Ranked Bars
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Compare one measure across a short list of entities
Required Data Shape
entity x value
Interpretation Check
Truncated axis or ranking unequal populations
Dot Plot
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Compare one measure across many entities with less ink
Required Data Shape
entity x value
Interpretation Check
Hiding suppressed entities
Slope Chart
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show change between two periods per entity
Required Data Shape
entity x two periods
Interpretation Check
Definition change between the two periods
Dumbbell
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show gap between two values per entity
Required Data Shape
entity x value A x value B
Interpretation Check
Comparing values from different populations
Line Trend
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show a measure over many periods
Required Data Shape
entity x period x value
Interpretation Check
Bridging series breaks without a marker
Share Area
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show composition over time
Required Data Shape
period x category x share
Interpretation Check
Stacking categories that are not exhaustive
Stacked Composition
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show parts of a whole per entity
Required Data Shape
entity x category x value
Interpretation Check
Parts that overlap or double count
Waterfall
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show how components build to a total or change
Required Data Shape
ordered component x signed value
Interpretation Check
Mixing stocks and flows
Scatter
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show co-variation of two measures
Required Data Shape
entity x value X x value Y
Interpretation Check
Implying causation or trend lines on different populations
Bubble
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Scatter with a third size measure
Required Data Shape
entity x X x Y x size
Interpretation Check
Area misread as radius
Histogram
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show distribution of one measure
Required Data Shape
value list with bins
Interpretation Check
Bin choice hiding suppressed ranges
Box Plot
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Compare distributions across groups
Required Data Shape
group x value list
Interpretation Check
Small groups shown without counts
Violin
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Compare distribution shape across groups
Required Data Shape
group x value list
Interpretation Check
Smoothing inventing density where data are sparse
Matrix Heatmap
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show availability or intensity across two categories
Required Data Shape
row x column x value or flag
Interpretation Check
Blank cells read as zero instead of unknown
Calendar
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Place events or daily values in time
Required Data Shape
date x value or event
Interpretation Check
Time zone and schedule version drift
Choropleth
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show rates by geographic area
Required Data Shape
GEOID x rate x vintage
Interpretation Check
Counts instead of rates; mixed vintages
Symbol Map
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show point locations with a size or category
Required Data Shape
point x coordinates x attribute
Interpretation Check
Overlapping symbols in dense areas
Stage Flow
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show connected counts across stages in one source
Required Data Shape
stage x stage x connected count
Interpretation Check
Multiplying unrelated rates to fake a flow
Sankey
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show allocation flows between categories
Required Data Shape
source node x target node x actual amount
Interpretation Check
Flows not from one linked dataset
Network
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show documented links between entities
Required Data Shape
node x node x link type
Interpretation Check
Implying strength from layout
Treemap
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show hierarchical composition
Required Data Shape
hierarchy x value
Interpretation Check
Comparing areas across separate treemaps
Waffle
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show share of a whole as counted units
Required Data Shape
category x share
Interpretation Check
Rounding hiding small categories
Range Interval
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Show a low-high range per entity
Required Data Shape
entity x low x high
Interpretation Check
Ranges from different definitions
Small Multiples
Schematic Design Preview
Fictional illustration, not a calculated chart or measured finding.
Repeat one chart across entities for comparison
Required Data Shape
entity x period x value
Interpretation Check
Independent axes misread as shared