Best Charts for Every Data Type: Dashboard Design Guide
The right chart makes data clear. The wrong chart obscures insights. This guide helps you match data types with visualization types for maximum impact.
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The Chart Selection Framework
Before choosing a chart, ask: What am I trying to show?
- Change over time: How has something evolved?
- Comparison: How do things stack up against each other?
- Composition: What makes up the whole?
- Distribution: How is data spread?
- Relationship: How do variables correlate?
Each category has ideal chart types. Let's explore them.
Showing Change Over Time
When you have a time dimension (dates, months, years), these charts work best:
Line Chart
Best for: Continuous data with many time points. Revenue over months, stock prices, temperature readings.
Why it works: Lines show trend direction clearly. Multiple lines enable comparison of different series.
Area Chart
Best for: Showing volume over time, especially when comparing multiple series that add up to a whole.
Why it works: Filled area emphasizes magnitude. Stacked areas show contribution of parts.
Bar Chart (Vertical)
Best for: Discrete time periods (quarters, years) with fewer data points.
Why it works: Bars make individual values easy to compare. Good when exact values matter.
Avoid
Pie charts for time-series data. You can't show trends with slices.
Making Comparisons
When comparing categories, amounts, or items against each other:
Bar Chart (Horizontal)
Best for: Comparing many categories with long names. Sales by product, revenue by region.
Why it works: Horizontal bars fit long labels. Easy to rank and compare lengths.
Grouped Bar Chart
Best for: Comparing multiple metrics across categories. Revenue and profit by product line.
Why it works: Side-by-side bars enable direct comparison within each category.
Bullet Chart
Best for: Actual vs. target comparisons. Sales achievement, KPI progress.
Why it works: Shows performance against a goal in minimal space.
Showing Composition
When showing how parts make up a whole:
Pie Chart
Best for: Simple part-to-whole with 2-5 categories. Market share, budget allocation.
Why it works: Familiar format, immediately shows "pieces of pie."
Warning: Don't use with many categories - becomes unreadable.
Donut Chart
Best for: Same as pie, but with space for a central metric.
Why it works: Center can display total or key number. Slightly more modern look.
Stacked Bar Chart
Best for: Composition across categories or time. Revenue breakdown by product over quarters.
Why it works: Shows both total and composition. Enables comparison across categories.
Treemap
Best for: Hierarchical composition with many items. Product category hierarchy, file system sizes.
Why it works: Efficiently uses space to show many parts and sub-parts.
Showing Distribution
When showing how data is spread across a range:
Histogram
Best for: Showing frequency distribution. Customer ages, order values, response times.
Why it works: Bars show how many fall into each range/bucket.
Box Plot
Best for: Showing distribution summary: median, quartiles, outliers.
Why it works: Compact way to show distribution characteristics. Good for comparing distributions.
Scatter Plot
Best for: Showing distribution across two dimensions. Price vs. sales, age vs. income.
Why it works: Each dot is a data point. Patterns reveal clusters and outliers.
Showing Relationships
When showing how variables relate to each other:
Scatter Plot
Best for: Showing correlation between two variables.
Why it works: Visual pattern reveals positive, negative, or no correlation.
Bubble Chart
Best for: Three-dimensional relationship. X, Y positions plus size for third variable.
Why it works: Packs three variables into a 2D chart.
Heatmap
Best for: Showing patterns across two categorical dimensions. Day of week vs. hour, product vs. customer segment.
Why it works: Color intensity shows magnitude. Patterns pop out visually.
Quick Reference Chart
| Your Goal | First Choice | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Trend over time | Line Chart | Area Chart |
| Compare categories | Bar Chart | Grouped Bar |
| Part of whole | Donut/Pie (2-5 items) | Stacked Bar |
| Distribution | Histogram | Box Plot |
| Correlation | Scatter Plot | Heatmap |
| Single KPI | Number Card | Gauge |
| Ranking | Horizontal Bar | Table |
| Geographic data | Map | - |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Pie Charts with Too Many Slices
More than 5-6 slices becomes unreadable. Use a bar chart instead.
3D Charts
3D effects distort perception of values. Always use 2D charts.
Truncated Y-Axis
Not starting at zero exaggerates differences. Only truncate with clear indication.
Too Many Colors
Rainbow palettes confuse. Use consistent color scheme with limited palette.
Let AI Choose for You
Not sure which chart to use? AI dashboard tools like VibeFactory analyze your data and automatically select appropriate visualizations. Describe what you want to see in plain English, and the AI handles chart selection.
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