Nuts and Bolts of Chart & Graph Types [infographic]
The infographic below provides a quick list of the types of charts that are available for analysts/marketers out there. I do not intend to provide a comprehensive list, neither an accurate explanation of each (you will note!) But I do provide a 'tell me which graphs you use and I will tell you who you are' cheat sheet where I describe some of the personality types of people using different charts.
Disclosure: I am aware that any chart can be used in a responsible way, and that every graph has its advantages and disadvantages, but I think there is a rule of thumb of which are good charts and which are not-so-good.
The figure was written by me and designed by Daniel Bronfen, who has contributed another infographic to Online Behavior: Data Visualization: Social-Economical Differences in Brazil.
Chart & Graph Types Infographic
Additional Resources
For tips and tricks on Chart and Information design, I warmly recommend the books below (which I also quote in the infographic):
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About Daniel Waisberg
Daniel Waisberg is the Founder & Editor of Online Behavior. He is also the Owner of Conversion Journey, a Google Analytics Certified Partner. Daniel is a frequent speaker on industry events and the author of Google Analytics Integrations. You can find him on Google+ or Twitter.
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LOL, awesome infographic. Nice job, Daniel(s)!
Nicely written about the best usage of each graph type. I have saved this infographic for my future reporting purpose. Hopefully, I can manage to get a raise from my clients...
Also useful: http://www.juiceanalytics.com/chart-chooser/
Nice infographic Daniel - there are good an bad examples of using all of these. For example:
Good - I find the Radar Plot very useful for survey data
Bad - Pie charts are over used and tend to hide more information than they convey
The one exception is Tree Map - I have get to come across a good example of this in use...
O'Reilly have shown some good uses of Tree-maps: http://radar.oreilly.com/2006/07/treemap-on-rails.html
I have used it myself to visualize changes in search phrases over time to indicate effect of editors SEO work..
This is priceless. Where can I get a poster size print to hang on my wall?
Ditto on the wall sized version.
Fantastic post Daniel. I wish I had thought of this!
Would love to have high res image to print out!!