Edward Tufte’s Classic Is Our Data Visualization Book of the Month

Every month we give away a dataviz book to one of our newsletter subscribers. Last month it was “Data Visualisation” by Andy Kirk. And it’s traveling to Falk Pietsch from Germany. Congrats, Falk! This month we are giving away a data visualization classic – The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte. Just make […]

DataViz Tip #19: Utilize The Center of Donut Charts

Donut charts are not that different from Pie charts, except for that hole in the center (hence the name). That hole changes the aesthetics of the chart which you may or may not like, but it can also be used for practical purposes. You can display a total value in the center or use it […]

DataViz Tip #18: Combine Smaller Pie Chart Slices into “Other”

Pie charts have a bad reputation as slices of a circle are harder for the human brain to compare to each other than, say, bars in a bar chart. Yet, they are a great and widely recognized chart type to show values as part of a whole. Where they really break down, though, is when […]

DataViz Tip #17: Opt For Low Detail Map Charts

Occasionally, I use Microsoft’s Power BI to analyze various business data. While I love the tool in general, the map chart part of it frustrates me, to say the least. The problem is that it is using Bing maps as the basis for the map charts which results in charts like this: Not only does […]

DataViz Tip #16: Keep It Simple, Stupid

As someone responsible for visualizing data, you may lose track of what’s important in the task. Sometimes your goal is to build something visually stunning to impress the public, but most times your goal is to make information easy to understand and analyze. That’s where remembering the KISS principle is very important. In the data […]