4 Bad Charts and Alternatives

8/24/2022

Bottom Line: View 4 different charts that can be difficult to read, cause confusion, and prevent good decision-making. Then learn some alternatives that do the opposite.

Watch the Tutorial

Download the Excel File

This Excel file contains all of the charts that we look at in the video.

Choose the Best Charts

You want to use the best charts possible to convey data and tell your story. Here are 4 chart types that I feel are lacking in their ability to do that. Along with each chart, I want to show you a better alternative.

Bad Chart #1 – Stacked Column Chart

Despite the popularity of this chart, in my opinion, it's never the best option. The stacked column chart attempts to tell several stories at once. In the example below, the chart is telling the story of total sales by month, but it is also tryng to tell the story of total sales for each region by month. That's where I think it struggles to achieve clarity.

This is a bad chart because the data for each region (except for the bottom one) has an uneven baseline. Therefore it's difficult to accurately compare the monthly data because it's difficult to measure the size of each section. This difficulty is only compounded when the colors are similar, as above.

Because the Stacked Column Chart is trying to tell too many stories, it fails to tell most of them well. A better alternative is to create a Panel Chart, where each panel tells its own story.

Alternative – Panel Chart

Here is the exact same data, broken out into six Panel Charts. These panels tell each story separately and succinctly. It's much easier, for example, to see that sales in Asia are declining, while sales in Africa have almost doubled for the year.

Bad Chart #2 – 3D Exploding Pie Chart

While they look kind of cool, a 3D Exploding Pie Chart can be deceptive to read. For example, in the chart below, is it immediately obvious which of the slices represents a larger data point?

Most of us would say that pie slice #1 appears bigger than pie slice #2. But in reality, slice #1 represents 13% of the pie and slice #2 represents 15% of the pie. The confusion is caused by the fact that we are viewing the pie at an angle. This makes distance and perspective important factors in deciphering the data's story.

Alternative – Bar Chart

While even an old-fashioned 2D pie chart would be a better alternative for determining the size of each slice, I would recommend a bar chart, especially when the pie slices represent time periods. In the bar chart below, you can readily see a trend in the data over time that isn't as easy to perceive when the data is in a round pie.

If you must use a pie chart, consider using fewer data series, if possible, for easier comparison.

Bad Chart #3 – Clustered Column Chart

The Clustered Column Chart can be fine when there are smaller amounts of data. But as more groups are added, or more variables are clustered together, it can get very busy and much harder to read, as you can see here:

As you add more data, it becomes more difficult for the eye to take in all the vertical lines and different colors for comparison.

Alternative – Condensed Clustered Column Chart

The chart below is still technically a clustered column chart, but all of the data has been condensed into one column per region, and the colored lines represent the various data points. This type of chart is much easier on the eyes yet still conveys all of the data of the clustered chart above.

Bad Chart #4 – Box Plot (Quartile) Chart

The chart below shows the distribution of prices that products were sold at.

Sometimes a chart can take so much explanation that it loses its helpfulness because you could just as easily spend that time verbally telling the story of your data instead.

Alternative – Comparative Distribution Chart

A better option that I could have chosen for my audience would be the Comparative Distribution Chart, which shows a distribution of data across two different series or segments.

Conclusion

I hope this discussion has been helpful for you in determining what charts or graphs you should use for data visualization for different types of data and audiences.

Source: excelcampus.com

 

See more

Excel training courses