Read dashboards, news graphics, and business reports with confidence.
best for showing change over time
shows parts of a whole and works best with few categories
shows the distribution of numeric values
shows the relationship between two variables
shows median, spread, and outliers
shows both totals and composition
shows values across geographic areas
tell you what each axis measures
explains colors, symbols, or series
units and spacing change how the graph should be read
can exaggerate differences by not starting from zero
percentages can mislead if raw counts differ a lot
compare values only when they use a comparable base
the overall direction matters more than one noisy point
a point far from the rest of the data
a relationship does not prove one thing caused the other
small samples can produce unstable or misleading patterns
best for comparing categories