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Data Visualization: Best Practices

General best practices

Through the data visualization process, keep in mind some general best practices.

Choosing the right chart type

The first step in effective data visualization is making sure you're using the right chart/graph type for your specific data.

Choosing colors

Selecting colors for a figure may seem like an inconsequential task and people often stick with the default color scale of whatever visualization tool they're using. This may not be the best choice, as misuse of color in data presentation may confuse the viewer and lead to misinterpretation of results. It is important to think through your color choices in order to best present your data and make the main points of a graph or chart easy for viewers to correctly figure out.