16 Perfect Varieties of Charts and Graphs for Information Visualization [+ Guide]

There are extra form of charts and graphs than ever ahead of as a result of there may be extra information. If truth be told, the amount of knowledge in 2025 shall be nearly double the knowledge we create, seize, replica, and eat lately.

This makes information visualization crucial for companies. Various kinds of graphs and charts mean you can:

• Encourage your crew to do so.
• Galvanize stakeholders with objective growth.
• Display your target audience what you worth as a industry.

Information visualization builds agree with and will arrange numerous groups round new tasks. Let’s communicate in regards to the sorts of graphs and charts that you’ll be able to use to develop your small business.

Other Varieties of Graphs for Information Visualization

1. Bar Graph

A bar graph must be used to steer clear of litter when one information label is lengthy or if in case you have greater than 10 pieces to check.

Perfect Use Circumstances for Those Varieties of Graphs

Bar graphs mean you can examine information between other teams or to trace adjustments through the years. Bar graphs are most dear when there are giant adjustments or to turn how one workforce compares in opposition to different teams.

The instance above compares the choice of shoppers by means of industry function. It makes it simple to look that there’s greater than two times the choice of shoppers in line with function for particular person participants than some other workforce.

A bar graph additionally makes it simple to look which workforce of knowledge is very best or maximum commonplace.

For instance, at first of the pandemic, on-line companies noticed a large soar in site visitors. So, if you wish to have a look at per month site visitors for a web-based industry, a bar graph would make it simple to look that soar.

Different use circumstances for bar graphs come with:

• Product comparisons.
• Product utilization.
• Class comparisons.
• Advertising site visitors by means of month or 12 months.
• Advertising conversions.

Design Perfect Practices for Bar Graphs

• Use constant colours all over the chart, deciding on accessory colours to focus on significant information issues or adjustments through the years.
• Use horizontal labels to toughen clarity.
• Get started the y-axis at 0 to accurately replicate the values for your graph.

2. Line Graph

A line graph unearths traits or growth through the years, and you’ll be able to use it to turn many alternative classes of knowledge. You should utilize it while you chart a continuing information set.

Perfect Use Circumstances for Those Varieties of Graphs

Line graphs lend a hand customers observe adjustments over brief and lengthy sessions. On account of this, these kinds of graphs are just right for seeing small adjustments.

Line graphs mean you can examine adjustments for multiple workforce over the similar length. They are additionally useful for measuring how other teams relate to one another.

A industry would possibly use this graph to check gross sales charges for various merchandise or services and products through the years.

Those charts also are useful for measuring carrier channel efficiency. For instance, a line graph that tracks what number of chats or emails your crew responds to per 30 days.

Design Perfect Practices for Line Graphs

• Use cast traces most effective.
• Do not plot greater than 4 traces to steer clear of visible distractions.
• Use the correct peak so the traces soak up more or less 2/3 of the y-axis’ peak.

3. Bullet Graph

A bullet graph unearths growth in opposition to a objective, compares this to any other measure, and offers context within the type of a ranking or efficiency.

Perfect Use Circumstances for Those Varieties of Graphs

Within the instance above, the bullet graph displays the choice of new shoppers in opposition to a suite buyer objective. Bullet graphs are nice for evaluating efficiency in opposition to targets like this.

Some of these graphs too can lend a hand groups assess conceivable roadblocks as a result of you’ll be able to analyze information in a good visible show.

For instance, that you must create a chain of bullet graphs measuring efficiency in opposition to benchmarks or use a unmarried bullet graph to visualise those KPIs in opposition to their targets:

• Income.
• Benefit.
• Buyer pleasure.
• Moderate order dimension.
• New shoppers.

Seeing this information at a look and along every different can lend a hand groups make fast choices.

Bullet graphs are some of the highest techniques to show year-over-year information research. You’ll additionally use bullet graphs to visualise:

• Buyer pleasure ratings.
• Product utilization.
• Buyer buying groceries conduct.
• Social media utilization by means of platform.

Design Perfect Practices for Bullet Graphs

• Use contrasting colours to focus on how the knowledge is progressing.
• Use one colour in several sunglasses to gauge growth.

Other Varieties of Charts for Information Visualization

To raised perceive those chart sorts and the way you’ll be able to use them, here is an summary of every:

1. Column Chart

Use a column chart to turn a comparability amongst other pieces or to turn a comparability of things through the years. That you must use this layout to look the income in line with touchdown web page or shoppers by means of shut date.

Perfect Use Circumstances for This Form of Chart

You’ll use each column charts and bar graphs to show adjustments in information, however column charts are highest for destructive information. The primary distinction, after all, is that column charts display knowledge vertically whilst bar graphs display information horizontally.

For instance, warehouses ceaselessly observe the choice of injuries at the store ground. When the choice of incidents falls beneath the per month moderate, a column chart could make that vary more uncomplicated to look in a presentation.

Within the instance above, this column chart measures the choice of shoppers by means of shut date. Column charts make it simple to look information adjustments over a time frame. This implies that they have got many use circumstances, together with:

• Buyer survey information, like appearing what number of shoppers want a selected product or how a lot a buyer makes use of a product on a daily basis.
• Gross sales quantity, like appearing which services and products are the highest dealers every month or the choice of gross sales every week.
• Benefit and loss, appearing the place industry investments are rising or falling.

Design Perfect Practices for Column Charts

• Use constant colours all over the chart, deciding on accessory colours to focus on significant information issues or adjustments through the years.
• Use horizontal labels to toughen clarity.
• Get started the y-axis at 0 to accurately replicate the values for your graph.

2. Twin-Axis Chart

A dual-axis chart means that you can plot information the usage of two y-axes and a shared x-axis. It has 3 information units. One is a continuing information set, and the opposite is healthier fitted to grouping by means of class. Use this chart to visualise a correlation or the shortage thereof between those 3 information units.

Perfect Use Circumstances for This Form of Chart

A dual-axis chart makes it simple to look relationships between other information units. They are able to additionally lend a hand with evaluating traits.

For instance, the chart above displays what number of new shoppers this corporate brings in every month. It additionally displays how a lot income the ones shoppers are bringing the corporate.

This makes it easy to look the relationship between the choice of shoppers and larger income.

You’ll use dual-axis charts to check:

• Value and quantity of your merchandise.
• Income and devices bought.
• Gross sales and benefit margin.
• Person gross sales efficiency.

Design Perfect Practices for Twin-Axis Charts

• Use the y-axis at the left aspect for the main variable as a result of brains naturally glance left first.
• Use other graphing kinds for instance the 2 information units, as illustrated above.
• Make a selection contrasting colours for the 2 information units.

3. Space Chart

A space chart is principally a line chart, however the area between the x-axis and the road is full of a colour or development. It comes in handy for appearing part-to-whole family members, like appearing particular person gross sales reps’ contributions to overall gross sales for a 12 months. It is helping you analyze each total and particular person pattern knowledge.

Perfect Use Circumstances for Those Varieties of Charts

Space charts lend a hand display adjustments through the years. They paintings highest for large variations between information units and lend a hand visualize giant traits.

For instance, the chart above displays customers by means of introduction date and lifestyles cycle level.

A line chart may just display extra subscribers than advertising certified leads. However this house chart emphasizes how a lot larger the choice of subscribers is than some other workforce.

Those charts make the scale of a bunch and the way teams relate to one another extra visually essential than information adjustments through the years.

Space graphs can lend a hand your small business to:

• Visualize which product classes or merchandise inside a class are most well liked.
• Display key efficiency indicator (KPI) targets vs. results.
• Spot and analyze business traits.

Design Perfect Practices for Space Charts

• Use clear colours so knowledge is not obscured within the background.
• Do not show greater than 4 classes to steer clear of litter.
• Prepare extremely variable information on the best of the chart to make it simple to learn.

4. Stacked Bar Chart

Use this chart to check many alternative pieces and display the composition of every merchandise you’re evaluating.

Perfect Use Circumstances for Those Varieties of Graphs

Those graphs are useful when a bunch begins in a single column and strikes to any other through the years.

For instance, the variation between a advertising certified lead (MQL) and a gross sales certified lead (SQL) is every so often laborious to look. The chart above is helping stakeholders see those two lead sorts from a unmarried standpoint — when a lead adjustments from MQL to SQL.

Stacked bar charts are very good for advertising. They make it easy so as to add a large number of information on a unmarried chart or to make some extent with restricted area.

Those graphs can display more than one takeaways, so they are additionally tremendous for quarterly conferences if you have so much to mention however no longer a large number of time to mention it.

Stacked bar charts also are a wise possibility for making plans or technique conferences. It’s because those charts can display a large number of knowledge immediately, however in addition they make it simple to concentrate on one stack at a time or transfer information as wanted.

You’ll additionally use those charts to:

• Display the frequency of survey responses.
• Determine outliers in historic information.
• Examine part of a solution to its efficiency as a complete.

Design Perfect Practices for Stacked Bar Graphs

• Perfect used for instance part-to-whole relationships.
• Use contrasting colours for better readability.
• Make the chart scale sufficiently big to view workforce sizes on the subject of one any other.

5. Mekko Chart

Often referred to as a Marimekko chart, this kind of graph can examine values, measure every one’s composition, and display information distribution throughout every one.

It is very similar to a stacked bar, apart from the Mekko’s x-axis can seize any other size of your values — as an alternative of time development, like column charts ceaselessly do. Within the graphic beneath, the x-axis compares the towns to each other.

Symbol Supply

Perfect Use Circumstances for This Form of Chart

You’ll use a Mekko chart to turn expansion, marketplace percentage, or competitor research.

For instance, the Mekko chart above displays the marketplace percentage of asset managers grouped by means of location and the worth in their property. This chart clarifies which corporations arrange probably the most property in several spaces.

It is also simple to look which asset managers are the most important and the way they relate to one another.

Mekko charts can appear extra complicated than different sorts of charts and graphs, so it is best to make use of those in eventualities the place you need to emphasise scale or variations between teams of knowledge.

Different use circumstances for Mekko charts come with:

• Detailed benefit and loss statements.
• Income by means of emblem and area.
• Product profitability.
• Percentage of voice by means of business or area of interest.

Design Perfect Practices for Mekko Charts

• Range your bar heights if the portion dimension is a very powerful level of comparability.
• Do not come with too many composite values inside every bar. Imagine reevaluating your presentation if in case you have a large number of information.
• Order your bars from left to proper in this kind of manner that exposes a related pattern or message.

6. Pie Chart

A pie chart displays a static quantity and the way classes constitute a part of a complete — the composition of one thing. A pie chart represents numbers in percentages, and the entire sum of all segments must equivalent 100%.

Perfect Use Circumstances for This Form of Chart

The picture above displays any other instance of consumers by means of function within the corporate.

The bar graph instance displays you that there are extra particular person participants than some other function. However this pie chart makes it transparent that they make up over 50% of purchaser roles.

Pie charts make it simple to look a piece on the subject of the entire, so they’re just right for appearing:

• Buyer personas on the subject of all shoppers.
• Income out of your most well liked merchandise or product sorts on the subject of all gross sales.
• P.c of overall take advantage of other retailer places.

Design Perfect Practices for Pie Charts

• Do not illustrate too many classes to make sure differentiation between slices.
• Be sure that the slice values upload as much as 100%.
• Order slices consistent with their dimension.

7. Scatter Plot Chart

A scatter plot or scattergram chart will display the connection between two other variables or divulge distribution traits.

Use this chart when there are lots of other information issues, and you need to focus on similarities within the information set. This comes in handy when searching for outliers or figuring out your information’s distribution.

Perfect Use Circumstances for Those Varieties of Charts

Scatter plots are useful in eventualities the place you might have an excessive amount of information to look a development temporarily. They’re highest while you use them to turn relationships between two massive information units.

Within the instance above, this chart displays how buyer happiness pertains to the time it takes for them to get a reaction.

This kind of graph makes it simple to check two information units. Use circumstances would possibly come with:

• Employment and production output.
• Retail gross sales and inflation.
• Customer numbers and outside temperature.
• Gross sales expansion and tax regulations.

Check out to make a choice two information units that have already got a good or destructive dating. That mentioned, this kind of graph too can enable you to see information that falls out of doors of ordinary patterns.

Design Perfect Practices for Scatter Plots

• Come with extra variables, like other sizes, to include extra information.
• Get started the y-axis at 0 to constitute information appropriately.
• Should you use pattern traces, most effective use a most of 2 to make your plot simple to grasp.

8. Bubble Chart

A bubble chart is very similar to a scatter plot in that it might display distribution or dating. There’s a 3rd information set proven by means of the scale of the bubble or circle.

Perfect Use Circumstances for This Form of Chart

Within the instance above, the choice of hours spent on-line is not just in comparison to the person’s age, as it could be on a scatter plot chart.

As an alternative, you’ll be able to additionally see how the gender of the person affects time spent on-line.

This makes bubble charts helpful for seeing the upward push or fall of traits through the years. It additionally means that you can upload another choice when you are looking to perceive relationships between other segments or classes.

For instance, if you wish to release a brand new product, this chart may just mean you can temporarily see your new product’s price, menace, and worth. This mean you can center of attention your energies on a low-risk new product with a top attainable go back.

You’ll additionally use bubble charts for:

• Most sensible gross sales by means of month and site.
• Buyer pleasure surveys.
• Retailer efficiency monitoring.
• Advertising marketing campaign critiques.

Design Perfect Practices for Bubble Charts

• Scale bubbles consistent with house, no longer diameter.
• Be sure labels are transparent and visual.
• Use round shapes most effective.

9. Waterfall Chart

Use a waterfall chart to turn how an preliminary worth adjustments with intermediate values — both certain or destructive — and ends up in a last worth.

Use this chart to expose the composition of a bunch. An instance of this is able to be to exhibit how other departments affect total corporate income and result in a selected benefit quantity.

Symbol Supply

Perfect Use Circumstances for This Form of Chart

Some of these charts enable you to know the way inside and exterior components affect a product or marketing campaign as a complete.

Within the instance above, the chart strikes from the beginning steadiness at the some distance left to the finishing steadiness at the some distance proper. Elements within the middle come with deposits, transfers out and in, and financial institution charges.

A waterfall chart provides a handy guide a rough visible, making complicated processes and results more uncomplicated to look and troubleshoot. For instance, SaaS firms ceaselessly measure buyer churn. This layout can lend a hand visualize adjustments in new, present, and unfastened trial customers or adjustments by means of person section.

You may additionally need to take a look at a waterfall chart to turn:

• Adjustments in income or benefit through the years.
• Stock audits.
• Worker staffing critiques.

Design Perfect Practices for Waterfall Charts

• Use contrasting colours to focus on variations in information units.
• Make a selection heat colours to suggest will increase and funky colours to suggest decreases.

10. Funnel Chart

A funnel chart displays a chain of steps and the finishing touch price for every step. Use this kind of chart to trace the gross sales procedure or the conversion price throughout a chain of pages or steps.

Perfect Use Circumstances for Those Varieties of Charts

The commonest use case for a funnel chart is the selling or gross sales funnel. However there are lots of alternative ways to make use of this flexible chart.

In case you have no less than 4 phases of sequential information, this chart mean you can simply see what inputs or outputs affect the general effects.

For instance, a funnel chart mean you can see easy methods to toughen your purchaser adventure or buying groceries cart workflow. It’s because it might lend a hand pinpoint main drop-off issues.

Different stellar choices for these kinds of charts come with:

• Deal pipelines.
• Conversion and retention research.
• Bottlenecks in production and different multi-step processes.
• Advertising marketing campaign efficiency.
• Web site conversion monitoring.

Design Perfect Practices for Funnel Charts

• Scale the scale of every phase to appropriately replicate the scale of the knowledge set.
• Use contrasting colours or one colour in graduated hues, from darkest to lightest, as the scale of the funnel decreases.

11. Warmth Map

A warmth map displays the connection between two pieces and offers ranking knowledge, equivalent to top to low or deficient to very good. This chart presentations the ranking knowledge the usage of various colours or saturation.

Perfect Use Circumstances for Warmth Maps

Within the instance above, the darker the colour of inexperienced displays the place the vast majority of other folks agree.

With sufficient information, warmth maps could make a standpoint that would possibly appear subjective extra concrete. This makes it more uncomplicated for a industry to behave on buyer sentiment.

There are lots of makes use of for these kinds of charts. If truth be told, many tech firms use warmth map gear to gauge person enjoy for apps, on-line gear, and website online design.

Every other commonplace use for warmth map graphs is location evaluation. If you are looking for the correct location to your new retailer, those maps can come up with an concept of what the world is like in ways in which a talk over with can not keep up a correspondence.

Warmth maps too can lend a hand with recognizing patterns, so they are just right for inspecting traits that vary temporarily, like advert conversions. They are able to additionally lend a hand with:

• Competitor analysis.
• Buyer sentiment.
• Gross sales outreach.
• Marketing campaign affect.
• Buyer demographics.

Design Perfect Practices for Warmth Map

• Use a fundamental and transparent map define to steer clear of distracting from the knowledge.
• Use a unmarried colour in various sunglasses to turn adjustments in information.
• Keep away from the usage of more than one patterns.

12. Gantt Chart

The Gantt chart is a horizontal chart that dates again to 1917. This chart maps the other duties finished over a time frame.

Gantt charting is among the maximum crucial gear for undertaking managers. It brings all of the finished and uncompleted duties into one position and tracks the growth of every.

Whilst the left aspect of the chart presentations all of the duties, the correct aspect displays the growth and agenda for every of those duties.

This chart kind means that you can:

• Ruin initiatives into duties.
• Monitor the beginning and finish of the duties.
• Set essential occasions, conferences, and bulletins.
• Assign duties to the crew and folks.

Perfect Use Circumstances for This Form of Chart

Gantt charts are ideal for inspecting, highway mapping, and tracking growth over a time frame.

The chart above divides the other duties fascinated about product introduction. Each and every of those duties has a timeline that may be mapped at the calendar view.

From the imaginative and prescient and solution to the seed investment spherical, the Gantt chart is helping undertaking control groups construct long-term methods.

The most efficient section? You’ll deliver the stakeholders, undertaking crew, and bosses to a unmarried position.

You’ll use Gantt charts in more than a few duties, together with:

• Monitoring worker information as a human useful resource.
• Monitoring gross sales leads in a gross sales procedure.
• Plan and observe development paintings.

Design Perfect Practices for Gantt Charts

• Use identical colours for the same workforce of actions.
• You should definitely label the duty dependencies to map undertaking get started and finishing touch.
• Use gentle colours that align with the texts and grids of the chart.

13. Treemap

A treemap is a chart that represents hierarchical information in a tree-like diagram. As obvious from the identify, treemaps have information arranged as branches and sub-branches.

The knowledge within the chart is nested within the type of rectangles and sub-rectangles. Each and every of those rectangles and sub-rectangles has other dimensions and plot colours that are assigned w.r.t to the quantitative information.

Symbol Supply

Perfect Use Circumstances for This Form of Chart

The treemap chart compares the other merchandise in a class or sub-category. Within the diagram above, the goods are divided by means of income.

Have a look at the 4 mother or father classes: Culmination, Greens, Dairy, and Meat. That is adopted by means of next sub-categories or sub-products. The scale of those rectangles are in percentage to their numerical amount and different rectangles in the similar class.

The colours of those rectangles are plotted as in line with the income generated. Treemap charts are efficient in differentiating between the goods that lie in the similar workforce however are divided into other sub-groups.

This type of mapping chart is highest used:

• When there are masses of classes or even deeper layers of sub-categories. For instance, General votes forged w.r.t. States.
• To review the knowledge with admire to just two quantitative values.
• To check the efficiency of goods and establish similarities and anomalies inside a unmarried or more than one classes.

Design Perfect Practices for Treemaps

• Use contrasting and vivid colours to focus on variations between sub-categories.
• Prepare the rectangles so as of bigger house to smaller in dimension (i.e., from best to backside).
• Mark down every rectangle with textual content or numbers to make it simple to learn.

Make a selection the Proper Chart or Graph for Your Information

Channels like social media or blogs have more than one information assets, and managing those complicated content material property can get overwhelming. What must you be monitoring? What issues maximum?

How do you visualize and analyze the knowledge so you’ll be able to extract insights and actionable knowledge?

1. Determine your targets for presenting the knowledge.

Do you need to persuade or explain some extent? Are you looking to visualize information that helped you clear up an issue? Or are you looking to keep up a correspondence a metamorphosis that is going down?

A chart or graph mean you can examine other values, know the way other portions affect the entire, or analyze traits. Charts and graphs will also be helpful for spotting information that veers clear of what you’re used to or mean you can see relationships between teams.

Explain your targets, then use them to lead your chart variety.

2. Work out what information you wish to have to succeed in your objective.

Various kinds of charts and graphs use other sorts of information. Graphs typically constitute numerical information, whilst charts are visible representations of knowledge that can or would possibly not use numbers.

So, whilst all graphs are one of those chart, no longer all charts are graphs. If you do not have already got the type of information you wish to have, chances are you’ll want to spend a while hanging your information in combination ahead of construction your chart.

3. Acquire your information.

Maximum companies acquire numerical information ceaselessly, however you could want to installed some overtime to assemble the correct information to your chart. But even so quantitative information gear that measure site visitors, income, and different person information, chances are you’ll want some qualitative information.

Those are another techniques you’ll be able to accumulate information to your information visualization:

• Interviews 
• Quizzes and surveys
• Buyer critiques
• Reviewing buyer paperwork and information
• Neighborhood forums

4. Make a selection the correct form of graph or chart.

Opting for the unsuitable visible help or defaulting to the commonest form of information visualization may just confuse your viewer or result in flawed information interpretation.

However a chart is most effective helpful to you and your small business if it communicates your level obviously and successfully.

Ask your self the questions beneath to lend a hand in finding the correct chart or graph kind.

Obtain the Excel templates discussed within the video right here.

5 Inquiries to Ask When Deciding Which Form of Chart to Use

1. Do you need to check values?

Charts and graphs are ideal for evaluating one or many worth units, and they are able to simply display the high and low values within the information units. To create a comparability chart, use these kinds of graphs:

• Column
• Mekko
• Bar
• Pie
• Line
• Scatter plot
• Bullet

2. Do you need to turn the composition of one thing?

Use this kind of chart to turn how particular person portions make up the entire of one thing, just like the instrument kind used for cell guests in your website online or overall gross sales damaged down by means of gross sales rep.

To turn composition, use those charts:

• Pie
• Stacked bar
• Mekko
• Space
• Waterfall

3. Do you need to grasp the distribution of your information?

Distribution charts mean you can to grasp outliers, the traditional tendency, and the variety of knowledge for your values.

Use those charts to turn distribution:

• Scatter plot
• Mekko
• Line
• Column
• Bar

4. Are you curious about inspecting traits for your information set?

If you need extra details about how a knowledge set carried out right through a selected time, there are certain chart sorts that do extraordinarily neatly.

You must make a selection some of the following:

• Line
• Twin-axis line
• Column

5. Do you need to raised perceive the connection between worth units?

Dating charts can display how one variable pertains to one or many alternative variables. That you must use this to turn how one thing undoubtedly impacts, has no impact, or negatively impacts any other variable.

When looking to identify the connection between issues, use those charts:

Featured Useful resource: The Marketer’s Information to Information Visualization

Obtain this unfastened information visualization information to be told which graphs to make use of for your advertising, shows, or undertaking — and easy methods to use them successfully.

Put those new sorts of charts and graphs into motion.

Now that you have selected the most efficient graph or chart to your undertaking, take a look at a knowledge visualization useful resource that makes your level transparent and visible.

Information visualization is only one a part of nice conversation. To turn your shoppers, workers, management, and traders that they are essential, stay making time to be told.

Editor’s observe: This put up used to be firstly printed in November 2020 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.