1 Learn the concept
When you manage several content assets, such as social media or a blog, with many sources of data, it can get overwhelming. What should you show, and how? The right chart makes a point obvious, and the wrong one hides it. This lesson shows how to choose a chart by starting with the question you want to answer.
2 See it in action
- Comparison: use bars to compare categories.
- Trend: use lines to show change over time.
- Part of a whole: use a pie or stacked bar, sparingly.
- Relationship: use a scatter plot to show how two measures relate.
Worked example
Choosing a chart
Question: how did sales change each month this year?
Data: 12 monthly totals.
Chart: a line chart, since it shows a trend over time.
Not: a pie chart, which cannot show change over time.
Check: label the axes and use a clear title.
3 Study an example
Example scenario
A marketer plots monthly traffic as a pie chart and the trend is invisible. Switching to a line chart shows growth at a glance.
4 Apply it and download
- Write the question your data should answer.
- Choose a chart type for it.
- Build it and test it on a colleague.
Worksheet Data cleaning checklist and report templateOpen, print or save as PDF