) and the bars extending to both sides of this midpoint. Often used to display results of a questionnaire or a survey, but definitely not limited to this use case, as seen in the example above. In a diverging bar chart, we use contrasting colors to show the categories being compared. A very common variation of this chart is called a ‘diverging stacked bar chart’, which adds additional segments. In other words, it’s very similar to a regular stacked bar chart but with an extra baseline in the middle. But a diverging stacked bar is a very good alternative to a stacked bar chart since it is easier to compare the stacks with it. That is because the stacks here share the same baseline, which makes comparison much easier. See more variations of bar charts on inspiration page .

Population pyramid

Alternative names: Age-sex pyramid , Age structure diagram

Very similar to a diverging bar chart, a population pyramid is a type of chart that specifically visualizes the age and gender distribution across populations. Typically used by demographers, population pyramids can be a very simple and nice addition to many reports. You can find other bar chart examples You can find other bar chart examples on the inspiration page .

Alternative name: Pictograph

An icon array is a graph that clearly visualizes a proportion of a unit. Icon arrays use a matrix of icons, usually a 100. Each one of those icons represents a unit of something (i.e. people). A portion of the icons is then colored to represent a numerical value in our data. The rest of the icons can be greyed out or even absent. A very common type of graph, icon arrays are extremely easy to interpret. You can see more icon array examples You can find more icon array examples on inspiration page .

Waffle chart

Alternative names: Square pie chart , Square area chart , Gridplot

A waffle chart is very similar to an icon array. However, instead of using different icons, it consists of a grid of 100 square (or even round) cells. Each cell represents 1%. This grid pattern typically displays progress towards a target (or a completion percentage) but can be also used to show parts-to-whole contribution. Waffle charts are often called a square alternative to a pie chart and are very easy to interpret. And they do look like waffles. See examples of similar charts on inspiration page .

Alternative names: Pie graph , Pizza chart, Circle chart

Arguably the most popular type of chart, a pie chart is a circular graph that visualizes a part-to-whole relationship. It shows how the data is divided into categories with a certain value (the slices), but it always keeps the link between the value of one category and the total sum of those categories (the pie). This means that the slices should add up to a logical sum. If the data is in percentages, the total should round up to a hundred. If the data is in absolute values, for example in dollars, the categories should form a meaningful total. A pie chart works best with only a few categories, otherwise, the chart becomes an unreadable clutter. It is also very suitable when one category is very big or very small compared to the other categories. Pie charts are often ridiculed by dataviz specialists. Read the deep dive pie chart article to see our arguments for using pie charts. And if you want to create a really good pie chart yourself, don’t miss out on the pie chart resource page full of pro design tips. Also you can find more pie chart examples on inspiration page .

Donut chart

Alternative names: Doughnut chart

A donut chart is practically the same thing as a pie chart, with an obvious difference of an empty round hole in the middle, making it resemble a donut. However, the data-ink ratio of a donut chart is better than that of a pie chart and the data is depicted by the length of the sectors, rather than the surface, which is easier to interpret. Another advantage of a donut chart is that the space in the center can be used to add a title or a significant value derived from the data. For your convenience, we also created a donut chart resource page with valuable design tips for your next donut chart. On inspiration page you will find more examples of pie and donut charts.

Semicircle donut chart

Alternative name: Half moon chart , Half donut chart , Semi-circle doughnut chart

This chart works the same as a normal pie or donut chart, only the sum of all categories results in half a circle instead of a full circle. It can serve as a basis for a gauge chart, by using the slices to show progress or by adding a pointer. We have more pie and donut chart examples on the inspiration page .

Marimekko chart

Alternative names: Mekko chart , Mosaic chart , Mosaic plot

A Marimekko chart is a type of two-dimensional stacked chart that depicts data through varying heights of different segments and widths of columns. These columns are scaled to fill up the entire available chart area. They can be hard to read, especially if there are many segments. Although Marimekko charts can be used to visualize different types of data, they are most commonly used for analyzing marketing and sales data.

Treemap charts come in handy when you are dealing with large numbers of categories with a hierarchical structure. A treemap consists of multiple categories and each category in the treemap is given a rectangle. The categories could be subdivided into smaller rectangles if you are dealing with subcategories in the data. The size of the area of the rectangles communicates the value. Therefore, treemaps are very useful charts in finding relationships fastly, both within and between categories. Another benefit of a treemap is the efficient use of space which makes it easy to show a lot of data at the same time. If you’re curious about the history and different features of a treemap chart, you can’t miss the deep dive article . We also have a very elaborate treemap resource page for you to check out before you start making your own treemap.

Circular treemap

Alternative name: Circular packing , Circle packing

This type of treemap consists of circles instead of squares, which makes them a bit less space-efficient. Though, because of the space in between the circles, the groups and subgroups are presented very neatly. Moreover, when designed properly, the circular treemap could be really pleasing to look at.

Convex treemap

Alternative names: Voronoi treemap , Polygonal partition

A convex treemap is essentially the same thing as a regular treemap but with convex polygons instead of rectangles. With this type of treemap, it is possible to create treemaps within arbitrary shapes like circles, triangles, or any shape you can think of. Convex treemaps are great if you wish to show grouping and relations instead of the hierarchical structure typically found in a regular treemap. We presented a very nice example of such a treemap in this article that generally looks closely at treemaps.

Alternative name: Phylogenetic tree

To put it simply, a dendrogram is a diagram representing a tree or a network structure. Consisting of stacked branches, it is used to visualize taxonomic relationships (hierarchical relationships between objects). Dendrograms are commonly used in biology to show the clustering of genes but they can illustrate any type of grouped data.

Venn diagram

Alternative name: Set diagram , Logic diagram

Originating in the 1800s, Venn diagrams are widely used within different industries to illustrate relationships (i.e. commonalities or differences) between two or more sets. This type of graph is commonly used in presentations and reports. They are closely related (and similar) to Euler diagrams with the difference that the Euler diagram will omit a set if no relationship exists.

Euler diagram

Euler diagrams are very similar to Venn diagrams, so it’s not surprising that people may occasionally confuse the two. The main difference is that the Euler diagram (which is pronounced Oy-ler) will omit a set if no relationship exists. What does it mean? A Venn diagram shows all possible logical relationships between a collection of sets, while an Euler diagram will only show the relationships that actually exist in real world. If you’re curious to understand it better, we recommend this article that explains the difference between mentioned charts .

Circular gauge

Alternative names: Angular gauge , Radial gauge chart

A circular gauge is a type of chart that uses a circular or half-circular scale with a needle indicating a value on that circular scale. For this reason, it resembles a speedometer or even an analog clock. The interesting thing about circular gauges is that they are so easy to customize and can take so many different, visually interesting forms. This type of chart is extremely useful in all sorts of dashboards.

Sunburst chart

Alternative names: Multi-level pie chart , Multilayer pie chart , Sunburst graph , Ring chart , Radial treemap

A sunburst chart has many names but whatever you call it, it’s still a spectacular type of graph. It shows a hierarchical dataset through a series of concentric outward rings. Each of those rings corresponds to a different hierarchy level. The inner circle looks like a donut chart, but each outer ring can be sliced up depending on its relationship to the inner (parent) circle. Sunburst charts are often a good alternative to treemaps, but if you do opt for this type of chart, keep in mind that its radial layout takes more space than a rectangular shape of a treemap.

Pyramid chart & Funnel chart

Alternative name: Triangle chart

If you work in sales or marketing, this type of chart definitely won’t be new to you. A pyramid chart and a funnel chart are visually almost the same - if you flip a pyramid chart, you get a funnel chart. Funnel charts are very commonly used to visualize the flow of users through a business or sales process. This information is usually paired with the revenue or potential revenue amount at each stage of the funnel. They are widely used in infographics and business presentations or dashboards. In the pyramid chart, each level of the pyramid indicates a different level of hierarchy (among the topics).

4. Data over time (temporal)

An area chart is similar to a line chart. Data values are plotted in a similar way, and connected with lines. The difference is that the area between these lines and the x-axis is filled with a color. This helps in visualizing the change in volume over time. It doesn’t focus on specific data values but more on showing a general change that occurs over a period of time. You will find more area chart examples on inspiration page .

Stacked area chart

Alternative name: Stacked area graph

A stacked area chart is a variation of an area chart. It visualized the evolution of multiple data series (value of several groups) over time. See other stacked area chart examples on the inspiration page .

Stream graph

Alternative names: Streamgraph , ThemeRiver

A stream graph is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful chart types available. This stunning type of chart derives from a stacked area chart, from which it differs by using a central baseline rather than a fixed axis. A stream graph then visualizes different values (compound volumes) around the baseline. This creates a visualization that resembles a river-like stream. The shape of the stream, which consists of peaks and troughs referencing different values over time, can also indicate seasonal patterns. See more similar chart examples on our inspiration page .

A bump chart is a very good choice if you’re interested in showing rankings over time. Since every step in ranking has the same size, this type of chart is not useful in showing the data precisely. See other bump charts and line charts examples on the inspiration page .

Bump area chart

A bump area chart (or an area bump chart) is a variation of a bump chart that instead of only displaying the ranking over time also shows the values on the y-axis. This helps in visualizing the number of different categories over time and their ranking. If you were to compare this chart to a stream graph, they’re actually visually not so far from each other. However, a bump area chart sorts the categories based on their ranking. So in other words, a bump area chart shows both magnitude and rank. And it’s also a stunning chart.

Alternative names: Line graph , Line plot

A line chart is a type of chart that comes in very handy when showing overall trends or progress. Line charts are among the oldest types of charts and are still one of the most popular. They are versatile, simple, and easy to understand. They can show a lot of information at once. What’s really nice about line charts is that they can be also very easily applied onto or merged with other charts like the bar chart or the area chart. In a line chart, the data points represent two variables and are connected by a line to show the changing trend of the data. The x-axis or independent axis shows a continuous variable (usually time) and the y-axis or dependent axis contains a numerical value for a metric of interest. If you’d like to design really stunning line charts, make sure to see our line chart resource page full of great tips and more line chart examples.

Spline chart

Alternative names: Spline graph , Curve chart

A spline chart is functionally the same thing as a line chart. The only difference is that a spline chart connects data points using a smooth curve, whereas a regular line chart uses a straight line to join those points. For this reason, a spline is also known as a curve chart. A combination of an area chart with a spline chart creates a variation called a spline area chart. Find the examples of similar charts on inspiration page .

Step line chart

Alternative names: Step chart , Stepped line graph

The step line chart only uses horizontal and vertical lines to connect the data points. It is convenient to use when you want to highlight the exact moment in time when the data changes and is, therefore, helpful when you must deal with data that changes in irregular intervals. See more examples of similar charts on the inspiration page .

Candlestick chart

Alternative name: Japanese candlestick chart

A candlestick chart is a chart typically used in the financial industry. It helps visualize the price movements over a period of time. For this reason, it helps detect and predict market trends. This type of chart is almost exclusively associated with stock price information. If you’re interested in designing a candlestick chart and adding it to your financial report, it’s possible to create it with Datylon for Illustrator. You can read more about creating a candlestick chart in our article .

Gantt chart

A Gantt chart is a graph that typically shows activities or tasks performed against time: a project plan over time. Used in project management, it helps in tracking project progress, schedule, changes, etc. In other words, a Gantt chart shows what has been done and what still needs to be done. However, it’s worth noting that although this type of graph is most commonly used in project management, it is definitely not limited to it. The idea behind this chart is that it visualizes the start and end time in form of period blocks. Therefore, it can be also used to illustrate seasonal occurrences, such as the availability of different fruits and vegetables throughout the year, or the appearance of mosquitoes in different months of the year.

Barcode chart

Barcode charts are used when one of the dimensions of the dataset is extensive while the space is limited. Barcode charts can be created in several ways. The first is to place a row of thin bars along the horizontal axis. It can be useful as an alternative to a strip plot when the density of data marks is too high and individual elements can be hardly recognized. The second way is to use the thickness of the bar for binding an additional dimension. The color is also often used to show a few states of the bar. In most cases the number of colors is limited due to bar width - it’s hard to recognize a wide range of colors when the bar is very thin.

The OHLC chart’s name stands for Open-High-Low-Close Chart. This type of chart is nearly exclusively used in the financial sector. It helps visualize price changes over time, typically in a trading stock market.

5. Distribution

Density plot.

Alternative names: Kernel density plot , Density trace graph

A density plot is a type of chart that helps us visualize how the numeric data is being distributed over a period of time. Density plots somewhat resemble smooth peaks and valleys plotted between two axes. These correspond to a higher or lower concentration of values. A density plot is a variation of a histogram. However, it is visually more appealing, as it loses the sharp edges typical for histograms and adds a smooth continuous curve. Find more examples on the inspiration page .

Ridgeline plot

Alternative names: Joy plot , Joyplot

A ridgeline plot is a somewhat special type of chart. A ridgeline plot shows the distribution of a numeric value for several groups of a category. It is done by illustrating partially overlapping line plots (that can be made of density plots or histograms), which then can resemble a mountain range. This beautiful chart can be useful to visualize distribution over time or space. But what is the most interesting about it is its history! The alternative name for a ridgeline plot is a joy plot because this very example above appeared on the first album cover of the British band Joy Division (‘Unknown Pleasures’ from 1979). See other examples of similar charts other examples of similar charts on the inspiration page .

Horizon chart

The horizon chart is for some an unfamiliar chart. Though, it is definitely worth getting to know this type of chart. When you are dealing with a lot of categories and you want to make efficient use of space, this chart is the way to go. It is perfect to show time series data on the horizontal axis and with colored bands, the values are represented on the vertical axis. The use of colored bands makes it possible to show great precision of the values. With the use of a diverging color scheme, it is even possible to show both positive and negative values. The difference with other charts is that both the positive and negative values are shown above the baseline, instead of showing negative values under the baseline. This allows you to show a lot of data in a very condensed manner.

Alternative names: Frequency distribution graph, Frequency distribution chart

A histogram is a type of chart that visually resembles a column chart. It’s a graph that consists of vertical rectangles (columns), whose length is proportional to the frequency of a variable (data items). The main visual difference between a histogram and a column chart is that there is no empty space between each rectangle. That’s because, unlike in column charts, in a histogram, the numbers are grouped into ranges. Then the columns have different heights because they correspond to the frequency of each group - meaning, how many items fall in a certain range.

Radial histogram

Alternative names: Angular histogram, Circular histogram, Polar histogram

A radial histogram is simply a variation of a histogram (see above) but with columns wrapped around a circle. It functions the same way as a regular histogram. And it’s very likely going to grab your readers’ attention. See examples of similar charts on the inspiration page .

Alternative names: Individual value plot, Single-axis scatter plot

A strip plot is a type of scatter plot but it only has one categorical and one numerical axis. It is a chart used to illustrate the distribution of many individual one-dimensional values. These values look like dots located along a single (category) axis in this chart. If some of the dots have the same value, they can overlap, creating something that looks like a strip.

Jitter plot

Alternative names: Jittered strip plot , Jittered individual value plot

A jitter plot is an alternative to a strip plot (see above). It is used to visualize the relationship between a measurement variable and a categorical variable. The main difference from a strip plot is that the dots used in the charts are shifted on the horizontal y-axis, to avoid overlapping (overplotting), which in turn allows avoiding lack of clarity.

One dimensional heatmap

If you want to zoom in on one category and focus on the evolution of that variable, you can use heatmaps in only one dimension. These charts are very popular in climate communication and often visualize temperatures.

Beeswarm chart

Alternative name: Swarm plot

A beeswarm chart is like a dot plot with a lot of values per category. These values are each represented by one dot, and the swarm of dots represents the distribution found in the data. Instead of packing them in bins, the dots are scattered around each other and plotted on one single axis. This kind of chart is very useful when you want to display a lot of data points at once.

Alternative names: Box plot , Boxplot , Box-and-whisker plot/chart , Whisker plot

A box chart uses boxes and lines to depict the distributions of one or more groups of numeric data. They are meant to provide a high level of information at glance - a summary of data. In a box plot, boxes are the main part of the chart, and they represent the range of the central 50% (middle portion) of the data. There is also a line visible within the boxes that indicates the median value. The remaining half of the data is visualized with the lines (whiskers) extending out of each box. This type of graph is quite popular in the research and financial fields. See similar chart examples here .

Violin plot

A box chart (above) can be useful for comparing summary statistics (such as range and quartiles), but it doesn't let you see variations in the data - unlike a violin plot. This type of chart is a hybrid of a box plot and a density plot. Thanks to this, a violin plot depicts distributions of numeric data for one or more groups using density curves. Of course, visually, it resembles a violin, hence its name. 

6. Geospatial & other charts

Geographic heatmap.

Alternative names: hot spot map , geo heat map , density heatmap

A geographic heatmap is a geographical representation of data that demonstrates where something occurs, specifying the areas of data’s high and low density. Unlike a choropleth map, a geo heatmap does not limit displaying geospatial data to specified boundaries. Therefore, using the data’s location radius, it can cover a small and specific geographic area, as well as large regions, such as oceans or coasts. It uses color to highlight the areas of occurrence.

Choropleth map

A choropleth map is a type of map in which different administrative areas are colored (or shaded) according to the magnitude of their numeric value. The main difference between a choropleth map and a geographic heatmap is that a choropleth map uses border-defined areas, such as countries, states, or neighborhoods. A common example of the use of choropleth maps can be a visualization of population density.

A tile map is a type of geographical map where a larger area (usually a country or a continent) is visualized by multiple equal-size and shape tiles, often square rectangles. Each tile represents a different region. A simple example of a tile map can be a collection of tiles forming the shape of the United States, where each tile corresponds to a state. What is important about tile maps is that all tiles don’t vary in size, meaning that larger regions can’t dominate the visualization and smaller regions are not harder to read.

Chord diagram

A chord diagram is used for showing the structure of paired connections between the instances of the same level. Every instance is represented by an arc. Every connection is shown as a band with various start and end widths which depicts differences in input and output. Common examples of chord diagrams vary from international trade flows to text and script analysis.

Arc diagram

An arc diagram in its essence is similar to a chord diagram. While the chord diagram focuses mostly on the quantitative aspect of the connection, the arc diagram is more focused on the existence of the link. The arc diagram shows the connections between points that are placed on the line axis with the arcs. Arcs could be placed on both sides of the axis showing the different aspects of the connection. Although the focus of the arc diagram is to show the existence of the connection it can also be used to show the quantitative aspect of the connection using the thickness of the arc.

A Sankey diagram is a type of visualization that allows you to display flows from one set of values to another. It shows entities that represent the values and connects them by links, or flows. Each flow has a varying height, which depends on its quantity. They can also differ in color. For this reason, it’s really common to use Sankey diagrams in visualizing supply chains, engineering and production processes, energy efficiency, etc. A known example is Google Analytics, which uses Sankey to depict the customer journey between pages of a website., The disadvantage of using this otherwise really beautiful graph is that inexperienced users will find it difficult to digest this visualization. Sankey diagrams are very often also called Alluvial diagrams. For an untrained eye, they will indeed appear to be the same chart. There is, however, a bit of a difference between the two. If you’re interested in learning more, we found this post quite a nice resource .

Network diagram

Alternative names: Network graph, Network mapping, Network visualization A network diagram is used to show the connections between multiple elements. The structure of the data and the purpose is somehow similar to the arc diagram. But while in the arc diagram, all of the points are placed on the same line, in the network diagram positioning of the peaks can vary. In some variations of the network diagram, the position of the point depends on the number of connections this point has and the group it belongs to. Network diagrams are often used to show the clusters of members based on the intensity of the connections.

A flowchart is a visualization of a workflow. It’s a diagram that depicts subsequent steps in the process. In other words, it shows what steps need to be followed to complete an action. A flowchart uses connecting lines and arrows to allow viewers to follow the process. It has many organizational use cases and can be a good tool to map out the customer journey, and step-by-step instructions. It’s also popular in project management.

Charts in Illustrator

As mentioned at the beginning, many of the charts and graphs listed in this post can be made with Datylon. Currently, we offer 130+ chart templates in our Chart Library. You can sign up for free and try it for yourself.

What is even more interesting, a lot of charts from this list can be designed in Adobe ® Illustrator ® . Of course, Illustrator has a built-in graphing tool but unfortunately for many graphic designers and data visualization experts, it is seriously limited .  Check out the walk-through for our graph maker by "Yes I'm a Designer".

With Datylon for Illustrator , you get full freedom of chart design. It's a chart maker plug-in for Adobe Illustrator with extraordinary features that will help you make the most captivating chart design! Hey, did anyone say fully resizable charts?

➡️ Create an account and don't forget to download Datylon for Illustrator with a free 14-day trial (no credit card needed) and supercharge your data visualization!

Kosma Hess - Marketing Manager

Global citizen, world traveler, content creator, marketing specialist, can't sing to save his life. In his free time, he's mastering Datylon for Illustrator for no reason.

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Types of Graphs and Charts And Their Uses

If you are wondering what are the different types of graphs and charts ,   their uses and names, this page summarizes them with examples and pictures.

Although it is hard to tell what are all the types of graphs, this page consists all of the common types of statistical graphs and charts (and their meanings) widely used in any science.

1. Line Graphs

A line chart graphically displays data that changes continuously over time. Each line graph consists of points that connect data to show a trend (continuous change). Line graphs have an x-axis and a y-axis. In the most cases, time is distributed on the horizontal axis.

Uses of line graphs:

• When you want  to show trends . For example, how house prices have increased over time.
• When you want  to make predictions based on a data history over time.
• When comparing  two or more different variables, situations, and information over a given period of time.

The following line graph shows annual sales of a particular business company for the period of six consecutive years:

Note: the above example is with 1 line. However, one line chart can compare multiple trends by several distributing lines.

2. Bar Charts

Bar charts represent categorical data with rectangular bars (to understand what is categorical data see categorical data examples ). Bar graphs are among the most popular types of graphs and charts in economics, statistics, marketing, and visualization in digital customer experience . They are commonly used to compare several categories of data.

Each rectangular bar has length and height proportional to the values that they represent.

One axis of the bar chart presents the categories being compared. The other axis shows a measured value.

Bar Charts Uses:

• When you want to display data that are grouped into nominal or ordinal categories (see nominal vs ordinal data ).
• To compare data among different categories.
• Bar charts can also show large   data changes over time.
• Bar charts are ideal for visualizing the distribution of data when we have more than three categories.

The bar chart below represents the total sum of sales for Product A and Product B over three years.

The bars are 2 types: vertical or horizontal. It doesn’t matter which kind you will use. The above one is a vertical type.

3. Pie Charts

When it comes to statistical types of graphs and charts, the pie chart (or the circle chart) has a crucial place and meaning. It displays data and statistics in an easy-to-understand ‘pie-slice’ format and illustrates numerical proportion.

Each pie slice is relative to the size of a particular category in a given group as a whole. To say it in another way, the pie chart brakes down a group into smaller pieces. It shows part-whole relationships.

To make a pie chart, you need a list of categorical variables and numerical variables.

Pie Chart Uses:

• When you want to create and represent the composition of something.
• It is very useful for displaying nominal or ordinal categories of data.
• To show percentage or proportional data.
• When comparing areas of growth within a business such as profit.
• Pie charts work best for displaying data for 3 to 7 categories.

The pie chart below represents the proportion of types of transportation used by 1000 students to go to their school.

Pie charts are widely used by data-driven marketers for displaying marketing data.

4. Histogram

A histogram shows continuous data in ordered rectangular columns (to understand what is continuous data see our post discrete vs continuous data ). Usually, there are no gaps between the columns.

The histogram displays a frequency distribution (shape) of a data set. At first glance, histograms look alike to bar graphs. However, there is a key difference between them. Bar Chart represents categorical data and histogram represent continuous data.

Histogram Uses:

• When the data is continuous .
• When you want to represent the shape of the data’s distribution .
• When you want to see whether the outputs of two or more processes are different.
• To summarize large data sets graphically.
• To communicate the data distribution quickly to others.

The histogram below represents per capita income for five age groups.

Histograms are very widely used in statistics, business, and economics.

5. Scatter plot

The scatter plot is an X-Y diagram that shows a relationship between two variables. It is used to plot data points on a vertical and a horizontal axis. The purpose is to show how much one variable affects another.

Usually, when there is a relationship between 2 variables, the first one is called independent. The second variable is called dependent because its values depend on the first variable.

Scatter plots also help you predict the behavior of one variable (dependent) based on the measure of the other variable (independent).

Scatter plot uses:

• When trying to find out whether there is a relationship between 2 variables .
• To predict  the behavior of dependent variable based on the measure of the independent variable.
• When having paired numerical data.
• When working with  root cause analysis tools  to identify the potential for problems.
• When you just want to visualize the correlation between 2 large datasets without regard to time .

The below Scatter plot presents data for 7 online stores, their monthly e-commerce sales, and online advertising costs for the last year.

The orange line you see in the plot is called “line of best fit” or a “trend line”. This line is used to help us make predictions that are based on past data.

The Scatter plots are used widely in data science and statistics. They are a great tool for visualizing linear regression models .

More examples and explanation for scatter plots you can see in our post what does a scatter plot show and simple linear regression examples .

6. Venn Chart

Venn Diagram (also called primary diagram, set diagram or logic diagrams) uses overlapping circles to visualize the logical relationships between two or more group of items.

Venn Diagram is one of the types of graphs and charts used in scientific and engineering presentations, in computer applications, in maths, and in statistics.

The basic structure of the Venn diagram is usually overlapping circles. The items in the overlapping section have specific common characteristics. Items in the outer portions of the circles do not have common traits.

Venn Chart Uses:

• When you want to compare and contrast groups of things.
• To categorize or group items.
• To illustrate logical relationships from various datasets.
• To identify all the possible relationships between collections of datasets.

The following science example of Venn diagram compares the features of birds and bats.

7. Area Charts 

Area Chart Uses:

• When you want to show trends , rather than express specific values.
• To show a simple comparison of the trend of data sets over the period of time.
• To display the magnitude of a change.
• To compare a small number of categories.

The area chart has 2 variants: a variant with data plots overlapping each other and a variant with data plots stacked on top of each other (known as stacked area chart – as the shown in the following example).

The area chart below shows quarterly sales for product categories A and B for the last year.

This area chart shows you a quick comparison of the trend in the quarterly sales of Product A and Product B over the period of the last year.

8. Spline Chart

The Spline Chart is one of the most widespread types of graphs and charts used in statistics. It is a form of the line chart that represent smooth curves through the different data points.

Spline charts possess all the characteristics of a line chart except that spline charts have a fitted curved line to join the data points. In comparison, line charts connect data points with straight lines.

Spline Chart   Uses:

• When you want to plot data that requires the usage of curve-fitting such as a product lifecycle chart or an impulse-response chart.
• Spline charts are often used in designing Pareto charts .
• Spline chart also is often used for data modeling by when you have limited number of data points and estimating the intervening values.

The following spline chart example shows sales of a company through several months of a year:

9. Box and Whisker Chart

A box and whisker chart is a statistical graph for displaying sets of numerical data through their quartiles. It displays a frequency distribution of the data.

The box and whisker chart helps you to display the spread and skewness for a given set of data using the five number summary principle: minimum, maximum, median, lower and upper quartiles. The ‘five-number summary’ principle allows providing a statistical summary for a particular set of numbers. It shows you the range (minimum and maximum numbers), the spread (upper and lower quartiles), and the center (median) for the set of data numbers.

A very simple figure of a box and whisker plot you can see below:

Box and Whisker Chart Uses:

• When you want to observe the upper, lower quartiles, mean, median, deviations, etc. for a large set of data.
• When you want to see a quick view of the dataset distribution .
• When you have multiple data sets that come from independent sources and relate to each other in some way.
• When you need to compare data from different categories.

The table and box-and-whisker plots below shows test scores for Maths and Literature for the same class.

Box and Whisker charts have applications in many scientific areas and types of analysis such as statistical analysis, test results analysis, marketing analysis, data analysis, and etc.

10. Bubble Chart

Bubble charts are super useful types of graphs for making a comparison of the relationships between data in 3 numeric-data dimensions: the Y-axis data, the X-axis data, and data depicting the bubble size.

Bubble charts are very similar to XY Scatter plots but the bubble chart adds more functionality – a third dimension of data that can be extremely valuable.

Both axes (X and Y) of a bubble chart are numeric.

Bubble Chart Uses:

• When you have to display three or four dimensions of data.
• When you want to compare and display the relationships between categorized circles, by the use of proportions.

The bubble chart below shows the relationship between Cost (X-Axis), Profit (Y-Axis), and Probability of Success (%) (Bubble Size).

11. Pictographs

The pictograph or a pictogram is one of the more visually appealing types of graphs and charts that display numerical information with the use of icons or picture symbols to represent data sets.

They are very easy to read statistical way of data visualization. A pictogram shows the frequency of data as images or symbols. Each image/symbol may represent one or more units of a given dataset.

Pictograph Uses:

• When your audience prefers and understands better displays that include icons and illustrations. Fun can promote learning.
• It’s habitual for infographics to use of a pictogram.
• When you want to compare two points  in an emotionally powerful way.

The following pictographic represents the number of computers sold by a business company for the period from January to March.

The pictographic example above shows that in January are sold 20 computers (4×5 = 20), in February are sold 30 computers (6×5 = 30) and in March are sold 15 computers.

12. Dot Plot

Dot plot or dot graph is just one of the many types of graphs and charts to organize statistical data. It uses dots to represent data. A Dot Plot is used for relatively small sets of data and the values fall into a number of discrete categories.

If a value appears more than one time, the dots are ordered one above the other. That way the column height of dots shows the frequency for that value.

Dot Plot Uses:

• To plot frequency counts when you have a small number of categories .
• Dot plots are very useful when the variable is quantitative or categorical .
• Dot graphs are also used for univariate data (data with only one variable that you can measure).

Suppose you have a class of 26 students. They are asked to tell their favorite color. The dot plot below represents their choices:

It is obvious that blue is the most preferred color by the students in this class.

13. Radar Chart

A radar chart is one of the most modern types of graphs and charts – ideal for multiple comparisons. Radar charts use a circular display with several different quantitative axes looking like spokes on a wheel. Each axis shows a quantity for a different categorical value.

Radar charts are also known as spider charts, web charts, star plots, irregular polygons, polar charts, cobweb charts or Kiviat diagram.

Radar Chart has many applications nowadays in statistics, maths, business, sports analysis, data intelligence, and etc.

Radar Chart Uses:

• When you want to observe which variables have similar values or whether there are any outliers amongst each variable.
• To represent  multiple comparisons .
• When you want to see which variables are scoring low or high within a dataset. This makes radar chart ideal for displaying performance .

For example, we can compare employee’s performance with the scale of 1-8 on subjects such as Punctuality, Problem-solving, Meeting Deadlines, Marketing Knowledge, Communications. A point that is closer to the center on an axis shows a lower value and a worse performance.

It is obvious that Jane has a better performance than Samanta.

14. Pyramid Graph

When it comes to easy to understand and good looking types of graphs and charts, pyramid graph has a top place.

A pyramid graph is a chart in a pyramid shape or triangle shape. These types of charts are best for data that is organized in some kind of hierarchy. The levels show a progressive order.

Pyramid Graph Uses:

• When you want to indicate a hierarchy level among the topics or other types of data.
• Pyramid graph is often used to represent progressive orders such as: “older to newer”, “more important to least important”, “specific to least specific”‘ and etc.
• When you have a proportional or interconnected relationship between data sets.

A classic pyramid graph example is the healthy food pyramid that shows fats, oils, and sugar (at the top) should be eaten less than many other foods such as vegetables and fruits (at the bottom of the pyramid).

Conclusion:

You might know that choosing the right type of chart is some kind of tricky business.

Anyway, you have a wide choice of types of graphs and charts. Used in the right way, they are a powerful weapon to help you make your reports and presentations both professional and clear.

What are your favorite types of graphs and charts? Share your thoughts on the field below.

About The Author

Silvia Valcheva

Silvia Valcheva is a digital marketer with over a decade of experience creating content for the tech industry. She has a strong passion for writing about emerging software and technologies such as big data, AI (Artificial Intelligence), IoT (Internet of Things), process automation, etc.

I have learned a lot from your presentation. Very informative

Nicely described different graphs, I learned a lot.

very useful. exiting

I love this. I learned a lot.

Very good representation of date. I would suggest an addition of “stem and leaf” diagrams.

I have only one thing to say and that is this is the best representation of every graphs and charts I have ever seen 😀

Very well described. Great learning article for beginners on Charts.

Really helpful thanks

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Data Visualization: How to Choose the Right Chart and Graph for Your Data

How to select among different chart types?

This is the perfect article if you want to avoid creating charts like this one...

Or perhaps this one…

And especially this one...

Being able to choose the right chart type for the data you are working with is not an exact science, but I’m sure you will agree something went wrong with these examples. One can’t be certain whether they have been taken from a horror movie or a hippie fest.

In 99.9% of cases, we don’t want to show this to our audience.

Charts are an opportunity.

A storytelling tool.

A chance to make a convincing argument through visualizing data. And that's of major importance if you want to become an outstanding data science professional .

If we work with chart types that are not the right fit for the data, we won't convince anybody. To help you overcome or avoid this issue, in this article we’ll discuss:

• the different chart types, and
• the type of data different chart types are suitable for

1. Bar Graph

Bar charts are among the most frequently used chart types. As the name suggests a bar chart is composed of a series of bars illustrating a variable’s development. Given that bar charts are such a common chart type, people are generally familiar with them and can understand them easily. Examples like this one are straightforward to read.

A bar chart with one variable is easy to follow.

However, please be aware that bar charts can be confusing, too. Especially if one uses them to compare several variables. I personally believe that a comparison of more than two variables with a clustered bar chart becomes too cluttered. Here is an example of a clustered bar chart that is not exactly crystal clear:

This isn’t a horrible visualization, but it leaves plenty to be desired.

First of all, it is difficult to follow the trend of all five variables simultaneously, isn’t it? Moreover, it is hard to gain an idea about the overall state of the Fiction Book Sales market, and how it changed, which was probably what the person who created the chart wanted to show in the first place.

When to use bar charts

Bar charts are nice but limited. We have to consider the type of data we want to visualize and the number of variables that will be added to the chart.

Bar charts are great when we want to track the development of one or two variables over time. For example, one of the most frequent applications of bar charts in corporate presentations is to show how a company’s total revenues have developed during a given period .

A bar chart can be used to make both a year-on-year comparison and a monthly breakdown. Moreover, bar charts can be pretty intuitive when we compare the development of two numerical variables over time. Let’s say we would like to compare the revenues of two companies in the timeframe between 2014 and 2018.

Bar charts can work well for comparison of two variables over time

When to avoid using bar charts

Simple bar charts are far from ideal in situations when we have several variables and all of them are part of a whole. Such as the case In the Fiction Book Sales chart we showed you, there were five categories: Young adult; classics; mystery; romance; and Sci-fi. These account for all fiction books. Meaning, their sum gives us the total volume of the Fiction book sales market.

Do we get any of this information with this bar chart?

We don’t.

It simply shows us multiple lines and one has to start making calculations on their own to understand how numbers developed over time. And if they have to do that, why bother even creating a chart in the first place? We are better off showing the data in a table format, right? So, this certainly is one case where we should use different chart types.

Along the same lines, a simple bar chart isn’t suitable when we have a single period breakdown of a variable. If I want to portray the main business lines that contributed to a company’s revenues in 2018, I wouldn’t use a bar chart. Instead, I’d create a pie chart or one of its variations.

Author's note: If you are interested in pursuing a career as a data scientist go ahead and download our free data science career guide that teaches you how to become a data scientist

2. Pie Chart

A pie chart is a circular graph divided into slices. The larger a slice is the bigger portion of the total quantity it represents.

When to use a pie chart

So, pie charts are best suited to depict sections of a whole.

What does that mean?

If a company operates three separate divisions, at year-end its top management would be interested in seeing what portion of total revenue each division accounted for.

Pie charts are great for depicting sections of a whole

A pie chart is perfect in this case. However, we need to be certain that the sum of the proportions makes 100% of the total. That is, we cannot afford to forget any of the three divisions contributing to total revenue.

When to avoid pie charts

Obviously, we can’t use a pie chart in situations when we would like to show how one or more variables develop over time. Pie charts are a definite no-go in these cases. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, a pie chart would be misleading if we don’t consider all values. In the context of our example from earlier, we shouldn’t create a pie chart that includes revenue of only two of the firm’s three divisions.

3. Doughnut Chart

Doughnut charts are basically pie charts with a hole in the middle. (It is as if their heart is missing…)

When to use doughnut charts

The use cases of pie and doughnut charts are identical. The only important difference is that doughnut charts allow us to indicate the total amount by adding a text box in the middle.

Doughnut charts show the same information as a pie chart but from a different perspective

If you use a pie chart, you will have to include the total amount elsewhere (like adding it to the title).

When to avoid using doughnut charts

We already explained when to avoid using pie charts. The same is valid for doughnut charts.

One piece of advice when choosing whether to include a pie or a doughnut chart would be to think of your audience. How likely is it they would be interested in seeing the total figure for breakdown you are providing? If the split itself is more important, then go ahead and use a pie chart. If the value of the total is important too, then perhaps a doughnut chart would be preferable.

Moreover, some studies have shown that people tend to get a distorted idea when shown pie charts , as larger portions can look even more so because they cover more space. With doughnut charts, this isn’t as much of an issue.

4. Line Graph

A line chart is, as one can imagine, a line or multiple lines showing how single, or multiple variables develop over time. It is a great tool because we can easily highlight the magnitude of change of one or more variables over a period.

When to use line charts

Remember the awkward 'Fiction book sales' chart we saw earlier? Well, a simple line chart would have been much better in that case. A line chart allows us to track the development of several variables at the same time. It is very easy to understand, and the reader doesn’t feel overwhelmed.

Author's note: If you want to quickly and easily add a line chart to your report, you can do it with the help of Canva's Online Graph Maker .

Line charts track several variables at once

When to avoid line charts

Line charts are not that great in situations when you want to show how the individual parts of a whole change over time. Yes, in theory, one could use a stacked line chart (where line values accumulate) or a 100% stacked line chart (where lines accumulate to 100%), but a stacked area chart would look better.

This chart type is less effective when showing portions of a whole

5. Area Chart

Area charts are very similar to line charts. In fact, at first, I wanted to show them together. However, one major confusion could have arisen. So, please pay attention.

The idea of an area chart is based on the line chart. Coloured regions (areas) show us the development of each variable over time.

There are three types of area charts: regular area chart, stacked area chart, and 100% stacked area chart.

When to use an area chart

Whenever we want to show how the parts of a whole change over time, we should consider an area chart. So, for example, if the company has three revenue generating divisions, it is very likely that management would like to see the development of each of these divisions.

This is a great way to draw attention to the total value and still emphasize an important trend – say, revenues from one division have been growing rapidly while the other two have kept the same level. A stacked area chart is perfect in this case.

However, if we are interested in the portion of revenue generated by each division and not that much of the total amount of revenues, we can simply use a 100% stacked area chart. This will show each division’s percentage contribution over time.

Area charts show how variables change in relation to each other

When to avoid area charts

Obviously, similarly to line charts, area charts are not suitable for representing parts of a whole over a single period. In our example, we can’t use an area chart to show the proportion of revenues each division generated in say, 2018 alone. So that’s a situation where we can’t use an area chart.

In general, I would stay away from the classical area chart too. It can be very confusing and even Microsoft themselves recommend avoiding it and to consider using a simple line chart. If we wanted to show the development of revenues generated by each of the firm’s divisions over time with a simple area chart, we would have something looking like this.

Area charts can confuse things when showing parts of a whole

I know. A nightmare.

So, to recap. Line and area charts function in a strange symbiosis between each other:

We should avoid using: area chart, stacked line chart, and 100%-line chart;

6. Treemap Chart

There are some chart types that are effective but often neglected. Treemap charts are a good example. Here is what one looks like.

Treemap charts are a very organised chart type

It allows us to split the sum of the whole into hierarchies and then show an internal breakdown of each of these hierarchies.

When to use Treemap charts

The company we have been looking at so far has three divisions. And each of them has its own products. This is the perfect way to provide information about the weight divisions have with respect to the firm’s total revenue. At the same time, it shows how much each product contributes to the revenue of its division. Very informative, right?

When to avoid Treemap charts

As you can imagine it is quite difficult to apply treemap charts to a context that is not the one we just described. Treemap charts are one of the chart types that are not suitable when the data we are working with is not divisible into categories and sub-categories. Moreover, we can’t use treemap charts if we want to track development over time.

7. Waterfall Chart

Waterfall, also known as bridge charts, take their origins from consulting. Several decades ago top tier “24/7 at your service” consultants at McKinsey popularized this type of visualization among their clients. And ever since, the popularity of bridge charts has continued to rise.

Bridge charts are made of bars showing the cumulative effect of a series of positive and negative values impacting a starting and an ending value. Here’s an example.

Waterfall charts have gained popularity due to their eye-catching design

When to use bridge charts

There are two major use cases of bridge charts. Both are very interesting and intuitive.

First, we can use this type of visualization whenever we would like to bridge the difference between two periods.

So, in our example from earlier, the company registered different revenues in 2018 compared to 2017, right? The starting period for this chart is the end of 2017 or 2018. The ending period is the end of 2018. With a simple bar chart, we would just see an increase of 6 million.

The bridge chart gives us additional information – how different divisions contributed to this increase. In fact, the revenues of two of the divisions increased, while the other one didn’t.

In a similar fashion, a bridge chart can show us how one variable was influenced by a series of factors to obtain a specific output. Let’s provide an easy to understand example, which is heavily used in finance. The company’s revenues were equal to 109 million $ in 2018, right?

What if we would like to create a visualization showing how revenues are related to operating profits? We have the necessary information knowing the intermediary steps in between. Here’s the equation we will use.

Operating Profit = Revenue – Cost of goods sold – Operating expenses – D&A.

There are three intermediary steps between revenues and operating profit. A bridge chart allows us to show the impact of each of these steps. Very nice, right?

When to avoid bridge charts

When we deal with data that does not involve intermediary steps or segments, we will have to use different chart types. Simple as that.

8. Scatter Plot

A scatter plot is a type of chart that is often used in the fields of statistics and data science. It consists of multiple data points plotted across two axes. Each variable depicted in a scatter plot would have multiple observations. If a scatter plot includes more than two variables, then we would use different colours to signify that.

When to use scatter plots

A scatter plot chart is a great indicator that allows us to see whether there is a pattern to be found between two variables.

See the example we have here?

Scatter plots chart types are excellent for finding correlations

The x-axis contains information about house price, while the y-axis indicates house size. There is an obvious pattern to be found - a positive relationship between the two. The bigger a house is, the higher its price.

On the other hand, house size and the age of the person who bought a house are two uncorrelated variables, and a scatter plot helps us see that easily.

And also excellent for showing when there isn't one

So, this can be a very useful chart type whenever we would like to see if there is any relationship between two sets of data.

When to avoid scatter plots

We can’t use scatter plots when we don’t have bi-dimensional data. In our example, we need information about both house prices and house size to create a scatter plot. A scatter plot requires at least two dimensions for our data.

In addition, scatter plots are not suitable if we are interested in observing time patterns.

Finally, a scatter plot is used with numerical data , or numbers. If we have categories such as 3 divisions, 5 products, and so on, a scatter plot would not reveal much.

9. Histogram Chart

The last type of chart we will consider here is the histogram chart . A series of bins showing us the frequency of observations of a given variable. The definition of histogram charts is short and easy. Here’s an example.

An interviewer asked 267 people how much their house cost. Then a histogram was used to portray the interviewer’s findings. Some prices were in the range between \$117-217k, many more in the range \$217-317k, and the rest of the houses were classified in more expensive bins. Here’s what the histogram looks like.

Histogram is the chart type you want when working with results within a range

When to use histograms

Histograms are great when we would like to show the distribution of the data we are working with. This allows us to group continuous data into bins and hence, provide a useful representation of where observations are concentrated.

When to avoid histograms

Be careful when the data you are working with contains multiple categories or variables. Multi-column histograms are among the chart types to be avoided when they look like this.

Overly complex histograms are near impossible to follow

Next Steps: Creating Charts and Graphs

In this article, we were able to provide a great summary of the different chart types you will need when working with data.

In addition, you learned something which is even more important: when to use these charts and when to avoid using certain chart types. Clear and intuitive visualizations should be the main focus. There is no point in using sophisticated chart types that must be packaged with a translator or a 5-page legend. To further hone your skills and practice what you've learned, take our Complete Data Visualization with Python, R, Tableau, and Excel course .

Iliya Valchanov

Co-founder of 365 Data Science

Iliya is a finance graduate with a strong quantitative background who chose the exciting path of a startup entrepreneur. He demonstrated a formidable affinity for numbers during his childhood, winning more than 90 national and international awards and competitions through the years. Iliya started teaching at university, helping other students learn statistics and econometrics. Inspired by his first happy students, he co-founded 365 Data Science to continue spreading knowledge. He authored several of the program’s online courses in mathematics, statistics, machine learning, and deep learning.

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How to choose the best chart or graph for your data

Content Strategist, Customer Education at Looker

The quality of our lives is determined by the choices we make. Sometimes the choices are simple, like which flavor of ice cream to indulge in. Let’s say the choices are vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, and strawberry sorbet. Sweetness is great, but on a hot day, vanilla and chocolate lack that light and fruity feeling I want.

Here’s how I analyzed my ice cream choice:

Question : Which flavor of ice cream should I get?

Goal : I want the flavor to complement this hot summer day, and to me, that means something light and fruity.

Outcome : Strawberry sorbet

Yum. But what about the more serious choices, like deciding how much income to squirrel away for retirement?

The same process still works:

Question : How much of my income should I save?

Goal : I want to enjoy a good life post-retirement. Research suggests that means saving at least 20%.

Outcome : I’ll save at least 20%.

Each choice can be broken down with the framework of “question, goal, outcome.” In this framework, you have a question and a goal that you’re trying to achieve. Your goal motivates how you choose between options to get to the outcome.

Choosing the best chart or graph for your data is similar, in that the outcome depends on your goal. You can even use the same “question, goal, outcome” framework. I’ll provide some examples of choosing a chart with this framework further on.

For now, let’s focus on the “goal” part of the framework as it relates to displaying data. We see most visualizations as fulfilling one of four main objectives:

• Showing how values compare to each other
• Showing how the data is distributed
• Showing how the data is composed
• Showing how values relate to one another

The challenge of choosing the right visualization lies in finding the goal beneath your data question. Once you identify the goal, choosing the right chart becomes easier, particularly when you have a reference like the one below.

Types of Charts & Graphs

This points you in the right direction, but there are multiple charts in each category. How’s an analyst to choose? Familiarizing yourself with the nuances of each graph will help.

How to choose the best chart for your data

What’s the best chart to show comparison.

Comparison questions ask how different values or attributes within the data compare to each other.

Tables help you compare exact values to one another. Column and bar charts showcase comparisons across different categories, while line charts excel at showing trends over time.

What’s the best chart to show distribution?

Distribution questions seek to understand how individual data points are distributed within the broader data set.

Box plots show distribution based on a statistical summary, while column histograms are great for finding the frequency of an occurrence. Scatter plots are best for showing distribution in large data sets.

What’s the best chart to show composition?

Composition questions ask what general features are present in the data set.

Donut and pie charts are great choices to show composition when simple proportions are useful. Area charts put the composition of data within the context of trends over time. Stacked bar, percent, and column charts show an overview of the data’s composition.

What’s the best chart to show a relationship between values?

Questions in this category ask how values and attributes relate to each other.

Bubble charts and heat maps can help you quickly identify relationships between data points.

Identifying the goal beneath the question

Now you have references to help you choose between chart types. These resources are most powerful when you understand what motivates those choices in the first place.

What’s your data question really asking for? Is the answer to compare data, look at its distribution, examine its composition, or show a particular relationship between data points?

You can recognize that goal using our “question, goal, outcome” framework from the top of the post.

For the sake of putting this framework into action, I’ll don the hat of a marketing analyst creating visualizations for my colleagues. The morning is dedicated to coffee and acquisition metrics, essentially answering questions like: “Are we gaining enough customers? Where are they coming from?”

Question : How many new users are we acquiring every day?

Goal : Compare values (number of users) over time (days)

Outcome : A line chart

A dip in traffic on the weekends is expected and indeed appears in the data. Now I want to dive into this traffic further and see where these users are coming from.

Question : What channels are these new users coming from?

Goal : Display the composition of the data (which channel source users came from) over time (still comparing the number of new users across days).

Outcome : An area chart

Looks like the organic search category currently accounts for the largest amount of users—meaning that we're doing well in search engine rankings, thanks to our efforts with search engine optimization. We’re getting a lot of traffic from referrers, too—I want to look at that more closely.

Question : Which referrers are driving the most traffic to our website?

Goal : Compare values (number of sessions) across categories (referrers).

Outcome : A bar chart

The partner website drives the most traffic by a long shot, followed by a stellar blog post. But how does the traffic break down between desktop and mobile devices?

Question : Which referrers tend to drive more traffic to our website from desktops, and which ones tend to drive more traffic from mobile devices?

Goal : Comparing values (number of sessions) across categories (referrers) and looking at composition within each bar (mobile vs. web traffic).

Outcome : A stacked bar chart

Question : How does the traffic from mobile and desktop stack up across referrers?

Goal : Comparing values (number of sessions) across categories (referrers) in multiple dimensions (mobile and desktop).

Outcome : A grouped bar chart

That should be enough to get the team started on the acquisition metrics.

Another area of marketing that generates interesting questions is behavior. Knowing what people are up to will help determine the best times and places to reach out to them.

Question : What time of day sees the highest number of users on our website?

Goal : Comparing values (number of sessions) over time (hours) across multiple dimensions (days).

Outcome : Overlay line chart

Looks like noon to four o’clock are our most popular times by far. Which pages are our visitors looking at in the afternoon?

Question : Which landing pages are driving the most engagement by channel?

Goal : Look at the relationship between channels and landing pages to see how the different combinations influence average session duration.

Outcome : Heat map

Interesting— sessions coming from paid searches and direct traffic show the most engagement.

Of course, after understanding visitor behavior better, a marketer’s eye naturally turns toward conversion. How do we get our visitors to become customers?

Questions in the conversion realm can be broken down like this:

Question : Where do we have opportunities to drive more traffic to high-performing web pages?

Goal : Show the relationship between values (conversion rates and number of sessions) to help pinpoint pages with high conversion rates that could be better promoted.

Outcome : Scatterplot

In this example, the page represented by the upper-left corner dot represents an opportunity to promote a page. This page has an extremely high conversion rate compared to the rest but barely sees any traffic.

This framework works for data across all industries, not just marketing.

Try it out for yourself. Take the next data question you encounter and write it out, identify what the goal behind the question is, and use the guidance above to choose the best chart.

Which chart you use impacts how people understand your data and what decisions they make based on that understanding. Happily, you now have some great tools in your pocket to help guide your choices.

Choosing the right chart is one part of the bigger story of communicating with data—but the colors you choose and the way you construct a dashboard also matter. To that end, keep an eye out for the next installment in our data visualization series on designing dashboards for UX/UI.

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Essential chart types for data visualization

Posted by: mike yi, mary sapountzis.

Charts are an essential part of working with data, as they are a way to condense large amounts of data into an easy to understand format. Visualizations of data can bring out insights to someone looking at the data for the first time, as well as convey findings to others who won’t see the raw data. There are countless chart types out there, each with different use cases. Often, the most difficult part of creating a data visualization is figuring out which chart type is best for the task at hand.

Your choice of chart type will depend on multiple factors. What are the types of metrics, features, or other variables that you plan on plotting? Who is the audience that you plan on presenting to – is it just an initial exploration for yourself, or are you presenting to a broader audience? What is the kind of conclusion that you want the reader to draw?

In this article, we’ll provide an overview of essential chart types that you’ll see most frequently offered by visualization tools. With these charts, you will have a broad toolkit to be able to handle your data visualization needs. Guidance on when to select each one based on use case is covered in a  follow-up article .

The foundational four

In his book  Show Me the Numbers , Stephen Few suggests four major encodings for numeric values, indicating positional value via bars, lines, points, and boxes. So we’ll start off with four basic chart types, one for each of these value-encoding means.

In a  bar chart , values are indicated by the length of bars, each of which corresponds with a measured group. Bar charts can be oriented vertically or horizontally; vertical bar charts are sometimes called column charts. Horizontal bar charts are a good option when you have a lot of bars to plot, or the labels on them require additional space to be legible.

Line charts  show changes in value across continuous measurements, such as those made over time. Movement of the line up or down helps bring out positive and negative changes, respectively. It can also expose overall trends, to help the reader make predictions or projections for future outcomes. Multiple line charts can also give rise to other related charts like the sparkline or ridgeline plot.

Scatter plot

A  scatter plot  displays values on two numeric variables using points positioned on two axes: one for each variable. Scatter plots are a versatile demonstration of the relationship between the plotted variables—whether that correlation is strong or weak, positive or negative, linear or non-linear. Scatter plots are also great for identifying outlier points and possible gaps in the data.

A  box plot  uses boxes and whiskers to summarize the distribution of values within measured groups. The positions of the box and whisker ends show the regions where the majority of the data lies. We most commonly see box plots when we have multiple groups to compare to one another; other charts with more detail are preferred when we have only one group to plot.

Tables and single values

Before moving on to other chart types, it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate the option of just showing the raw numbers. In particular, when you only have one number to show, just displaying the value is a sensible approach to depicting the data. When exact values are of interest in an analysis, you can include them in an accompanying table or through annotations on a graphical visualization.

Common variations

Additional chart types can come about from changing the ways encodings are used, or by including additional encodings. Secondary encodings like area, shape, and color can be useful for adding additional variables to more basic chart types.

If the groups depicted in a bar chart are actually continuous numeric ranges, we can push the bars together to generate a  histogram . Bar lengths in histograms typically correspond to counts of data points, and their patterns demonstrate the distribution of variables in your data. A different chart type like line chart tends to be used when the vertical value is not a frequency count.

Stacked bar chart

One modification of the standard bar chart is to divide each bar into multiple smaller bars based on values of a second grouping variable, called a  stacked bar chart . This allows you to not only compare primary group values like in a regular bar chart, but also illustrate a relative breakdown of each group’s whole into its constituent parts.

Grouped bar chart

If, on the other hand, the sub-bars were placed side-by-side into clusters instead of kept in their stacks, we would obtain the  grouped bar chart . The grouped bar chart does not allow for comparison of primary group totals, but does a much better job of allowing for comparison of the sub-groups.

A dot plot is like a bar chart in that it indicates values for different categorical groupings, but encodes values based on a point’s position rather than a bar’s length. Dot plots are useful when you need to compare across categories, but the zero baseline is not informative or useful. You can also think of a dot plot as like a line plot with the line removed, so that it can be used with variables with unordered categories rather than just continuous or ordered variables.

An  area chart  starts with the same foundation as a line chart – value points connected by line segments – but adds in a concept from the bar chart with shading between the line and a baseline. This chart is most often seen when combined with the concept of stacking, to show how both how a total has changed over time, but also how its components’ contributions have changed.

Dual-axis chart

Dual-axis charts overlay two different charts with a shared horizontal axis, but potentially different vertical axis scales (one for each component chart). This can be useful to show a direct comparison between the two sets of vertical values, while also including the context of the horizontal-axis variable. It is common to use different base chart types, like the bar and line combination, to reduce confusion of the different axis scales for each component chart.

Bubble chart

Another way of showing the relationship between three variables is through modification of a scatter plot. When a third variable is categorical, points can use different shapes or colors to indicate group membership. If the data points are ordered in some way, points can also be connected with line segments to show the sequence of values. When the third variable is numeric in nature, that is where the  bubble chart  comes in. A bubble chart builds on the base scatter plot by having the third variable’s value determine the size of each point.

Density curve

The density curve, or kernel density estimate, is an alternative way of showing distributions of data instead of the histogram. Rather than collecting data points into frequency bins, each data point contributes a small volume of data whose collected whole becomes the density curve. While density curves may imply some data values that do not exist, they can be a good way to smooth out noise in the data to get an understanding of the distribution signal.

Violin plot

An alternative to the box plot’s approach to comparing value distributions between groups is the violin plot. In a violin plot, each set of box and whiskers is replaced with a density curve built around a central baseline. This can provide a better comparison of data shapes between groups, though this does lose out on comparisons of precise statistical values. A frequent variation for violin plots is to include box-style markings on top of the violin plot to get the best of both worlds.

The  heatmap  presents a grid of values based on two variables of interest. The axis variables can be numeric or categorical; the grid is created by dividing each variable into ranges or levels like a histogram or bar chart. Grid cells are colored based on value, often with darker colors corresponding with higher values. A heatmap can be an interesting alternative to a scatter plot when there are a lot of data points to plot, but the point density makes it difficult to see the true relationship between variables.

Specialist charts

There are plenty of additional charts out there that encode data in other ways for particular use cases.  Xenographics  includes a collection of some fanciful charts that have been driven by very particular purposes. Still, some of these charts have use cases that are common enough that they can be considered essential to know.

You might be surprised to see  pie charts  being sequestered here in the ‘specialist’ section, considering how commonly they are utilized. However, pie charts use an uncommon encoding, depicting values as areas sliced from a circular form. Since a pie chart typically lacks value markings around its perimeter, it is usually difficult to get a good idea of exact slice sizes. However, the pie chart and its cousin the donut plot excel at telling the reader that the part-to-whole comparison should be the main takeaway from the visualization.

Funnel chart

A  funnel chart  is often seen in business contexts where visitors or users need to be tracked in a pipeline flow. The chart shows how many users make it to each stage of the tracked process from the width of the funnel at each stage division. The tapering of the funnel helps to sell the analogy, but can muddle what the true conversion rates are. A bar chart can often fulfill the same purpose as a funnel chart, but with a cleaner representation of data.

Bullet chart

The bullet chart enhances a single bar with additional markings for how to contextualize that bar’s value. This usually means a perpendicular line showing a target value, but also background shading to provide additional performance benchmarks. Bullet charts are usually used for multiple metrics, and are more compact to render than other types of more fanciful gauges.

Map-based plots

There are a number of families of specialist plots grouped by usage, but we’ll close this article out by touching upon one of them: map-based or geospatial plots. When values in a dataset correspond to actual geographic locations, it can be valuable to actually plot them with some kind of map. A common example of this type of map is the choropleth like the one above. This takes a heat map approach to depicting value through the use of color, but instead of values being plotted in a grid, they are filled into regions on a map.

For a handy reference guide for more chart types and when they should be used, check out our free eBook,  How to Choose the Right Data Visualization .

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17 Data Visualization Techniques All Professionals Should Know

• 17 Sep 2019

There’s a growing demand for business analytics and data expertise in the workforce. But you don’t need to be a professional analyst to benefit from data-related skills.

Becoming skilled at common data visualization techniques can help you reap the rewards of data-driven decision-making , including increased confidence and potential cost savings. Learning how to effectively visualize data could be the first step toward using data analytics and data science to your advantage to add value to your organization.

Several data visualization techniques can help you become more effective in your role. Here are 17 essential data visualization techniques all professionals should know, as well as tips to help you effectively present your data.

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What Is Data Visualization?

Data visualization is the process of creating graphical representations of information. This process helps the presenter communicate data in a way that’s easy for the viewer to interpret and draw conclusions.

There are many different techniques and tools you can leverage to visualize data, so you want to know which ones to use and when. Here are some of the most important data visualization techniques all professionals should know.

Data Visualization Techniques

The type of data visualization technique you leverage will vary based on the type of data you’re working with, in addition to the story you’re telling with your data .

Here are some important data visualization techniques to know:

• Gantt Chart
• Box and Whisker Plot
• Waterfall Chart
• Scatter Plot
• Pictogram Chart
• Highlight Table
• Bullet Graph
• Choropleth Map
• Network Diagram
• Correlation Matrices

1. Pie Chart

Pie charts are one of the most common and basic data visualization techniques, used across a wide range of applications. Pie charts are ideal for illustrating proportions, or part-to-whole comparisons.

Because pie charts are relatively simple and easy to read, they’re best suited for audiences who might be unfamiliar with the information or are only interested in the key takeaways. For viewers who require a more thorough explanation of the data, pie charts fall short in their ability to display complex information.

2. Bar Chart

The classic bar chart , or bar graph, is another common and easy-to-use method of data visualization. In this type of visualization, one axis of the chart shows the categories being compared, and the other, a measured value. The length of the bar indicates how each group measures according to the value.

One drawback is that labeling and clarity can become problematic when there are too many categories included. Like pie charts, they can also be too simple for more complex data sets.

3. Histogram

Unlike bar charts, histograms illustrate the distribution of data over a continuous interval or defined period. These visualizations are helpful in identifying where values are concentrated, as well as where there are gaps or unusual values.

Histograms are especially useful for showing the frequency of a particular occurrence. For instance, if you’d like to show how many clicks your website received each day over the last week, you can use a histogram. From this visualization, you can quickly determine which days your website saw the greatest and fewest number of clicks.

4. Gantt Chart

Gantt charts are particularly common in project management, as they’re useful in illustrating a project timeline or progression of tasks. In this type of chart, tasks to be performed are listed on the vertical axis and time intervals on the horizontal axis. Horizontal bars in the body of the chart represent the duration of each activity.

Utilizing Gantt charts to display timelines can be incredibly helpful, and enable team members to keep track of every aspect of a project. Even if you’re not a project management professional, familiarizing yourself with Gantt charts can help you stay organized.

5. Heat Map

A heat map is a type of visualization used to show differences in data through variations in color. These charts use color to communicate values in a way that makes it easy for the viewer to quickly identify trends. Having a clear legend is necessary in order for a user to successfully read and interpret a heatmap.

There are many possible applications of heat maps. For example, if you want to analyze which time of day a retail store makes the most sales, you can use a heat map that shows the day of the week on the vertical axis and time of day on the horizontal axis. Then, by shading in the matrix with colors that correspond to the number of sales at each time of day, you can identify trends in the data that allow you to determine the exact times your store experiences the most sales.

6. A Box and Whisker Plot

A box and whisker plot , or box plot, provides a visual summary of data through its quartiles. First, a box is drawn from the first quartile to the third of the data set. A line within the box represents the median. “Whiskers,” or lines, are then drawn extending from the box to the minimum (lower extreme) and maximum (upper extreme). Outliers are represented by individual points that are in-line with the whiskers.

This type of chart is helpful in quickly identifying whether or not the data is symmetrical or skewed, as well as providing a visual summary of the data set that can be easily interpreted.

7. Waterfall Chart

A waterfall chart is a visual representation that illustrates how a value changes as it’s influenced by different factors, such as time. The main goal of this chart is to show the viewer how a value has grown or declined over a defined period. For example, waterfall charts are popular for showing spending or earnings over time.

8. Area Chart

An area chart , or area graph, is a variation on a basic line graph in which the area underneath the line is shaded to represent the total value of each data point. When several data series must be compared on the same graph, stacked area charts are used.

This method of data visualization is useful for showing changes in one or more quantities over time, as well as showing how each quantity combines to make up the whole. Stacked area charts are effective in showing part-to-whole comparisons.

9. Scatter Plot

Another technique commonly used to display data is a scatter plot . A scatter plot displays data for two variables as represented by points plotted against the horizontal and vertical axis. This type of data visualization is useful in illustrating the relationships that exist between variables and can be used to identify trends or correlations in data.

Scatter plots are most effective for fairly large data sets, since it’s often easier to identify trends when there are more data points present. Additionally, the closer the data points are grouped together, the stronger the correlation or trend tends to be.

10. Pictogram Chart

Pictogram charts , or pictograph charts, are particularly useful for presenting simple data in a more visual and engaging way. These charts use icons to visualize data, with each icon representing a different value or category. For example, data about time might be represented by icons of clocks or watches. Each icon can correspond to either a single unit or a set number of units (for example, each icon represents 100 units).

In addition to making the data more engaging, pictogram charts are helpful in situations where language or cultural differences might be a barrier to the audience’s understanding of the data.

11. Timeline

Timelines are the most effective way to visualize a sequence of events in chronological order. They’re typically linear, with key events outlined along the axis. Timelines are used to communicate time-related information and display historical data.

Timelines allow you to highlight the most important events that occurred, or need to occur in the future, and make it easy for the viewer to identify any patterns appearing within the selected time period. While timelines are often relatively simple linear visualizations, they can be made more visually appealing by adding images, colors, fonts, and decorative shapes.

12. Highlight Table

A highlight table is a more engaging alternative to traditional tables. By highlighting cells in the table with color, you can make it easier for viewers to quickly spot trends and patterns in the data. These visualizations are useful for comparing categorical data.

Depending on the data visualization tool you’re using, you may be able to add conditional formatting rules to the table that automatically color cells that meet specified conditions. For instance, when using a highlight table to visualize a company’s sales data, you may color cells red if the sales data is below the goal, or green if sales were above the goal. Unlike a heat map, the colors in a highlight table are discrete and represent a single meaning or value.

13. Bullet Graph

A bullet graph is a variation of a bar graph that can act as an alternative to dashboard gauges to represent performance data. The main use for a bullet graph is to inform the viewer of how a business is performing in comparison to benchmarks that are in place for key business metrics.

In a bullet graph, the darker horizontal bar in the middle of the chart represents the actual value, while the vertical line represents a comparative value, or target. If the horizontal bar passes the vertical line, the target for that metric has been surpassed. Additionally, the segmented colored sections behind the horizontal bar represent range scores, such as “poor,” “fair,” or “good.”

14. Choropleth Maps

A choropleth map uses color, shading, and other patterns to visualize numerical values across geographic regions. These visualizations use a progression of color (or shading) on a spectrum to distinguish high values from low.

Choropleth maps allow viewers to see how a variable changes from one region to the next. A potential downside to this type of visualization is that the exact numerical values aren’t easily accessible because the colors represent a range of values. Some data visualization tools, however, allow you to add interactivity to your map so the exact values are accessible.

15. Word Cloud

A word cloud , or tag cloud, is a visual representation of text data in which the size of the word is proportional to its frequency. The more often a specific word appears in a dataset, the larger it appears in the visualization. In addition to size, words often appear bolder or follow a specific color scheme depending on their frequency.

Word clouds are often used on websites and blogs to identify significant keywords and compare differences in textual data between two sources. They are also useful when analyzing qualitative datasets, such as the specific words consumers used to describe a product.

16. Network Diagram

Network diagrams are a type of data visualization that represent relationships between qualitative data points. These visualizations are composed of nodes and links, also called edges. Nodes are singular data points that are connected to other nodes through edges, which show the relationship between multiple nodes.

There are many use cases for network diagrams, including depicting social networks, highlighting the relationships between employees at an organization, or visualizing product sales across geographic regions.

17. Correlation Matrix

A correlation matrix is a table that shows correlation coefficients between variables. Each cell represents the relationship between two variables, and a color scale is used to communicate whether the variables are correlated and to what extent.

Correlation matrices are useful to summarize and find patterns in large data sets. In business, a correlation matrix might be used to analyze how different data points about a specific product might be related, such as price, advertising spend, launch date, etc.

Other Data Visualization Options

While the examples listed above are some of the most commonly used techniques, there are many other ways you can visualize data to become a more effective communicator. Some other data visualization options include:

• Bubble clouds
• Circle views
• Dendrograms
• Dot distribution maps
• Open-high-low-close charts
• Polar areas
• Radial trees
• Ring Charts
• Sankey diagram
• Span charts
• Streamgraphs
• Wedge stack graphs
• Violin plots

Tips For Creating Effective Visualizations

Creating effective data visualizations requires more than just knowing how to choose the best technique for your needs. There are several considerations you should take into account to maximize your effectiveness when it comes to presenting data.

Related : What to Keep in Mind When Creating Data Visualizations in Excel

One of the most important steps is to evaluate your audience. For example, if you’re presenting financial data to a team that works in an unrelated department, you’ll want to choose a fairly simple illustration. On the other hand, if you’re presenting financial data to a team of finance experts, it’s likely you can safely include more complex information.

Another helpful tip is to avoid unnecessary distractions. Although visual elements like animation can be a great way to add interest, they can also distract from the key points the illustration is trying to convey and hinder the viewer’s ability to quickly understand the information.

Finally, be mindful of the colors you utilize, as well as your overall design. While it’s important that your graphs or charts are visually appealing, there are more practical reasons you might choose one color palette over another. For instance, using low contrast colors can make it difficult for your audience to discern differences between data points. Using colors that are too bold, however, can make the illustration overwhelming or distracting for the viewer.

Related : Bad Data Visualization: 5 Examples of Misleading Data

Visuals to Interpret and Share Information

No matter your role or title within an organization, data visualization is a skill that’s important for all professionals. Being able to effectively present complex data through easy-to-understand visual representations is invaluable when it comes to communicating information with members both inside and outside your business.

There’s no shortage in how data visualization can be applied in the real world. Data is playing an increasingly important role in the marketplace today, and data literacy is the first step in understanding how analytics can be used in business.

Are you interested in improving your analytical skills? Learn more about Business Analytics , our eight-week online course that can help you use data to generate insights and tackle business decisions.

This post was updated on January 20, 2022. It was originally published on September 17, 2019.

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Home Blog Design Understanding Data Presentations (Guide + Examples)

Understanding Data Presentations (Guide + Examples)

In this age of overwhelming information, the skill to effectively convey data has become extremely valuable. Initiating a discussion on data presentation types involves thoughtful consideration of the nature of your data and the message you aim to convey. Different types of visualizations serve distinct purposes. Whether you’re dealing with how to develop a report or simply trying to communicate complex information, how you present data influences how well your audience understands and engages with it. This extensive guide leads you through the different ways of data presentation.

Table of Contents

What is a Data Presentation?

What should a data presentation include, line graphs, treemap chart, scatter plot, how to choose a data presentation type, recommended data presentation templates, common mistakes done in data presentation.

We can label a presentation under the title of data presentation when the aim is to disclose quantitative information to an audience through the usage of visual formats and narrative techniques. The overall purpose of this kind of presentation is to simplify complex concepts, allowing the presenter to highlight trends, patterns, and insights with the core purpose of acting upon the shared information. This process requires a series of tools, such as charts, graphs, tables, infographics, dashboards, and so on, supported by concise textual explanations for better understanding and boosting retention rate.

Data presentations go beyond the mere usage of graphical elements. Seasoned presenters encompass visuals with the art of storytelling with data, so the speech skillfully connects the points through a narrative that resonates with the audience. Depending on the purpose – inspire, persuade, inform, support decision-making processes, etc. – is the data presentation format that is better suited to help us in this journey.

To nail your upcoming data presentation, ensure to count with the following elements:

• Clear Objectives: Understand the intent of your presentation before selecting the graphical layout and metaphors to make content easier to grasp.
• Engaging introduction: Use a powerful hook from the get-go. For instance, you can ask a big question or present a problem that your data will answer. Take a look at our guide on how to start a presentation for tips & insights.
• Structured Narrative: Your data presentation must tell a coherent story. This means a beginning where you present the context, a middle section in which you present the data, and an ending that uses a call-to-action. Check our guide on presentation structure for further information.
• Visual Elements: These are the charts, graphs, and other elements of visual communication we ought to use to present data. This article will cover one by one the different types of data representation methods we can use, and provide further guidance on choosing between them.
• Insights and Analysis: This is not just showcasing a graph and letting people get an idea about it. A proper data presentation includes the interpretation of that data, the reason why it’s included, and why it matters to your research.
• Conclusion & CTA: Ending your presentation with a call to action is necessary. Whether you intend to wow your audience into acquiring your services, inspire them to change the world, or whatever the purpose of your presentation, there must be a stage in which you convey all that you shared and show the path to staying in touch. Plan ahead whether you want to use a thank-you slide, a video presentation, or which method is apt and tailored to the kind of presentation you deliver.
• Q&A Session: After your speech is concluded, allocate 3-5 minutes for the audience to raise any questions about the information you disclosed. This is an extra chance to establish your authority on the topic. Check our guide on questions and answer sessions in presentations here.

Bar charts are a graphical representation of data using rectangular bars to show quantities or frequencies in an established category. They make it easy for readers to spot patterns or trends. Bar charts can be horizontal or vertical, although the vertical format is commonly known as a column chart. They display categorical, discrete, or continuous variables grouped in class intervals [1] . They include an axis and a set of labeled bars horizontally or vertically. These bars represent the frequencies of variable values or the values themselves. Numbers on the y-axis of a vertical bar chart or the x-axis of a horizontal bar chart are called the scale.

Real-Life Application of Bar Charts

Let’s say a sales manager is presenting sales to their audience. Using a bar chart, he follows these steps.

Step 1: Selecting Data

The first step is to identify the specific data you will present to your audience.

The sales manager has highlighted these products for the presentation.

• Product A: Men’s Shoes
• Product B: Women’s Apparel
• Product C: Electronics
• Product D: Home Decor

Step 2: Choosing Orientation

Opt for a vertical layout for simplicity. Vertical bar charts help compare different categories in case there are not too many categories [1] . They can also help show different trends. A vertical bar chart is used where each bar represents one of the four chosen products. After plotting the data, it is seen that the height of each bar directly represents the sales performance of the respective product.

It is visible that the tallest bar (Electronics – Product C) is showing the highest sales. However, the shorter bars (Women’s Apparel – Product B and Home Decor – Product D) need attention. It indicates areas that require further analysis or strategies for improvement.

Step 3: Colorful Insights

Different colors are used to differentiate each product. It is essential to show a color-coded chart where the audience can distinguish between products.

• Men’s Shoes (Product A): Yellow
• Women’s Apparel (Product B): Orange
• Electronics (Product C): Violet
• Home Decor (Product D): Blue

Bar charts are straightforward and easily understandable for presenting data. They are versatile when comparing products or any categorical data [2] . Bar charts adapt seamlessly to retail scenarios. Despite that, bar charts have a few shortcomings. They cannot illustrate data trends over time. Besides, overloading the chart with numerous products can lead to visual clutter, diminishing its effectiveness.

For more information, check our collection of bar chart templates for PowerPoint .

Line graphs help illustrate data trends, progressions, or fluctuations by connecting a series of data points called ‘markers’ with straight line segments. This provides a straightforward representation of how values change [5] . Their versatility makes them invaluable for scenarios requiring a visual understanding of continuous data. In addition, line graphs are also useful for comparing multiple datasets over the same timeline. Using multiple line graphs allows us to compare more than one data set. They simplify complex information so the audience can quickly grasp the ups and downs of values. From tracking stock prices to analyzing experimental results, you can use line graphs to show how data changes over a continuous timeline. They show trends with simplicity and clarity.

Real-life Application of Line Graphs

To understand line graphs thoroughly, we will use a real case. Imagine you’re a financial analyst presenting a tech company’s monthly sales for a licensed product over the past year. Investors want insights into sales behavior by month, how market trends may have influenced sales performance and reception to the new pricing strategy. To present data via a line graph, you will complete these steps.

First, you need to gather the data. In this case, your data will be the sales numbers. For example:

• January: $45,000
• February: $55,000
• March: $45,000
• April: $60,000
• May: $ 70,000
• June: $65,000
• July: $62,000
• August: $68,000
• September: $81,000
• October: $76,000
• November: $87,000
• December: $91,000

After choosing the data, the next step is to select the orientation. Like bar charts, you can use vertical or horizontal line graphs. However, we want to keep this simple, so we will keep the timeline (x-axis) horizontal while the sales numbers (y-axis) vertical.

Step 3: Connecting Trends

After adding the data to your preferred software, you will plot a line graph. In the graph, each month’s sales are represented by data points connected by a line.

Step 4: Adding Clarity with Color

If there are multiple lines, you can also add colors to highlight each one, making it easier to follow.

Line graphs excel at visually presenting trends over time. These presentation aids identify patterns, like upward or downward trends. However, too many data points can clutter the graph, making it harder to interpret. Line graphs work best with continuous data but are not suitable for categories.

For more information, check our collection of line chart templates for PowerPoint .

A data dashboard is a visual tool for analyzing information. Different graphs, charts, and tables are consolidated in a layout to showcase the information required to achieve one or more objectives. Dashboards help quickly see Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). You don’t make new visuals in the dashboard; instead, you use it to display visuals you’ve already made in worksheets [3] .

Keeping the number of visuals on a dashboard to three or four is recommended. Adding too many can make it hard to see the main points [4]. Dashboards can be used for business analytics to analyze sales, revenue, and marketing metrics at a time. They are also used in the manufacturing industry, as they allow users to grasp the entire production scenario at the moment while tracking the core KPIs for each line.

Real-Life Application of a Dashboard

Consider a project manager presenting a software development project’s progress to a tech company’s leadership team. He follows the following steps.

Step 1: Defining Key Metrics

To effectively communicate the project’s status, identify key metrics such as completion status, budget, and bug resolution rates. Then, choose measurable metrics aligned with project objectives.

Step 2: Choosing Visualization Widgets

After finalizing the data, presentation aids that align with each metric are selected. For this project, the project manager chooses a progress bar for the completion status and uses bar charts for budget allocation. Likewise, he implements line charts for bug resolution rates.

Step 3: Dashboard Layout

Key metrics are prominently placed in the dashboard for easy visibility, and the manager ensures that it appears clean and organized.

Dashboards provide a comprehensive view of key project metrics. Users can interact with data, customize views, and drill down for detailed analysis. However, creating an effective dashboard requires careful planning to avoid clutter. Besides, dashboards rely on the availability and accuracy of underlying data sources.

For more information, check our article on how to design a dashboard presentation , and discover our collection of dashboard PowerPoint templates .

Treemap charts represent hierarchical data structured in a series of nested rectangles [6] . As each branch of the ‘tree’ is given a rectangle, smaller tiles can be seen representing sub-branches, meaning elements on a lower hierarchical level than the parent rectangle. Each one of those rectangular nodes is built by representing an area proportional to the specified data dimension.

Treemaps are useful for visualizing large datasets in compact space. It is easy to identify patterns, such as which categories are dominant. Common applications of the treemap chart are seen in the IT industry, such as resource allocation, disk space management, website analytics, etc. Also, they can be used in multiple industries like healthcare data analysis, market share across different product categories, or even in finance to visualize portfolios.

Real-Life Application of a Treemap Chart

Let’s consider a financial scenario where a financial team wants to represent the budget allocation of a company. There is a hierarchy in the process, so it is helpful to use a treemap chart. In the chart, the top-level rectangle could represent the total budget, and it would be subdivided into smaller rectangles, each denoting a specific department. Further subdivisions within these smaller rectangles might represent individual projects or cost categories.

Step 1: Define Your Data Hierarchy

While presenting data on the budget allocation, start by outlining the hierarchical structure. The sequence will be like the overall budget at the top, followed by departments, projects within each department, and finally, individual cost categories for each project.

• Top-level rectangle: Total Budget
• Second-level rectangles: Departments (Engineering, Marketing, Sales)
• Third-level rectangles: Projects within each department
• Fourth-level rectangles: Cost categories for each project (Personnel, Marketing Expenses, Equipment)

Step 2: Choose a Suitable Tool

It’s time to select a data visualization tool supporting Treemaps. Popular choices include Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, PowerPoint, or even coding with libraries like D3.js. It is vital to ensure that the chosen tool provides customization options for colors, labels, and hierarchical structures.

Here, the team uses PowerPoint for this guide because of its user-friendly interface and robust Treemap capabilities.

Step 3: Make a Treemap Chart with PowerPoint

After opening the PowerPoint presentation, they chose “SmartArt” to form the chart. The SmartArt Graphic window has a “Hierarchy” category on the left.  Here, you will see multiple options. You can choose any layout that resembles a Treemap. The “Table Hierarchy” or “Organization Chart” options can be adapted. The team selects the Table Hierarchy as it looks close to a Treemap.

Step 5: Input Your Data

After that, a new window will open with a basic structure. They add the data one by one by clicking on the text boxes. They start with the top-level rectangle, representing the total budget.  

Step 6: Customize the Treemap

By clicking on each shape, they customize its color, size, and label. At the same time, they can adjust the font size, style, and color of labels by using the options in the “Format” tab in PowerPoint. Using different colors for each level enhances the visual difference.

Treemaps excel at illustrating hierarchical structures. These charts make it easy to understand relationships and dependencies. They efficiently use space, compactly displaying a large amount of data, reducing the need for excessive scrolling or navigation. Additionally, using colors enhances the understanding of data by representing different variables or categories.

In some cases, treemaps might become complex, especially with deep hierarchies.  It becomes challenging for some users to interpret the chart. At the same time, displaying detailed information within each rectangle might be constrained by space. It potentially limits the amount of data that can be shown clearly. Without proper labeling and color coding, there’s a risk of misinterpretation.

A heatmap is a data visualization tool that uses color coding to represent values across a two-dimensional surface. In these, colors replace numbers to indicate the magnitude of each cell. This color-shaded matrix display is valuable for summarizing and understanding data sets with a glance [7] . The intensity of the color corresponds to the value it represents, making it easy to identify patterns, trends, and variations in the data.

As a tool, heatmaps help businesses analyze website interactions, revealing user behavior patterns and preferences to enhance overall user experience. In addition, companies use heatmaps to assess content engagement, identifying popular sections and areas of improvement for more effective communication. They excel at highlighting patterns and trends in large datasets, making it easy to identify areas of interest.

We can implement heatmaps to express multiple data types, such as numerical values, percentages, or even categorical data. Heatmaps help us easily spot areas with lots of activity, making them helpful in figuring out clusters [8] . When making these maps, it is important to pick colors carefully. The colors need to show the differences between groups or levels of something. And it is good to use colors that people with colorblindness can easily see.

Check our detailed guide on how to create a heatmap here. Also discover our collection of heatmap PowerPoint templates .

Pie charts are circular statistical graphics divided into slices to illustrate numerical proportions. Each slice represents a proportionate part of the whole, making it easy to visualize the contribution of each component to the total.

The size of the pie charts is influenced by the value of data points within each pie. The total of all data points in a pie determines its size. The pie with the highest data points appears as the largest, whereas the others are proportionally smaller. However, you can present all pies of the same size if proportional representation is not required [9] . Sometimes, pie charts are difficult to read, or additional information is required. A variation of this tool can be used instead, known as the donut chart , which has the same structure but a blank center, creating a ring shape. Presenters can add extra information, and the ring shape helps to declutter the graph.

Pie charts are used in business to show percentage distribution, compare relative sizes of categories, or present straightforward data sets where visualizing ratios is essential.

Real-Life Application of Pie Charts

Consider a scenario where you want to represent the distribution of the data. Each slice of the pie chart would represent a different category, and the size of each slice would indicate the percentage of the total portion allocated to that category.

Step 1: Define Your Data Structure

Imagine you are presenting the distribution of a project budget among different expense categories.

• Column A: Expense Categories (Personnel, Equipment, Marketing, Miscellaneous)
• Column B: Budget Amounts ($40,000, $30,000, $20,000, $10,000) Column B represents the values of your categories in Column A.

Step 2: Insert a Pie Chart

Using any of the accessible tools, you can create a pie chart. The most convenient tools for forming a pie chart in a presentation are presentation tools such as PowerPoint or Google Slides.  You will notice that the pie chart assigns each expense category a percentage of the total budget by dividing it by the total budget.

For instance:

• Personnel: $40,000 / ($40,000 + $30,000 + $20,000 + $10,000) = 40%
• Equipment: $30,000 / ($40,000 + $30,000 + $20,000 + $10,000) = 30%
• Marketing: $20,000 / ($40,000 + $30,000 + $20,000 + $10,000) = 20%
• Miscellaneous: $10,000 / ($40,000 + $30,000 + $20,000 + $10,000) = 10%

You can make a chart out of this or just pull out the pie chart from the data.

3D pie charts and 3D donut charts are quite popular among the audience. They stand out as visual elements in any presentation slide, so let’s take a look at how our pie chart example would look in 3D pie chart format.

Step 03: Results Interpretation

The pie chart visually illustrates the distribution of the project budget among different expense categories. Personnel constitutes the largest portion at 40%, followed by equipment at 30%, marketing at 20%, and miscellaneous at 10%. This breakdown provides a clear overview of where the project funds are allocated, which helps in informed decision-making and resource management. It is evident that personnel are a significant investment, emphasizing their importance in the overall project budget.

Pie charts provide a straightforward way to represent proportions and percentages. They are easy to understand, even for individuals with limited data analysis experience. These charts work well for small datasets with a limited number of categories.

However, a pie chart can become cluttered and less effective in situations with many categories. Accurate interpretation may be challenging, especially when dealing with slight differences in slice sizes. In addition, these charts are static and do not effectively convey trends over time.

For more information, check our collection of pie chart templates for PowerPoint .

Histograms present the distribution of numerical variables. Unlike a bar chart that records each unique response separately, histograms organize numeric responses into bins and show the frequency of reactions within each bin [10] . The x-axis of a histogram shows the range of values for a numeric variable. At the same time, the y-axis indicates the relative frequencies (percentage of the total counts) for that range of values.

Whenever you want to understand the distribution of your data, check which values are more common, or identify outliers, histograms are your go-to. Think of them as a spotlight on the story your data is telling. A histogram can provide a quick and insightful overview if you’re curious about exam scores, sales figures, or any numerical data distribution.

Real-Life Application of a Histogram

In the histogram data analysis presentation example, imagine an instructor analyzing a class’s grades to identify the most common score range. A histogram could effectively display the distribution. It will show whether most students scored in the average range or if there are significant outliers.

Step 1: Gather Data

He begins by gathering the data. The scores of each student in class are gathered to analyze exam scores.

After arranging the scores in ascending order, bin ranges are set.

Step 2: Define Bins

Bins are like categories that group similar values. Think of them as buckets that organize your data. The presenter decides how wide each bin should be based on the range of the values. For instance, the instructor sets the bin ranges based on score intervals: 60-69, 70-79, 80-89, and 90-100.

Step 3: Count Frequency

Now, he counts how many data points fall into each bin. This step is crucial because it tells you how often specific ranges of values occur. The result is the frequency distribution, showing the occurrences of each group.

Here, the instructor counts the number of students in each category.

• 60-69: 1 student (Kate)
• 70-79: 4 students (David, Emma, Grace, Jack)
• 80-89: 7 students (Alice, Bob, Frank, Isabel, Liam, Mia, Noah)
• 90-100: 3 students (Clara, Henry, Olivia)

Step 4: Create the Histogram

It’s time to turn the data into a visual representation. Draw a bar for each bin on a graph. The width of the bar should correspond to the range of the bin, and the height should correspond to the frequency.  To make your histogram understandable, label the X and Y axes.

In this case, the X-axis should represent the bins (e.g., test score ranges), and the Y-axis represents the frequency.

The histogram of the class grades reveals insightful patterns in the distribution. Most students, with seven students, fall within the 80-89 score range. The histogram provides a clear visualization of the class’s performance. It showcases a concentration of grades in the upper-middle range with few outliers at both ends. This analysis helps in understanding the overall academic standing of the class. It also identifies the areas for potential improvement or recognition.

Thus, histograms provide a clear visual representation of data distribution. They are easy to interpret, even for those without a statistical background. They apply to various types of data, including continuous and discrete variables. One weak point is that histograms do not capture detailed patterns in students’ data, with seven compared to other visualization methods.

A scatter plot is a graphical representation of the relationship between two variables. It consists of individual data points on a two-dimensional plane. This plane plots one variable on the x-axis and the other on the y-axis. Each point represents a unique observation. It visualizes patterns, trends, or correlations between the two variables.

Scatter plots are also effective in revealing the strength and direction of relationships. They identify outliers and assess the overall distribution of data points. The points’ dispersion and clustering reflect the relationship’s nature, whether it is positive, negative, or lacks a discernible pattern. In business, scatter plots assess relationships between variables such as marketing cost and sales revenue. They help present data correlations and decision-making.

Real-Life Application of Scatter Plot

A group of scientists is conducting a study on the relationship between daily hours of screen time and sleep quality. After reviewing the data, they managed to create this table to help them build a scatter plot graph:

In the provided example, the x-axis represents Daily Hours of Screen Time, and the y-axis represents the Sleep Quality Rating.

The scientists observe a negative correlation between the amount of screen time and the quality of sleep. This is consistent with their hypothesis that blue light, especially before bedtime, has a significant impact on sleep quality and metabolic processes.

There are a few things to remember when using a scatter plot. Even when a scatter diagram indicates a relationship, it doesn’t mean one variable affects the other. A third factor can influence both variables. The more the plot resembles a straight line, the stronger the relationship is perceived [11] . If it suggests no ties, the observed pattern might be due to random fluctuations in data. When the scatter diagram depicts no correlation, whether the data might be stratified is worth considering.

Choosing the appropriate data presentation type is crucial when making a presentation . Understanding the nature of your data and the message you intend to convey will guide this selection process. For instance, when showcasing quantitative relationships, scatter plots become instrumental in revealing correlations between variables. If the focus is on emphasizing parts of a whole, pie charts offer a concise display of proportions. Histograms, on the other hand, prove valuable for illustrating distributions and frequency patterns. 

Bar charts provide a clear visual comparison of different categories. Likewise, line charts excel in showcasing trends over time, while tables are ideal for detailed data examination. Starting a presentation on data presentation types involves evaluating the specific information you want to communicate and selecting the format that aligns with your message. This ensures clarity and resonance with your audience from the beginning of your presentation.

1. Fact Sheet Dashboard for Data Presentation

Convey all the data you need to present in this one-pager format, an ideal solution tailored for users looking for presentation aids. Global maps, donut chats, column graphs, and text neatly arranged in a clean layout presented in light and dark themes.

Use This Template

2. 3D Column Chart Infographic PPT Template

Represent column charts in a highly visual 3D format with this PPT template. A creative way to present data, this template is entirely editable, and we can craft either a one-page infographic or a series of slides explaining what we intend to disclose point by point.

3. Data Circles Infographic PowerPoint Template

An alternative to the pie chart and donut chart diagrams, this template features a series of curved shapes with bubble callouts as ways of presenting data. Expand the information for each arch in the text placeholder areas.

4. Colorful Metrics Dashboard for Data Presentation

This versatile dashboard template helps us in the presentation of the data by offering several graphs and methods to convert numbers into graphics. Implement it for e-commerce projects, financial projections, project development, and more.

5. Animated Data Presentation Tools for PowerPoint & Google Slides

A slide deck filled with most of the tools mentioned in this article, from bar charts, column charts, treemap graphs, pie charts, histogram, etc. Animated effects make each slide look dynamic when sharing data with stakeholders.

6. Statistics Waffle Charts PPT Template for Data Presentations

This PPT template helps us how to present data beyond the typical pie chart representation. It is widely used for demographics, so it’s a great fit for marketing teams, data science professionals, HR personnel, and more.

7. Data Presentation Dashboard Template for Google Slides

A compendium of tools in dashboard format featuring line graphs, bar charts, column charts, and neatly arranged placeholder text areas. 

8. Weather Dashboard for Data Presentation

Share weather data for agricultural presentation topics, environmental studies, or any kind of presentation that requires a highly visual layout for weather forecasting on a single day. Two color themes are available.

9. Social Media Marketing Dashboard Data Presentation Template

Intended for marketing professionals, this dashboard template for data presentation is a tool for presenting data analytics from social media channels. Two slide layouts featuring line graphs and column charts.

10. Project Management Summary Dashboard Template

A tool crafted for project managers to deliver highly visual reports on a project’s completion, the profits it delivered for the company, and expenses/time required to execute it. 4 different color layouts are available.

11. Profit & Loss Dashboard for PowerPoint and Google Slides

A must-have for finance professionals. This typical profit & loss dashboard includes progress bars, donut charts, column charts, line graphs, and everything that’s required to deliver a comprehensive report about a company’s financial situation.

Overwhelming visuals

One of the mistakes related to using data-presenting methods is including too much data or using overly complex visualizations. They can confuse the audience and dilute the key message.

Inappropriate chart types

Choosing the wrong type of chart for the data at hand can lead to misinterpretation. For example, using a pie chart for data that doesn’t represent parts of a whole is not right.

Lack of context

Failing to provide context or sufficient labeling can make it challenging for the audience to understand the significance of the presented data.

Inconsistency in design

Using inconsistent design elements and color schemes across different visualizations can create confusion and visual disarray.

Failure to provide details

Simply presenting raw data without offering clear insights or takeaways can leave the audience without a meaningful conclusion.

Lack of focus

Not having a clear focus on the key message or main takeaway can result in a presentation that lacks a central theme.

Visual accessibility issues

Overlooking the visual accessibility of charts and graphs can exclude certain audience members who may have difficulty interpreting visual information.

In order to avoid these mistakes in data presentation, presenters can benefit from using presentation templates . These templates provide a structured framework. They ensure consistency, clarity, and an aesthetically pleasing design, enhancing data communication’s overall impact.

Understanding and choosing data presentation types are pivotal in effective communication. Each method serves a unique purpose, so selecting the appropriate one depends on the nature of the data and the message to be conveyed. The diverse array of presentation types offers versatility in visually representing information, from bar charts showing values to pie charts illustrating proportions. 

Using the proper method enhances clarity, engages the audience, and ensures that data sets are not just presented but comprehensively understood. By appreciating the strengths and limitations of different presentation types, communicators can tailor their approach to convey information accurately, developing a deeper connection between data and audience understanding.

[1] Government of Canada, S.C. (2021) 5 Data Visualization 5.2 Bar Chart , 5.2 Bar chart .  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/edu/power-pouvoir/ch9/bargraph-diagrammeabarres/5214818-eng.htm

[2] Kosslyn, S.M., 1989. Understanding charts and graphs. Applied cognitive psychology, 3(3), pp.185-225. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA183409.pdf

[3] Creating a Dashboard . https://it.tufts.edu/book/export/html/1870

[4] https://www.goldenwestcollege.edu/research/data-and-more/data-dashboards/index.html

[5] https://www.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/grf-line.htm

[6] Jadeja, M. and Shah, K., 2015, January. Tree-Map: A Visualization Tool for Large Data. In GSB@ SIGIR (pp. 9-13). https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1393/gsb15proceedings.pdf#page=15

[7] Heat Maps and Quilt Plots. https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/research/population-health-methods/heat-maps-and-quilt-plots

[8] EIU QGIS WORKSHOP. https://www.eiu.edu/qgisworkshop/heatmaps.php

[9] About Pie Charts.  https://www.mit.edu/~mbarker/formula1/f1help/11-ch-c8.htm

[10] Histograms. https://sites.utexas.edu/sos/guided/descriptive/numericaldd/descriptiven2/histogram/ [11] https://asq.org/quality-resources/scatter-diagram

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Blog Data Visualization

10 Data Presentation Examples For Strategic Communication

By Krystle Wong , Sep 28, 2023

Knowing how to present data is like having a superpower. 

Data presentation today is no longer just about numbers on a screen; it’s storytelling with a purpose. It’s about captivating your audience, making complex stuff look simple and inspiring action. 

To help turn your data into stories that stick, influence decisions and make an impact, check out Venngage’s free chart maker or follow me on a tour into the world of data storytelling along with data presentation templates that work across different fields, from business boardrooms to the classroom and beyond. Keep scrolling to learn more! 

Click to jump ahead:

10 Essential data presentation examples + methods you should know

What should be included in a data presentation, what are some common mistakes to avoid when presenting data, faqs on data presentation examples, transform your message with impactful data storytelling.

Data presentation is a vital skill in today’s information-driven world. Whether you’re in business, academia, or simply want to convey information effectively, knowing the different ways of presenting data is crucial. For impactful data storytelling, consider these essential data presentation methods:

1. Bar graph

Ideal for comparing data across categories or showing trends over time.

Bar graphs, also known as bar charts are workhorses of data presentation. They’re like the Swiss Army knives of visualization methods because they can be used to compare data in different categories or display data changes over time. 

In a bar chart, categories are displayed on the x-axis and the corresponding values are represented by the height of the bars on the y-axis. 

It’s a straightforward and effective way to showcase raw data, making it a staple in business reports, academic presentations and beyond.

Make sure your bar charts are concise with easy-to-read labels. Whether your bars go up or sideways, keep it simple by not overloading with too many categories.

2. Line graph

Great for displaying trends and variations in data points over time or continuous variables.

Line charts or line graphs are your go-to when you want to visualize trends and variations in data sets over time.

One of the best quantitative data presentation examples, they work exceptionally well for showing continuous data, such as sales projections over the last couple of years or supply and demand fluctuations. 

The x-axis represents time or a continuous variable and the y-axis represents the data values. By connecting the data points with lines, you can easily spot trends and fluctuations.

A tip when presenting data with line charts is to minimize the lines and not make it too crowded. Highlight the big changes, put on some labels and give it a catchy title.

3. Pie chart

Useful for illustrating parts of a whole, such as percentages or proportions.

Pie charts are perfect for showing how a whole is divided into parts. They’re commonly used to represent percentages or proportions and are great for presenting survey results that involve demographic data. 

Each “slice” of the pie represents a portion of the whole and the size of each slice corresponds to its share of the total. 

While pie charts are handy for illustrating simple distributions, they can become confusing when dealing with too many categories or when the differences in proportions are subtle.

Don’t get too carried away with slices — label those slices with percentages or values so people know what’s what and consider using a legend for more categories.

4. Scatter plot

Effective for showing the relationship between two variables and identifying correlations.

Scatter plots are all about exploring relationships between two variables. They’re great for uncovering correlations, trends or patterns in data. 

In a scatter plot, every data point appears as a dot on the chart, with one variable marked on the horizontal x-axis and the other on the vertical y-axis.

By examining the scatter of points, you can discern the nature of the relationship between the variables, whether it’s positive, negative or no correlation at all.

If you’re using scatter plots to reveal relationships between two variables, be sure to add trendlines or regression analysis when appropriate to clarify patterns. Label data points selectively or provide tooltips for detailed information.

5. Histogram

Best for visualizing the distribution and frequency of a single variable.

Histograms are your choice when you want to understand the distribution and frequency of a single variable. 

They divide the data into “bins” or intervals and the height of each bar represents the frequency or count of data points falling into that interval. 

Histograms are excellent for helping to identify trends in data distributions, such as peaks, gaps or skewness.

Here’s something to take note of — ensure that your histogram bins are appropriately sized to capture meaningful data patterns. Using clear axis labels and titles can also help explain the distribution of the data effectively.

6. Stacked bar chart

Useful for showing how different components contribute to a whole over multiple categories.

Stacked bar charts are a handy choice when you want to illustrate how different components contribute to a whole across multiple categories. 

Each bar represents a category and the bars are divided into segments to show the contribution of various components within each category. 

This method is ideal for highlighting both the individual and collective significance of each component, making it a valuable tool for comparative analysis.

Stacked bar charts are like data sandwiches—label each layer so people know what’s what. Keep the order logical and don’t forget the paintbrush for snazzy colors. Here’s a data analysis presentation example on writers’ productivity using stacked bar charts:

7. Area chart

Similar to line charts but with the area below the lines filled, making them suitable for showing cumulative data.

Area charts are close cousins of line charts but come with a twist. 

Imagine plotting the sales of a product over several months. In an area chart, the space between the line and the x-axis is filled, providing a visual representation of the cumulative total. 

This makes it easy to see how values stack up over time, making area charts a valuable tool for tracking trends in data.

For area charts, use them to visualize cumulative data and trends, but avoid overcrowding the chart. Add labels, especially at significant points and make sure the area under the lines is filled with a visually appealing color gradient.

8. Tabular presentation

Presenting data in rows and columns, often used for precise data values and comparisons.

Tabular data presentation is all about clarity and precision. Think of it as presenting numerical data in a structured grid, with rows and columns clearly displaying individual data points. 

A table is invaluable for showcasing detailed data, facilitating comparisons and presenting numerical information that needs to be exact. They’re commonly used in reports, spreadsheets and academic papers.

When presenting tabular data, organize it neatly with clear headers and appropriate column widths. Highlight important data points or patterns using shading or font formatting for better readability.

9. Textual data

Utilizing written or descriptive content to explain or complement data, such as annotations or explanatory text.

Textual data presentation may not involve charts or graphs, but it’s one of the most used qualitative data presentation examples. 

It involves using written content to provide context, explanations or annotations alongside data visuals. Think of it as the narrative that guides your audience through the data. 

Well-crafted textual data can make complex information more accessible and help your audience understand the significance of the numbers and visuals.

Textual data is your chance to tell a story. Break down complex information into bullet points or short paragraphs and use headings to guide the reader’s attention.

10. Pictogram

Using simple icons or images to represent data is especially useful for conveying information in a visually intuitive manner.

Pictograms are all about harnessing the power of images to convey data in an easy-to-understand way. 

Instead of using numbers or complex graphs, you use simple icons or images to represent data points. 

For instance, you could use a thumbs up emoji to illustrate customer satisfaction levels, where each face represents a different level of satisfaction. 

Pictograms are great for conveying data visually, so choose symbols that are easy to interpret and relevant to the data. Use consistent scaling and a legend to explain the symbols’ meanings, ensuring clarity in your presentation.

Looking for more data presentation ideas? Use the Venngage graph maker or browse through our gallery of chart templates to pick a template and get started! 

A comprehensive data presentation should include several key elements to effectively convey information and insights to your audience. Here’s a list of what should be included in a data presentation:

1. Title and objective

• Begin with a clear and informative title that sets the context for your presentation.
• State the primary objective or purpose of the presentation to provide a clear focus.

2. Key data points

• Present the most essential data points or findings that align with your objective.
• Use charts, graphical presentations or visuals to illustrate these key points for better comprehension.

3. Context and significance

• Provide a brief overview of the context in which the data was collected and why it’s significant.
• Explain how the data relates to the larger picture or the problem you’re addressing.

4. Key takeaways

• Summarize the main insights or conclusions that can be drawn from the data.
• Highlight the key takeaways that the audience should remember.

5. Visuals and charts

• Use clear and appropriate visual aids to complement the data.
• Ensure that visuals are easy to understand and support your narrative.

6. Implications or actions

• Discuss the practical implications of the data or any recommended actions.
• If applicable, outline next steps or decisions that should be taken based on the data.

7. Q&A and discussion

• Allocate time for questions and open discussion to engage the audience.
• Address queries and provide additional insights or context as needed.

Presenting data is a crucial skill in various professional fields, from business to academia and beyond. To ensure your data presentations hit the mark, here are some common mistakes that you should steer clear of:

Overloading with data

Presenting too much data at once can overwhelm your audience. Focus on the key points and relevant information to keep the presentation concise and focused. Here are some free data visualization tools you can use to convey data in an engaging and impactful way. 

Assuming everyone’s on the same page

It’s easy to assume that your audience understands as much about the topic as you do. But this can lead to either dumbing things down too much or diving into a bunch of jargon that leaves folks scratching their heads. Take a beat to figure out where your audience is coming from and tailor your presentation accordingly.

Misleading visuals

Using misleading visuals, such as distorted scales or inappropriate chart types can distort the data’s meaning. Pick the right data infographics and understandable charts to ensure that your visual representations accurately reflect the data.

Not providing context

Data without context is like a puzzle piece with no picture on it. Without proper context, data may be meaningless or misinterpreted. Explain the background, methodology and significance of the data.

Not citing sources properly

Neglecting to cite sources and provide citations for your data can erode its credibility. Always attribute data to its source and utilize reliable sources for your presentation.

Not telling a story

Avoid simply presenting numbers. If your presentation lacks a clear, engaging story that takes your audience on a journey from the beginning (setting the scene) through the middle (data analysis) to the end (the big insights and recommendations), you’re likely to lose their interest.

Infographics are great for storytelling because they mix cool visuals with short and sweet text to explain complicated stuff in a fun and easy way. Create one with Venngage’s free infographic maker to create a memorable story that your audience will remember.

Ignoring data quality

Presenting data without first checking its quality and accuracy can lead to misinformation. Validate and clean your data before presenting it.

Simplify your visuals

Fancy charts might look cool, but if they confuse people, what’s the point? Go for the simplest visual that gets your message across. Having a dilemma between presenting data with infographics v.s data design? This article on the difference between data design and infographics might help you out. 

Missing the emotional connection

Data isn’t just about numbers; it’s about people and real-life situations. Don’t forget to sprinkle in some human touch, whether it’s through relatable stories, examples or showing how the data impacts real lives.

Skipping the actionable insights

At the end of the day, your audience wants to know what they should do with all the data. If you don’t wrap up with clear, actionable insights or recommendations, you’re leaving them hanging. Always finish up with practical takeaways and the next steps.

Can you provide some data presentation examples for business reports?

Business reports often benefit from data presentation through bar charts showing sales trends over time, pie charts displaying market share,or tables presenting financial performance metrics like revenue and profit margins.

What are some creative data presentation examples for academic presentations?

Creative data presentation ideas for academic presentations include using statistical infographics to illustrate research findings and statistical data, incorporating storytelling techniques to engage the audience or utilizing heat maps to visualize data patterns.

What are the key considerations when choosing the right data presentation format?

When choosing a chart format , consider factors like data complexity, audience expertise and the message you want to convey. Options include charts (e.g., bar, line, pie), tables, heat maps, data visualization infographics and interactive dashboards.

Knowing the type of data visualization that best serves your data is just half the battle. Here are some best practices for data visualization to make sure that the final output is optimized. 

How can I choose the right data presentation method for my data?

To select the right data presentation method, start by defining your presentation’s purpose and audience. Then, match your data type (e.g., quantitative, qualitative) with suitable visualization techniques (e.g., histograms, word clouds) and choose an appropriate presentation format (e.g., slide deck, report, live demo).

For more presentation ideas , check out this guide on how to make a good presentation or use a presentation software to simplify the process.  

How can I make my data presentations more engaging and informative?

To enhance data presentations, use compelling narratives, relatable examples and fun data infographics that simplify complex data. Encourage audience interaction, offer actionable insights and incorporate storytelling elements to engage and inform effectively.

The opening of your presentation holds immense power in setting the stage for your audience. To design a presentation and convey your data in an engaging and informative, try out Venngage’s free presentation maker to pick the right presentation design for your audience and topic. 

What is the difference between data visualization and data presentation?

Data presentation typically involves conveying data reports and insights to an audience, often using visuals like charts and graphs. Data visualization , on the other hand, focuses on creating those visual representations of data to facilitate understanding and analysis. 

Now that you’ve learned a thing or two about how to use these methods of data presentation to tell a compelling data story , it’s time to take these strategies and make them your own. 

But here’s the deal: these aren’t just one-size-fits-all solutions. Remember that each example we’ve uncovered here is not a rigid template but a source of inspiration. It’s all about making your audience go, “Wow, I get it now!”

Think of your data presentations as your canvas – it’s where you paint your story, convey meaningful insights and make real change happen. 

So, go forth, present your data with confidence and purpose and watch as your strategic influence grows, one compelling presentation at a time.

10 Methods of Data Presentation with 5 Great Tips to Practice, Best in 2024

Leah Nguyen • 27 Oct 2023 • 10 min read

Finding ways to present information effectively? You can end deathly boring and ineffective data presentation right now with our 10 methods of data presentation . Check out the examples from each technique!

Have you ever presented a data report to your boss/coworkers/teachers thinking it was super dope like you’re some cyber hacker living in the Matrix, but all they saw was a pile of static numbers that seemed pointless and didn’t make sense to them?

Understanding digits is rigid . Making people from non-analytical backgrounds understand those digits is even more challenging.

How can you clear up those confusing numbers in the types of presentation that have the flawless clarity of a diamond? So, let’s check out best way to present data. 💎

Table of Contents

• What are Methods of Data Presentations?
• #1 – Tabular

#2 – Text

#3 – pie chart, #4 – bar chart, #5 – histogram, #6 – line graph, #7 – pictogram graph, #8 – radar chart, #9 – heat map, #10 – scatter plot.

• 5 Mistakes to Avoid
• Best Method of Data Presentation

Frequently Asked Questions

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What are Methods of Data Presentation?

The term ’data presentation’ relates to the way you present data in a way that makes even the most clueless person in the room understand. 

Some say it’s witchcraft (you’re manipulating the numbers in some ways), but we’ll just say it’s the power of turning dry, hard numbers or digits into a visual showcase that is easy for people to digest.

Presenting data correctly can help your audience understand complicated processes, identify trends, and instantly pinpoint whatever is going on without exhausting their brains.

Good data presentation helps…

• Make informed decisions and arrive at positive outcomes . If you see the sales of your product steadily increase throughout the years, it’s best to keep milking it or start turning it into a bunch of spin-offs (shoutout to Star Wars👀).
• Reduce the time spent processing data . Humans can digest information graphically 60,000 times faster than in the form of text. Grant them the power of skimming through a decade of data in minutes with some extra spicy graphs and charts.
• Communicate the results clearly . Data does not lie. They’re based on factual evidence and therefore if anyone keeps whining that you might be wrong, slap them with some hard data to keep their mouths shut.
• Add to or expand the current research . You can see what areas need improvement, as well as what details often go unnoticed while surfing through those little lines, dots or icons that appear on the data board.

Methods of Data Presentation and Examples

Imagine you have a delicious pepperoni, extra-cheese pizza. You can decide to cut it into the classic 8 triangle slices, the party style 12 square slices, or get creative and abstract on those slices. 

There are various ways for cutting a pizza and you get the same variety with how you present your data. In this section, we will bring you the 10 ways to slice a pizza – we mean to present your data – that will make your company’s most important asset as clear as day. Let’s dive into 10 ways to present data efficiently.

#1 – Tabular 

Among various types of data presentation, tabular is the most fundamental method, with data presented in rows and columns. Excel or Google Sheets would qualify for the job. Nothing fancy.

This is an example of a tabular presentation of data on Google Sheets. Each row and column has an attribute (year, region, revenue, etc.), and you can do a custom format to see the change in revenue throughout the year.

When presenting data as text, all you do is write your findings down in paragraphs and bullet points, and that’s it. A piece of cake to you, a tough nut to crack for whoever has to go through all of the reading to get to the point.

• 65% of email users worldwide access their email via a mobile device.
• Emails that are optimised for mobile generate 15% higher click-through rates.
• 56% of brands using emojis in their email subject lines had a higher open rate.

(Source: CustomerThermometer )

All the above quotes present statistical information in textual form. Since not many people like going through a wall of texts, you’ll have to figure out another route when deciding to use this method, such as breaking the data down into short, clear statements, or even as catchy puns if you’ve got the time to think of them.

A pie chart (or a ‘donut chart’ if you stick a hole in the middle of it) is a circle divided into slices that show the relative sizes of data within a whole. If you’re using it to show percentages, make sure all the slices add up to 100%.

The pie chart is a familiar face at every party and is usually recognised by most people. However, one setback of using this method is our eyes sometimes can’t identify the differences in slices of a circle, and it’s nearly impossible to compare similar slices from two different pie charts, making them the villains in the eyes of data analysts.

Bonus example: A literal ‘pie’ chart! 🥧

The bar chart is a chart that presents a bunch of items from the same category, usually in the form of rectangular bars that are placed at an equal distance from each other. Their heights or lengths depict the values they represent.

They can be as simple as this:

Or more complex and detailed like this example of presentation of data. Contributing to an effective statistic presentation, this one is a grouped bar chart that not only allows you to compare categories but also the groups within them as well.

Similar in appearance to the bar chart but the rectangular bars in histograms don’t often have the gap like their counterparts.

Instead of measuring categories like weather preferences or favourite films as a bar chart does, a histogram only measures things that can be put into numbers.

Teachers can use presentation graphs like a histogram to see which score group most of the students fall into, like in this example above.

Recordings to ways of displaying data, we shouldn’t overlook the effectiveness of line graphs. Line graphs are represented by a group of data points joined together by a straight line. There can be one or more lines to compare how several related things change over time. 

On a line chart’s horizontal axis, you usually have text labels, dates or years, while the vertical axis usually represents the quantity (e.g.: budget, temperature or percentage).

A pictogram graph uses pictures or icons relating to the main topic to visualise a small dataset. The fun combination of colours and illustrations makes it a frequent use at schools.

Pictograms are a breath of fresh air if you want to stay away from the monotonous line chart or bar chart for a while. However, they can present a very limited amount of data and sometimes they are only there for displays and do not represent real statistics.

If presenting five or more variables in the form of a bar chart is too stuffy then you should try using a radar chart, which is one of the most creative ways to present data.

Radar charts show data in terms of how they compare to each other starting from the same point. Some also call them ‘spider charts’ because each aspect combined looks like a spider web.

Radar charts can be a great use for parents who’d like to compare their child’s grades with their peers to lower their self-esteem. You can see that each angular represents a subject with a score value ranging from 0 to 100. Each student’s score across 5 subjects is highlighted in a different colour.

If you think that this method of data presentation somehow feels familiar, then you’ve probably encountered one while playing Pokémon .

A heat map represents data density in colours. The bigger the number, the more colour intense that data will be represented.

Most U.S citizens would be familiar with this data presentation method in geography. For elections, many news outlets assign a specific colour code to a state, with blue representing one candidate and red representing the other. The shade of either blue or red in each state shows the strength of the overall vote in that state.

Another great thing you can use a heat map for is to map what visitors to your site click on. The more a particular section is clicked the ‘hotter’ the colour will turn, from blue to bright yellow to red.

If you present your data in dots instead of chunky bars, you’ll have a scatter plot. 

A scatter plot is a grid with several inputs showing the relationship between two variables. It’s good at collecting seemingly random data and revealing some telling trends.

For example, in this graph, each dot shows the average daily temperature versus the number of beach visitors across several days. You can see that the dots get higher as the temperature increases, so it’s likely that hotter weather leads to more visitors.

5 Data Presentation Mistakes to Avoid

#1 – assume your audience understands what the numbers represent.

You may know all the behind-the-scenes of your data since you’ve worked with them for weeks, but your audience doesn’t.

Showing without telling only invites more and more questions from your audience, as they have to constantly make sense of your data, wasting the time of both sides as a result.

While showing your data presentations, you should tell them what the data are about before hitting them with waves of numbers first. You can use interactive activities such as polls , word clouds and Q&A sections to assess their understanding of the data and address any confusion beforehand.

#2 – Use the wrong type of chart

Charts such as pie charts must have a total of 100% so if your numbers accumulate to 193% like this example below, you’re definitely doing it wrong.

Before making a chart, ask yourself: what do I want to accomplish with my data? Do you want to see the relationship between the data sets, show the up and down trends of your data, or see how segments of one thing make up a whole?

Remember, clarity always comes first. Some data visualisations may look cool, but if they don’t fit your data, steer clear of them. 

#3 – Make it 3D

3D is a fascinating graphical presentation example. The third dimension is cool, but full of risks.

Can you see what’s behind those red bars? Because we can’t either. You may think that 3D charts add more depth to the design, but they can create false perceptions as our eyes see 3D objects closer and bigger than they appear, not to mention they cannot be seen from multiple angles.

#4 – Use different types of charts to compare contents in the same category

This is like comparing a fish to a monkey. Your audience won’t be able to identify the differences and make an appropriate correlation between the two data sets. 

Next time, stick to one type of data presentation only. Avoid the temptation of trying various data visualisation methods in one go and make your data as accessible as possible.

#5 – Bombard the audience with too much information

The goal of data presentation is to make complex topics much easier to understand, and if you’re bringing too much information to the table, you’re missing the point.

The more information you give, the more time it will take for your audience to process it all. If you want to make your data understandable and give your audience a chance to remember it, keep the information within it to an absolute minimum.

What are the Best Methods of Data Presentation?

Finally, which is the best way to present data?

The answer is…

There is none 😄 Each type of presentation has its own strengths and weaknesses and the one you choose greatly depends on what you’re trying to do. 

For example:

• Go for a scatter plot if you’re exploring the relationship between different data values, like seeing whether the sales of ice cream go up because of the temperature or because people are just getting more hungry and greedy each day?
• Go for a line graph if you want to mark a trend over time. 
• Go for a heat map if you like some fancy visualisation of the changes in a geographical location, or to see your visitors’ behaviour on your website.
• Go for a pie chart (especially in 3D) if you want to be shunned by others because it was never a good idea👇

Got a question? We've got answers.

What is chart presentation?

When can i use charts for presentation, why should use charts for presentation, what are the 4 graphical methods of presenting data.

Leah Nguyen

Words that convert, stories that stick. I turn complex ideas into engaging narratives - helping audiences learn, remember, and take action.

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ChartExpo Survey

Top 5 Easy-to-Follow Data Presentation Examples

You’ll agree when we say that poring through numbers is tedious at best and mentally exhausting at worst.

And this is where data presentation examples come in.

Charts come in and distill data into meaningful insights. And this saves tons of hours, which you can use to relax or execute other tasks. Besides, when creating data stories, you need charts that communicate insights with clarity.

There’re 5 solid and reliable data presentation methods: textual, statistical data presentation, measures of dispersion, tabular, and graphical data representation.

Besides, some of the tested and proven charts for data presentation include:

• Double Bar Graph
• Slope Chart
• Treemap Charts
• Radar Chart
• Sankey Chart

There’re visualization tools that produce simple, insightful, and ready-made data presentation charts. Yes, you read that right. These tools create charts that complement data stories seamlessly.

Remember, without visualizing data to extract insights, chances of creating a compelling narrative will go down.

Table of Content:

What is data presentation, top 5 data presentation examples:, how to generate sankey chart in excel for data presentation, importance of data presentation in business, benefits of data presentation, what are the top 5 methods of data presentation.

Data presentation is the process of using charts and graphs formats to display insights into data. The insights could be:

• Relationship
• Trend and patterns

Data Analysis  and  Data Presentation  have a practical implementation in every possible field. It can range from academic studies, commercial, industrial , and marketing activities to professional practices .

In its raw form, data can be extremely complicated to decipher. Data presentation examples are an important step toward breaking down data into understandable charts or graphs.

You can use tools (which we’ll talk about later) to analyze raw data.

Once the required information is obtained from the data, the next logical step is to present the data in a graphical presentation.

The presentation is the key to success.

Once you’ve extracted actionable insights, you can craft a compelling data story. Keep reading because we’ll address the following in the coming section: the importance of data presentation in business.

Let’s take a look at the five data presentation examples below:

1. Double Bar Graph

A Double Bar Chart displays more than one data series in clustered horizontal columns.

Each data series shares the same axis labels, so horizontal bars are grouped by category.

Bars directly compare multiple series in a given category. The chart is amazingly easy to read and interpret, even for a non-technical audience.

2. Slope Chart

Slope Charts are simple graphs that quickly and directly show  transitions, changes over time, absolute values, and even rankings .

Besides, they’re also called Slope Graphs.

This is one of the data presentation examples you can use to show the before and after story of variables in your data.

Slope Graphs can be useful when you have two time periods or points of comparison and want to show relative increases and decreases quickly across various categories between two data points.

Take a look at the table below. Can you provide coherent and actionable insights into the table below?

Notice the difference after visualizing the table. You can easily tell the performance of individual segments in:

• Macy’s Store

4. Radar Chart

Radar Chart is also known as Spider Chart or Spider Web Chart. A radar chart is very helpful to visualize the comparison between multiple categories and variables.

A radar Chart is one of the data presentation examples you can use to compare data of two different time ranges e.g. Current vs Previous. Radar Chart with different scales makes it easy for you to identify trends, patterns, and outliers in your data. You can also use Radar Chart to visualize the data of Polar graph equations.

5. Sankey Chart

You can use Sankey Chart to visualize data with flow-like attributes, such as material, energy, cost, etc.

This chart draws the reader’s attention to the enormous flows, the largest consumer, the major losses , and other insights.

The aforementioned visualization design is one of the data presentation examples that use links and nodes to uncover hidden insights into relationships between critical metrics.

The size of a node is directly proportionate to the quantity of the data point under review.

So how can you access the data presentation examples (highlighted above)?

Excel is one of the most used tools for visualizing data because it’s easy to use. 

However, you cannot access ready-made and visually appealing data presentation charts for storytelling. But this does not mean you should ditch this freemium data visualization tool.

Did you know you can supercharge your Excel with add-ins to access visually stunning and ready-to-go data presentation charts?

Yes, you can increase the functionality of your Excel and access ready-made data presentation examples for your data stories.

The add-on we recommend you to use is ChartExpo.

What is ChartExpo?

We recommend this tool (ChartExpo) because it’s super easy to use.

You don’t need to take programming night classes to extract insights from your data. ChartExpo is more of a ‘drag-and-drop tool,’ which means you’ll only need to scroll your mouse and fill in respective metrics and dimensions in your data.

ChartExpo comes with a 7-day free trial period.

The tool produces charts that are incredibly easy to read and interpret . And it allows you to save charts in the world’s most recognized formats, namely PNG and JPG.

In the coming section, we’ll show you how to use ChartExpo to visualize your data with one of the data presentation examples (Sankey).

  To install ChartExpo add-in into your Excel, click this link .

• Open your Excel and paste the table above.
• Click the My Apps button.

• Then select ChartExpo and click on  INSERT, as shown below.

• Click the Search Box and type “Sankey Chart” .

• Once the chart pops up, click on its icon to get started.

• Select the sheet holding your data and click the Create Chart from Selection button.

How to Edit the Sankey Chart?

• Click the Edit Chart button, as shown above.

• Once the Chart Header Properties window shows, click the Line 1 box and fill in your title.

• To change the color of the nodes, click the pen-like icons on the nodes.
• Once the color window shows, select the Node Color and then the Apply button.

• Save your changes by clicking the Apply button.
• Check out the final chart below.

Data presentation examples are vital, especially when crafting data stories for the top management. Top management can use data presentation charts, such as Sankey, as a backdrop for their decision.

Presentation charts, maps, and graphs are powerful because they simplify data by making it understandable & readable at the same time. Besides, they make data stories compelling and irresistible to target audiences.

Big files with numbers are usually hard to read and make it difficult to spot patterns easily. However, many businesses believe that developing visual reports focused on creating stories around data is unnecessary; they think that the data alone should be sufficient for decision-making.

Visualizing supports this and lightens the decision-making process.

Luckily, there are innovative applications you can use to visualize all the data your company has into dashboards, graphs, and reports. Data visualization helps transform your numbers into an engaging story with details and patterns.

Check out more benefits of data presentation examples below:

1. Easy to understand

You can interpret vast quantities of data clearly and cohesively to draw insights, thanks to graphic representations.

Using data presentation examples, such as charts, managers and decision-makers can easily create and rapidly consume key metrics.

If any of the aforementioned metrics have anomalies — ie. sales are significantly down in one region — decision-makers will easily dig into the data to diagnose the problem.

2. Spot patterns

Data visualization can help you to do trend analysis and respond rapidly on the grounds of what you see.

Such patterns make more sense when graphically represented; because charts make it easier to identify correlated parameters.

3. Data Narratives

You can use data presentation charts, such as Sankey, to build dashboards and turn them into stories.

Data storytelling can help you connect with potential readers and audiences on an emotional level.

4. Speed up the decision-making process

We naturally process visual images 60,000 times faster than text. A graph, chart, or other visual representation of data is more comfortable for our brain to process.

Thanks to our ability to easily interpret visual content, data presentation examples can dramatically improve the speed of decision-making processes.

Take a look at the table below?

Can you give reliable insights into the table above?

Keep reading because we’ll explore easy-to-follow data presentation examples in the coming section. Also, we’ll address the following question: what are the top 5 methods of data presentation?

1. Textual Ways of Presenting Data

Out of the five data presentation examples, this is the simplest one.

Just write your findings coherently and your job is done. The demerit of this method is that one has to read the whole text to get a clear picture.  Yes, you read that right.

The introduction, summary, and conclusion can help condense the information.

2. Statistical data presentation

Data on its own is less valuable. However, for it to be valuable to your business, it has to be:

No matter how well manipulated, the insights into raw data should be presented in an easy-to-follow sequence to keep the audience waiting for more.

Text is the principal method for explaining findings, outlining trends, and providing contextual information. A table is best suited for representing individual information and represents both quantitative and qualitative information.

On the other hand, a graph is a very effective visual tool because:

• It displays data at a glance
• Facilitates comparison
• Reveals trends, relationships, frequency distribution, and correlation

Text, tables, and graphs are incredibly effective data presentation examples you can leverage to curate persuasive data narratives.

3. Measure of Dispersion

Statistical dispersion is how a key metric is likely to deviate from the average value. In other words, dispersion can help you to understand the distribution of key data points.

There are two types of measures of dispersion, namely:

• Absolute Measure of Dispersion
• Relative Measure of Dispersion

4. Tabular Ways of Data Presentation and Analysis

To avoid the complexities associated with qualitative data, use tables and charts to display insights.

This is one of the data presentation examples where values are displayed in rows and columns. All rows and columns have an attribute (name, year, gender, and age).

5. Graphical Data Representation

Graphical representation uses charts and graphs to visually display, analyze, clarify, and interpret numerical data, functions, and other qualitative structures.

Data is ingested into charts and graphs, such as Sankey, and then represented by a variety of symbols, such as lines and bars.

Data presentation examples, such as Bar Charts , can help you illustrate trends, relationships, comparisons, and outliers between data points.

What is the main objective of data presentation?

Discovery and communication are the two key objectives of data presentation.

In the discovery phase, we recommend you try various charts and graphs to understand the insights into the raw data. The communication phase is focused on presenting the insights in a summarized form.

What is the importance of graphs and charts in business?

Big files with numbers are usually hard to read and make it difficult to spot patterns easily.

Presentation charts, maps, and graphs are vital because they simplify data by making it understandable & readable at the same time. Besides, they make data stories compelling and irresistible to target audiences.

Poring through numbers is tedious at best and mentally exhausting at worst.

This is where data presentation examples come into play.

Charts come in and distill data into meaningful insights. And this saves tons of hours, which you can use to handle other tasks. Besides, when creating data stories, it would be best if you had charts that communicate insights with clarity.

Excel, one of the popular tools for visualizing data, comes with very basic data presentation charts, which require a lot of editing.

We recommend you try ChartExpo because it’s one of the most trusted add-ins. Besides, it has a super-friendly user interface for everyone, irrespective of their computer skills.

Create simple, ready-made, and easy-to-interpret Bar Charts today without breaking a sweat.

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• Graphic Presentation of Data

Apart from diagrams, Graphic presentation is another way of the presentation of data and information. Usually, graphs are used to present time series and frequency distributions. In this article, we will look at the graphic presentation of data and information along with its merits, limitations , and types.

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Construction of a graph.

The graphic presentation of data and information offers a quick and simple way of understanding the features and drawing comparisons. Further, it is an effective analytical tool and a graph can help us in finding the mode, median, etc.

We can locate a point in a plane using two mutually perpendicular lines – the X-axis (the horizontal line) and the Y-axis (the vertical line). Their point of intersection is the Origin .

We can locate the position of a point in terms of its distance from both these axes. For example, if a point P is 3 units away from the Y-axis and 5 units away from the X-axis, then its location is as follows:

Browse more Topics under Descriptive Statistics

• Definition and Characteristics of Statistics
• Stages of Statistical Enquiry
• Importance and Functions of Statistics
• Nature of Statistics – Science or Art?
• Application of Statistics
• Law of Statistics and Distrust of Statistics
• Meaning and Types of Data
• Methods of Collecting Data
• Sample Investigation
• Classification of Data
• Tabulation of Data
• Frequency Distribution of Data
• Diagrammatic Presentation of Data
• Measures of Central Tendency
• Mean Median Mode
• Measures of Dispersion
• Standard Deviation
• Variance Analysis

Some points to remember:

• We measure the distance of the point from the Y-axis along the X-axis. Similarly, we measure the distance of the point from the X-axis along the Y-axis. Therefore, to measure 3 units from the Y-axis, we move 3 units along the X-axis and likewise for the other coordinate .
• We then draw perpendicular lines from these two points.
• The point where the perpendiculars intersect is the position of the point P.
• We denote it as follows (3,5) or (abscissa, ordinate). Together, they are the coordinates of the point P.
• The four parts of the plane are Quadrants.
• Also, we can plot different points for a different pair of values.

General Rules for Graphic Presentation of Data and Information

There are certain guidelines for an attractive and effective graphic presentation of data and information. These are as follows:

• Suitable Title – Ensure that you give a suitable title to the graph which clearly indicates the subject for which you are presenting it.
• Unit of Measurement – Clearly state the unit of measurement below the title.
• Suitable Scale – Choose a suitable scale so that you can represent the entire data in an accurate manner.
• Index – Include a brief index which explains the different colors and shades, lines and designs that you have used in the graph. Also, include a scale of interpretation for better understanding.
• Data Sources – Wherever possible, include the sources of information at the bottom of the graph.
• Keep it Simple – You should construct a graph which even a layman (without any exposure in the areas of statistics or mathematics) can understand.
• Neat – A graph is a visual aid for the presentation of data and information. Therefore, you must keep it neat and attractive. Choose the right size, right lettering, and appropriate lines, colors, dashes, etc.

Merits of a Graph

• The graph presents data in a manner which is easier to understand.
• It allows us to present statistical data in an attractive manner as compared to tables. Users can understand the main features, trends, and fluctuations of the data at a glance.
• A graph saves time.
• It allows the viewer to compare data relating to two different time-periods or regions.
• The viewer does not require prior knowledge of mathematics or statistics to understand a graph.
• We can use a graph to locate the mode, median, and mean values of the data.
• It is useful in forecasting, interpolation, and extrapolation of data.

Limitations of a Graph

• A graph lacks complete accuracy of facts.
• It depicts only a few selected characteristics of the data.
• We cannot use a graph in support of a statement.
• A graph is not a substitute for tables.
• Usually, laymen find it difficult to understand and interpret a graph.
• Typically, a graph shows the unreasonable tendency of the data and the actual values are not clear.

Types of Graphs

Graphs are of two types:

• Time Series graphs
• Frequency Distribution graphs

Time Series Graphs

A time series graph or a “ histogram ” is a graph which depicts the value of a variable over a different point of time. In a time series graph, time is the most important factor and the variable is related to time. It helps in the understanding and analysis of the changes in the variable at a different point of time. Many statisticians and businessmen use these graphs because they are easy to understand and also because they offer complex information in a simple manner.

Further, constructing a time series graph does not require a user with technical skills. Here are some major steps in the construction of a time series graph:

• Represent time on the X-axis and the value of the variable on the Y-axis.
• Start the Y-value with zero and devise a suitable scale which helps you present the whole data in the given space.
• Plot the values of the variable and join different point with a straight line.
• You can plot multiple variables through different lines.

You can use a line graph to summarize how two pieces of information are related and how they vary with each other.

• You can compare multiple continuous data-sets easily
• You can infer the interim data from the graph line

Disadvantages

• It is only used with continuous data.

Use of a false Base Line

Usually, in a graph, the vertical line starts from the Origin. However, in some cases, a false Base Line is used for a better representation of the data. There are two scenarios where you should use a false Base Line:

• To magnify the minor fluctuation in the time series data
• To economize the space

Net Balance Graph

If you have to show the net balance of income and expenditure or revenue and costs or imports and exports, etc., then you must use a net balance graph. You can use different colors or shades for positive and negative differences.

Frequency Distribution Graphs

Let’s look at the different types of frequency distribution graphs.

A histogram is a graph of a grouped frequency distribution. In a histogram, we plot the class intervals on the X-axis and their respective frequencies on the Y-axis. Further, we create a rectangle on each class interval with its height proportional to the frequency density of the class.

Frequency Polygon or Histograph

A frequency polygon or a Histograph is another way of representing a frequency distribution on a graph. You draw a frequency polygon by joining the midpoints of the upper widths of the adjacent rectangles of the histogram with straight lines.

Frequency Curve

When you join the verticals of a polygon using a smooth curve, then the resulting figure is a Frequency Curve. As the number of observations increase, we need to accommodate more classes. Therefore, the width of each class reduces. In such a scenario, the variable tends to become continuous and the frequency polygon starts taking the shape of a frequency curve.

Cumulative Frequency Curve or Ogive

A cumulative frequency curve or Ogive is the graphical representation of a cumulative frequency distribution. Since a cumulative frequency is either of a ‘less than’ or a ‘more than’ type, Ogives are of two types too – ‘less than ogive’ and ‘more than ogive’.

Scatter Diagram

A scatter diagram or a dot chart enables us to find the nature of the relationship between the variables. If the plotted points are scattered a lot, then the relationship between the two variables is lesser.

Solved Question

Q1. What are the general rules for the graphic presentation of data and information?

Answer: The general rules for the graphic presentation of data are:

• Use a suitable title
• Clearly specify the unit of measurement
• Ensure that you choose a suitable scale
• Provide an index specifying the colors, lines, and designs used in the graph
• If possible, provide the sources of information at the bottom of the graph
• Keep the graph simple and neat.

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Descriptive Statistics

• Nature of Statistics – Science or Art?

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5 Tips for Using Charts Effectively in PowerPoint Presentations

• December 27, 2022

PowerPoint was originally designed for business presentations; therefore, it has evolved as an integral part of different types of presentations. As a business presentation software, it has become a favourite medium to teach or assist in the development process of a particular project.  However, the potential of the software lies on a hands-on role and it needs to be properly used to ensure its success in the process.

PowerPoint is widely used for presenting data. The most popular chart types that can be created in PowerPoint are the arrow and bar chart. Most commonly used types of PowerPoint charts are radial, shape, area and line charts. In addition to providing a project management solution, the best management solution must also support a robust project governance solution and a proven project support system.

For example, you need to have a structured processes and tools to manage, measure, and report on all your project’s tasks, assets, and the technical resources needed to implement it. You need to know exactly what has been accomplished, how much was wasted, and what can be improved, in order to minimize future costs and minimize the project risk. A best management solution provides all of the above.  There are many software providers that provide best project management tools.

With each project having varying requirements, selecting the best charts/diagrams can be confusing at times. Therefore, we have put together popular charts used in PowerPoint with their significant features to help you make an informed choice.

Gantt Charts

In a Gantt chart , the grid layout represents the timeline, or the sequence of activities that need to be completed and that are interdependent. The lines represent the activities that need to be completed, the tasks can be as simple as addition of one or two lines to describe a single stage. The Gantt chart is numbered in units of 1 and 5. For example, Gantt charts are numbered 0-2.

If your work is in units of 1 and 5, as shown in the Gantt chart, you could use a Gantt chart to monitor the execution of each stage of the activities and make adjustments if any occurs. With Gantt charts you can highlight and emphasize the activities that are the most important in your project. Gantt charts provide insights into activities that matter most. A Gantt chart is a small representation of your plan of action for the coming days. A Gantt chart lets you visualize how tasks are going to be done and progress from one cycle to the next. A gantt chart is useful for a lot of planning tasks.

Agile Methodology

Scrum Project management project scenarios using this methodology are characterized by a “constantly evolving, spontaneous, self-organizing, and re-adjusting” environment. It provides you with a very clear line of sight into both the vision and the concrete deliverables. With a pre-scrum meeting, you make an investment in the critical time window before an actual project commences.  Generally, you have two perspectives on each work item. The first one is your team’s perspective and the second is the customer’s perspective. By working in parallel, both perspectives together will drive your team towards a successful completion of the project.

Waterfall Charts

In these waterfall charts you can easily visualise how one or several processes will result in a certain result. For example, you can easily create a growth chart that illustrates the required number of sales in a specific quarter. When you run a scenario (which usually requires a forecast) you can easily visualise that there is a “if” or “when” in which your sales targets are met. With this diagram you can also easily see how two or more scenarios will intersect. 

Waterfall Methodology

This methodology is almost like an extremely organised project management method which has the following elements: 

• High planning and control 
• Produces smooth working and maintenance schedule 
• Manages multiple activities efficiently

 In short, waterfall methodologies for project management aim to deliver quality outputs in a short time by closely following a set of rules and procedures. A comprehensive project management roadmap is developed and defined based on project needs and related goals. To deliver the best results, deliverables are separated into the different stages of a project.

Mekko Charts

Based on your business needs, you can create a model of your data by choosing your preferred charts. Now it’s time to move to the next step to give the data an identity. Model-based Design- We are just going to lay down our data (filtered for looking good) and our first and most important step in data modeling is creating a model of the data.  First, let’s define a database schema of our dataset and then use the data we’ve created to create a model. Simple schema is used here for simplicity. Now, we can start creating a model of the data by adding columns to our data model and defining their type.

Radar Chart

Not to confuse with bubble chart, which is supposed to visualize a relationship in which the relative sizes of individual elements do not change in time. Also, while most of the charts use Cartesian coordinates , radar charts use what is known as polar coordinates: the center of the chart is given by x (direction) and y (height), and the horizontal and vertical axes are given by z (zonal) and w (area). The chart also includes a sign and bar to determine the strength of the relationship between the two axes. 

Scatter Charts

A simple scatter chart that is frequently used when you want to see how various areas of your data evolve over time.

1. The 2-axis chart helps visualize the trajectory of the real-time values. This is very useful when analyzing streaming data or when you want to show the direction of an event. 

2. A cross section plot is used when you want to look at the vertical axis in terms of the cross-section and the horizontal axis in terms of the locations. 

3. A small scatter plotting chart is used when you want to compare an industry with another. It works especially well in comparing two or more industries or comparing two industries at the same time. 

Combined chart

When you insert a chart, specify the chart type you want. Column and line graphs are built-in to PowerPoint, and a variety of different forms of charts can be embedded as well.   2. axes and axes labels   Links can be added to axes to increase their specificity in your graphs. You can have axes be point, line or bar-shaped. They can have labels applied to them as well. Labels can be applied to both axes and the chart itself.  3. filter – make a difference   Filter can be used to amplify the presentation of data. Filters make different graphs fit together better. For example, you can use a filter to group various types of data into two different graphs. You can group verticals or horizontal lines together. Or with combined charts you can combine multiple vertical and horizontal charts to show changes over time.

Without watermark- line chart visualizes values based on line levels. This allows the user to easily compare different types of data to see whether some of the values are constant or fluctuate.  importing a chart from Excel.  2. graph that combine two different types- When you link two different line charts, you can easily show two different levels of the same data. This type of graph is great for showing data from two different data series with different scales.

1. Image without watermark- The .PNG file format stores your original image as a PNG file, without watermark. A new file, (.pptx) is produced with every exported PDF file. 

Animating your charts

A key way of illustrating statistics or other data visually is through an animated chart. Animated charts provide a fun way to help your audience understand and analyse data. However, a lot of people become intimidated by chart animations, so it’s important to understand the basics. This article aims to explain and show how to use the basic animations in PowerPoint and then show you some examples of how to use the different animation options. By default, animated charts are grey, this is because they do not contain a “data object” or visualisation. You can change this by clicking on the little cross symbol and selecting a colour.

Animation is a great way to show trends that are plotted over time. As you talk about a graph in your presentation, you can show it moving or fading in and out to help the viewer visualize that data . This is much more effective than using a moving bar chart to show a trend over time. Animation makes a very effective use of charts and graphs. If you have an image to work with, you can use motion to add interest to a chart and graph. You can start with a single picture, and add motion to it to create something that really pops. It can also be great to add sound effects to a graph, or maybe even the sound of thunder or a bell.  Animation is a great way to add interest to charts and graphs.

PowerPoint and Excel

Before we can animate any graph, the chart must have a row format which makes it possible to visualize a value in many different ways. This is usually a flat layout with vertical and horizontal axis and two sub-sections for data values. The axes are horizontal and vertical axis because there are some cases that graph labels cannot be shown. All the data in a flat graph has the same height. To animate any graph, it requires that all the data on the axes are visible in a table format which gives all rows the same height and only the labels and values are changed.

Links to PowerPoint charts with Excel

You can link your PowerPoint charts with Excel that you have created. 

• Drag and drop navigation – This tab allows you to drag a selected section of a chart and then to drop it into another area on the screen. 
• Transitions- This tab provides navigation for manipulating interactive charts. A small icon represents each transition, which you can select to navigate to another chart. 
• Best chart and graph icons- First of all, choose your favorite icon for your interactive chart. This can be a geometric shape, a mark or an indicator such as a red bar or a green bar. Use this icon as a reference and fill the entire area to your chart.

Modifying an Excel chart in PowerPoint

You can create a colored line overlay and change the colors of the axis labels in Excel. In PowerPoint, you can easily use the Paint Bucket Tool to modify and add annotations to the data. 

A web panel- To create a web panel in PowerPoint, simply copy and paste the link of a web panel, and it will appear in your PowerPoint. The main difference between a web panel and a web chart is that a web panel is a web application which your audience can use from their own computers, so you don’t have to worry about transferring it. You can use a web panel to present data in a new format, whether you are presenting it in a web form or a graphic map. 

PowerPoint is an essential tool for learning. It’s easy to learn, and it makes it easy for people to understand what you want them to know. The ease of learn and the familiarity of PowerPoint are a major factor in its success.  That said, you should look at other tools too. The best tools are used by the people who know how to use them. Learn these tools well and you will see a huge improvement in your productivity and in your communications with clients, colleagues, and other stakeholders.  That’s the power of learning and using the right tools.  Start with these powerful tips to get the most out of PowerPoint, then explore how to make PowerPoint work for you.  P.S. With this tip, you can customize your fonts in PowerPoint even when you’re offline.

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