Data Visualization Best Practices

Your Data Viz Checklist: Make Your Data Shine!

Don’t just make charts. Make charts that communicate clearly and accurately.

1. Purpose & Audience

• What single message do you want to convey?
• Who is your audience? (Execs need dashboards, analysts need detail.)

2. Data Integrity (Be Honest!)

• Is your data represented accurately?
• Are your bar charts starting at zero? (Crucial!)
• Are all data sources attributed?

3. Simplicity & Clarity

• Remove chart junk! No unnecessary grids, shadows, 3D effects.
• Is the title clear and descriptive?
• Are labels easy to read and understand?
• Is the story immediately obvious?

4. Choose the Right Chart

• Trends over Time: Line chart
• Comparisons (Categories): Bar chart
• Part-to-Whole: Stacked bar/column (avoid pie charts if >3 slices)
• Relationships: Scatter plot

5. Design Smart

• Use color purposefully, not decoratively. Ensure contrast and accessibility.
• Use white space to reduce clutter.
• Ensure text is legible at all sizes.

Biggest Pitfall: Making a chart that looks pretty but confuses or misleads. Focus on clarity and accuracy first.