数据可视化101：如何为数据选择正确的图表或图表

You and I sift through a lot of data for our jobs. Data about website performance, sales performance, product adoption, customer service, marketing campaign results ... the list goes on.

When you manage multiplecontent assets,比如社交媒体或者一个博客,with multiple sources of data, it can get overwhelming.您应该跟踪什么？实际重要的是什么？How do you visualize and analyze the dataso you can extract insights and actionable information?

More importantly, how can you make reporting more efficient when you're busy working on multiple projects at once?

One of the struggles that slows down my own reporting and analysis is understanding what types of graphs to use -- and why. That's because choosing the wrong visual aid or simply defaulting to the most common type of data visualization could cause confusion with the viewer or lead to mistaken data interpretation.

To create charts that clarify and provide the right canvas for analysis, you should first understand the reasons why you might need a chart. In this post, I'll cover five questions to ask yourself when choosing a chart for your data.

Then, I'll give an overview of 14 different types of charts you have at your disposal.

5 Questions to Ask When Deciding Which Type of Chart to Use

1. Do you want to compare values?

图表非常适合比较一个或多个值集，它们可以轻松显示数据集中的低和高值。要创建比较图表，请使用这些类型的图表：

• Column
• Mekko
• Bar
• 馅饼
• Line
• Scatter Plot
• Bullet

2.您想展示某物的组成吗？

使用此类型的图表来显示单个零件如何构成整个内容，例如用于您网站的移动访问者的设备类型或销售代表分解的总销售额。

要显示构图，请使用以下图表：

• 馅饼
• 堆叠的酒吧
• Mekko
• Stacked Column
• Area
• Waterfall

3. Do you want to understand the distribution of your data?

分发图可帮助您了解异常值，正常趋势以及您的价值观中的信息范围。

使用这些图表显示分布：

• Scatter Plot
• Mekko
• Line
• Column
• Bar

4. Are you interested in analyzing trends in your data set?

如果您想了解有关在特定时间段内数据集执行方式的更多信息，则有一些特定的图表类型非常好。

You should choose a:

• Line
• 双轴线
• Column

5. Do you want to better understand the relationship between value sets?

关系图适用于显示一个变量与一个或多个不同变量的关系。您可以使用它来表明某些东西如何产生效果，或者对另一变量产生负面影响。

When trying to establish the relationship between things, use these charts:

• Scatter Plot
• Bubble
• Line

Featured Resource:营销人员的数据可视化指南

Download this free data visualization guideto learn which graphs to use in your marketing, presentations, or project -- and how to use them effectively.

14 Different Types of Graphs and Charts for Presenting Data

To better understand each chart and how they can be used, here's an overview of each type of chart.

1. Column Chart

A column chart is used to show a comparison among different items, or it can show a comparison of items over time. You could use this format to see the revenue per landing page or customers by close date.

设计列图表的最佳实践：

• 使用consistent colorsthroughout the chart, selecting accent colors to highlight meaningful data points or changes over time.
• 使用horizontal labelsto improve readability.
• Start the y-axis at 0适当地反映图表中的值。

2. Bar Graph

A bar graph, basically a horizontal column chart, should be used to avoid clutter when one data label is long or if you have more than 10 items to compare. This type of visualization can also be used to display negative numbers.

设计最佳实践Bar Graphs:

• 使用consistent colorsthroughout the chart, selecting accent colors to highlight meaningful data points or changes over time.
• 使用horizontal labelsto improve readability.
• Start the y-axis at 0适当地反映图表中的值。

3. Line Graph

A line graph reveals trends or progress over time and can be used to show many different categories of data. You should use it when you chart a continuous data set.

设计线图的最佳实践：

• 使用solid lines only.
• 不要绘制超过四行避免视觉分散注意力。
• 使用the right heightso the lines take up roughly 2/3 of the y-axis' height.

4. Dual Axis Chart

A dual axis chart allows you to plot data using two y-axes and a shared x-axis. It's used with three data sets, one of which is based on a continuous set of data and another which is better suited to being grouped by category. This should be used to visualize a correlation or the lack thereof between these three data sets.

设计最佳实践双轴图s:

• 使用the y-axis on the left side for the primary variable因为大脑自然倾向于首先看左。
• 使用不同的图形样式为了说明两个数据集，如上所述。
• Choose contrasting colorsfor the two data sets.

5. Area Chart

区域图基本上是线图，但是X轴和线之间的空间充满了颜色或图案。这对于显示部分关系的关系很有用，例如显示个人销售代表一年对总销售额的贡献。它可以帮助您分析整体和个人趋势信息。

设计最佳实践Area Charts:

• 使用透明的颜色so information isn't obscured in the background.
• Don't display more than four categories避免混乱。
• 在图表顶部组织高度可变的数据使它容易阅读。

6. Stacked Bar Chart

应该使用这来比较许多不同的项目，并显示要比较的每个项目的组成。

设计最佳实践堆叠的条形图s:

• 最好用来说明零件到整个关系。
• 使用contrasting colorsfor greater clarity.
• Make chart scale large enoughto view group sizes in relation to one another.

7. Mekko图表

这种类型的图形也称为Marimekko图表，可以比较值，测量每个人的组成，并显示您的数据是如何在每个图中分布的。

It's similar to a stacked bar, except the mekko's x-axis is used to capture another dimension of your values --rather than time progression, like column charts often do.In the graphic below, the x-axis compares each city to one another.

Image viaMekko Graphics

Mekko图表的设计最佳实践：

• Vary you bar heightsif the portion size is an important point of comparison.
• Don't include too many composite valueswithin each bar. you might want to reevaluate how to present your data if you have a lot.
• 订购您的酒吧从左到右以暴露相关趋势或消息的方式。

8. Pie Chart

A pie chart shows a static number and how categories represent part of a whole -- the composition of something. A pie chart represents numbers in percentages, and the total sum of all segments needs to equal 100%.

设计最佳实践馅饼Charts:

• 不要说明太多类别to ensure differentiation between slices.
• Ensure that the slice valuesadd up to 100%.
• Order slicesaccording to their size.

9. Scatter Plot Chart

散点图或散点图图将显示两个不同变量之间的关系，或者可以揭示分布趋势。当有许多不同的数据点时，应该使用它，并且您想突出显示数据集中的相似性。在寻找离群值或了解数据的分布时，这很有用。

设计散点图的最佳实践：

• 包括更多变量, such as different sizes, to incorporate more data.
• Start y-axis at 0to represent data accurately.
• 如果您使用trend lines，最多只使用两个使您的情节易于理解。

10.气泡图

A bubble chart is similar to a scatter plot in that it can show distribution or relationship. There is a third data set, which is indicated by the size of the bubble or circle.

设计最佳实践Bubble Charts:

• Scale bubbles according to area，不是直径。
• Make surelabels are clear and visible.
• 使用圆形的形状only.

11.瀑布图

一个waterfall chart should be used to show how an initial value is affected by intermediate values -- either positive or negative -- and resulted in a final value. This should be used to reveal the composition of a number. An example of this would be to showcase how overall company revenue is influenced by different departments and leads to a specific profit number.

图表通过Baans Consulting

设计最佳实践瀑布图s:

• 使用contrasting colorsto highlight differences in data sets.
• Choose warm colors to indicate increases and cool colors to indicate decreases.

12. Funnel Chart

A funnel chart shows a series of steps and the completion rate for each step. This can be used to track the sales process or the conversion rate across a series of pages or steps.

设计最佳实践漏斗图s:

• 扩展每个部分的大小to accurately reflect the size of the data set.
• 使用contrasting colorsorone colorin gradating hues, from darkest to lightest as the size of the funnel decreases.

13.子弹图

A bullet graph reveals progress toward a goal, compares this to another measure, and provides context in the form of a rating or performance.

设计的最佳弹奏图：

• 使用contrasting colorsto highlight how the data is progressing.
• 使用one colorin different shades to gauge progress.

14. Heat Map

热图显示了两个项目之间的关系，并提供了评级信息，例如高或低或穷至优秀。评级信息使用不同的颜色或饱和度显示。

设计最佳实践热图:

• 用一个基本和清晰的地图大纲to avoid distracting from the data.
• 使用一种颜色in varying shades to show changes in data.
• 避免使用多种模式。