Data Analysis
Understand visual encodings, axes, scales, legends, comparison, trend, distribution, relationship, pattern, and accessibility choices.
12 matching terms
Visual design
Visual encoding
Mapping data values to position, length, color, size, shape, or another visual property.
Choose encodings that make the intended comparison easy and accurate.
Map revenue to bar length and region to position.Visual design
Axis
A reference line and labels that show the scale and position of values.
Label units, use readable ticks, and show zero when the comparison requires it.
Y-axis: monthly revenue (million KRW).Visual design
Scale
A rule that maps a data domain to a visual range.
Select linear, logarithmic, temporal, or categorical scales based on the data and question.
Use a log scale only when multiplicative differences are the analytical focus.Visual design
Legend
A key that explains the meaning of colors, shapes, or line styles.
Use it when direct labels are impractical and keep category order consistent.
Legend: New customers / Returning customers.Comparison
Bar chart
A chart that compares categories using bar length.
Use it for ranked or side-by-side comparison of discrete categories.
Compare quarterly sales by product category with sorted horizontal bars.Trend
Line chart
A chart that connects ordered values to show change, usually over time.
Use it for trends, seasonality, and comparisons across time.
Plot weekly active users for the last 52 weeks.Relationships
Scatter plot
A chart that positions observations by two numerical variables.
Use it to inspect association, clusters, nonlinear patterns, and outliers.
Plot delivery distance against delivery time and color by city.Distribution
Histogram
A chart that groups numerical values into intervals and shows their frequency.
Use it to examine distribution shape, spread, skew, and multiple modes.
Show order values in consistent 10,000 KRW bins.Distribution
Box plot
A compact display of a distribution using quartiles, median, and whiskers.
Use it to compare distributions across several groups.
Compare delivery-time distributions by carrier.Patterns
Heatmap
A grid in which color represents the magnitude of each cell value.
Use it for dense matrices, calendar patterns, or two-dimensional summaries.
Heatmap of order count by weekday and hour.Comparison
Small multiples
A set of similarly scaled charts repeated for different groups.
Use it to compare patterns without overlapping many series in one chart.
Show one monthly trend panel per region using the same axes.Visual design
Accessible chart
A chart designed to remain understandable across visual, motor, and cognitive differences.
Use text alternatives, sufficient contrast, direct labels, and cues beyond color alone.
Do not rely on color alone to communicate a category or status.
Use both line style and labels instead of red-versus-green color alone.