Data should be presented in a way that is easy to understand. Good graph design can help your audience understand your data quickly and help you engage others with data
The rule of thumb is that you should be able to understand the data presented in under a minute.
Other types of charts that might be helpful include Pareto charts, Histogram, Scatter plots and Funnel plots
Title: This should clearly describe the chart—including what, where and when in large clear font
Axis:
Legend:
Add annotations to the graph to show any testing
Here is an example of how using these principles can improve the display of data
Before: It is difficult to see what is happening on this graph. It is cluttered and having more than one ward on the same graph makes it hard to be able to understand quickly
After: Using the principles above , we have split the graphs into single wards ( This is the graph for ward 3 ). We have removed things that aren't needed from the graph e.g. grid lines, data labels and we have changed the scale to make it clearer. We have clearly labelled that axes, removed the legend and updated the colours. It is now much easier to understand the chart in under a minute. The next step would be to ask questions to get insight into what is happening.
*A median line had been added to allow run chart rules to be applied. For more detail on run charts and how they can be used to tell your if your changes are resulting in improvement see here
Content updated September 2021