Visualization types

Visualization types

Charts, graphs, maps, tables and diagrams can all help you tell a story with your data. But which should you choose?

Understanding data is crucial to public education, debate, and decision-making. Done well, data visualizations help people more precisely understand the issues that matter to them. They are not only informative but also beautiful. Done poorly, data visualizations misrepresent research findings and lead people to incorrect conclusions. Moving from basic principles to best practices, this guide to introduces the art and science of drawing clear explanations from complex data.

In this guide we’ve identified some of the more common methods used to visualize data, and have compiled some recommendations to help you select the right visualization type for you. Have a suggestion for something you don’t see here? Tell us about it by opening a Github issue.