The Shaffer 4 C's of Data Visualization

"Clean" Examples
Default in Excel Default in Excel
25 30
20 25
15 20
10 15
5 Series1 10
0 Series1
5
0

Category A

Category C
Category D

Category I
Category J
Category B

Category E

Category G
Category F

Category H
Remove/Lighten Gridlines and lower # of Y-Axis Tick Marks

30 30
20
10 20
0 Series1
Category…
Category B
Category A

Category C

10
Series1

0
Category E
Category A

Category C

Category F

Category I
Category B

Category D

Category J
Category G
Category H

Avoid Rotated Text Rotate Chart Instead

30 0 10 20 30
20
Category A
10
0 Series1 Category B
Category…
Category B
Category A

Category C

Category C
Category D Removed Series Name

30
20 Category I
10
0 Category G

Category E

Category C

Category A
0 10 20 30
 The Shaffer 4 C's of Data Visualization
"Clean" Examples
Order Bars Order Bars
0 10 20 30
Category B
Category G
Category C Category B
Category D Category J
Category C
Category A Category E
Category D
0 10 20 30 Category H
Category A
Removed tick marks on y-axis Category I
Category F

Note - Labels in units of 10 with gridlines. Added minor

gridlines and minor ticks in units of 5.

Ordering Data adds context unless a specific order is required.

Ex. North, South, East, West (save alphabetical order for reference tables)

Remove Border Remove Border

0 10 20 30
Category B
Category G
Category C Category B
Category D Category J
Category C
Category A Category E
Category D
0 10 20 30 Category H
Category A
Category I
Category F

If reasonable number of bars consider data labels instead of axis labels

Category B 23 Category B 23

Category C 17 Category C 17

Category D 14 Category D 14

Category A 12 Category A 12

Category B 23 Category B 23

Category C 17 Category C 17

Category D 14 Category D 14

Category A 12 Category A 12
 The Shaffer 4 C's of Data Visualization
"Clean" Examples

Fine Tune Colors (ex. Dark Gray vs. Black)

Category B 23

Category C 17

Category D 14

Category A 12

Add Context - Ex. add Target Line, Expected Value or Average

Category B 23

Category C 17 Tip - Add target lines and text at last step to

avoid reformatting of chart. Using a dotted line
Category D 14
or different color will help contrast the target line
Category A 12 vs. a gridline.

Target 16%

Avoid Stark Borders on Bars Avoid 3D Bars

Category B 23 Category B
Category C
Category C 17
Category D
Category D 14 Category A

Category A 12 0 5 10
15 20 25
30

Avoid Narrow Bars Avoid Connected Bars (unless distribution)

Category B 23 Category B 23

Category C 17 Category C 17

Category D 14 Category D 14

Category A 12 Category A 12

Note - distributions are typically graphed as vertical bars, connected and with a border.
 The Shaffer 4 C's of Data Visualization
"Clean" Examples
Avoid Repeated Text. Example, if "Category" were truly repeated vs. unique names.
Example with y-axis and one highlighted data point. 3 labels vs. 10 Data points.
26

20

10

0
G B J C E D H A I F
Category

Example with 10 data points and no y-axis.

26
23
18 17 16
14 14
12 11
7

G B J C E D H A I F
Category

Add Title (tell the story)

Include Labels ($, # or %), Data Source, Date, Author, etc.

Bananas exceeded target by 7 units in 2011

(# of units sold)

Bananas 23

Apples 17

Grapes 14

Oranges 12

Target 16 units
Source - 2011 Actual Sales from BI Tool
Created by Jeffrey A. Shaffer
2/17/2011
 The Shaffer 4 C's of Data Visualization
"Clean" Examples

Sometimes it's necessary to show a % of a total. Example, Bananas as a % of total fruit.

Avoid Pie Charts
Bananas Apples Grapes Oranges

Oranges
18% Bananas
18%
35% 35%
Grapes
21% 21%

26% Apples
26%

Use bar charts for easier comparison and 100% stacked-bar chart for part to whole

Bananas exceeded target by 7 units in 2011

(# of units sold)

Bananas 23

Apples 17

Grapes 14

Oranges 12

Target 16 units

Bananas represent 35% of total unit sales

Bananas Apples Grapes Oranges
35% 26% 21% 18%

Source - 2011 Actual Sales from BI Tool

Created by Jeffrey A. Shaffer
2/17/2011
 The Shaffer 4 C's of Data Visualization
"Clean" Examples

Here is an excellent example of these practices in use taken from:

TDWI Best Practices Report entitled "Transforming Finance" by Wayne Eckerson