Figuring out the right way to display your data is an important part of any project. Bar, line, and waterfall charts can bring certain assumptions. Tables can be difficult to read. Scatter plots may be accurate but imply risk or uncertainty
This may feel like a trivial problem, but it isn’t. Difficult to understand data analysis leads to faulty decisions which cost companies money.
How do you get it right? Through two questions:
- Does the data, as displayed, answer the question without an explanation being required?
- Can someone unfamiliar with the data and problem quickly understand what is being shown?
If the answer to either of those questions is no or maybe then you have done data visualization wrong and you need to try again. Yes, there will be problems where it is difficult to get to yes on these questions. Where that occurs, you generally are asking multiple questions at a time. Charts and graphs are usually able to answer one question at a time, don’t ask them to do more than they can.