DataViz Tip #23: Use Interactivity To Avoid Overwhelming Viewers With Excessive Data

In static data visualizations, you have to always look for a compromise between showing the whole picture and not overwhelming the viewer by overloading the chart with too many details. Luckily, with interactivity on the web, you can surface the most important information while still letting the viewer explore the details.

Like in this stock chart:

See the Pen Comparing stock indices (using external data) by amCharts (@amcharts) on CodePen.24419

You can see the whole picture and markers for the events that happened. By hovering over the markers viewers can see the details of the event, if they wish. The developer behind the chart didn’t have to make a hard choice of filtering the events or even not showing them at all.

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