Advanced visualizations – when and why to use them

The visualization types we’ve seen up to this point will answer many, if not most, of the questions you have about your data. If you are asking questions of when?, then a time series is the most likely solution. If you are asking how much?, a bar chart gives a good, quick result. But there are times when you’ll ask questions that are better answered with a different type of visualization. For example, movement or flow might be best represented with a Sankey diagram. How many? might be best answered with a unit or symbol chart.

Comparing changes in ranks or absolute values might be best accomplished with a slope or bump chart. The visualizations that follow are not what you will use as you first explore the data. But as you dive deeper into your analysis and want to know or communicate more, you might consider some of the options in this chapter.

Each of the visualizations in this chapter is created using...