7.3: Let’s Think Through a Visualization

Principles we want to keep in mind:

• Show the data without distortion
• Use color, shape, and location to encourage comparisons
• Minimize visual clutter (maximize your information to ink ratio)

The two questions you want to ask yourself before getting started are:

• What type of variable(s) am I plotting?
• What comparison do I want to make salient for the viewer (possibly myself)?

Figuring out how to highlight a comparison and include relevant variables usually benefits from sketching the plot out first.