New to DataViz? Here Are Our Top 10 Picks For Data Visualization Tips & Techniques

Ever felt puzzled which chart to choose when presenting your data in front of colleagues? If you’re not familiar with data visualization best practices, you risk losing your precious time trying out different charts which don’t fit your data until you manage to pick the One. Or even worse – you may choose a chart which doesn’t visually convey the concepts and analytical results you would like to present.

It is a well-known fact that because of the way the human brain processes information, it is faster for people to understand the meaning of data when displayed visually in charts. But big data has brought new challenges to data visualization.

To help you in your DataViz endeavors we have gathered a list of 10 blog articles with easy-to-follow, actionable tips and examples on which chart to use to visualize different types of data in various scenarios. The end goal, of course, is to get your message across:

1. 7 Do's and Don'ts of DataViz - A great piece on the 7 main rules to follow when choosing the right charts and graphs for your reports and dashboards. For a summarized view, check out our amazing infographic on the subject: [Infographic] 7 Do's and Don'ts of Dataviz Infographic;

2. Should I Choose a Pie Chart or a Bar Chart? - Some actionable advice in which cases it is better to use a pie chart and a bar chart;

3. It's The Little Things That Matter: Axes, Tick Marks, Tick Labels, and Grid Lines - On the supporting structures of charts and reports - axes, tick marks, tick labels, and grid lines. These should be subtle to avoid distracting from the data but should still be paid attention;

4. The Role of Convention in Dataviz - A blog on the temporal and color conventions in data visualizations;

5. Should I Use a Dual-axis Chart? - Relevant to both dataviz novices and experts. About the relationship between data sets and chart axes for conveying the right message to your audience;

6. Area Judgements: Areal Problem - Did you know that we aren't very good at judging areas? We're much better at judging lengths and position. Read more in the blog;

7. Too Big Data: Coping with Overplotting - With all the hype around Big Data in recent years it's easy to assume that having more data is always an advantage. But not when data overcrowds your chart;

8. Line Charts: Where to Start? - Learn the best practices for placing lines in a line chart area;

9. Bar Charts versus Dot Plots - Bar charts have a distinct advantage over chart forms that require area or angle judgements. That's because we're good at judging lengths and/or position along a scale. But we also decode dot plots through judging position along a scale. Is there a reason to choose one over the other?

10. Five basic rules for MOBILE data visualization - today’s mobile users are a hard crowd to please. They quickly lose patience with anything even slightly below standard – learn how to answer mobile users’ User Interface expectations in this blog.

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