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How to Choose a Visualization

There is no one right way to make visualizations. These best practices are based on the research in the field of human-computer interaction. Sometimes rules are meant to be broken.

Choose a section to review:

colour section

The Colour section provides guidance on what colours to use, how many colours, cultural implications of colour, and some resource to help choose colours.

shapes

The Shape section provides guidance on how humans perceive shapes.

 

chart elements

The Chart Elements section provides guidance on what elements will help your visualization accurately communicate the data.

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This work by The University of Victoria Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License unless otherwise indicated when material has been used from other sources.