Blog

How to Place Labels Directly Through Your Line Graph in Microsoft Excel

Jan 12th, 2016 / Data Visualization

I recently discussed four options for labeling line graphs. A personal favorite is to place the labels on top by going directly through the data points. There’s been a lot of interest in this so here’s the step by step tutorial.

Axis Labels, Numeric Labels, or Both? Line Graph Styles to Consider

Nov 3rd, 2015 / Data Visualization

Data visualization is more about strategic thinking than about following steadfast rules. Take a simple line graph, for example. How will you label your line graph? With vertical axis labels and light gray grid lines? With labels directly above or on top of the data points? A mix of both? Here are four styles to consider.

Be Careful with the Y-Axis…

Oct 6th, 2015 / Data Visualization, Presentations

I was recently working with an organization to improve their graphs for an upcoming conference presentation. Notice anything funny about the height of these bars? Two bars have pretty similar numbers, yet they look reeaaaallllly different.

Introducing the Data Visualization Checklist

May 14th, 2014 / Data Visualization

This post has been a long time coming. Stephanie Evergreen and I knew some time ago that evaluators and social scientists had a thirst for better graphs, a clear understanding of why better graphs were necessary, but they lacked efficient guidance on how, exactly, to make a graph better. So we’re happy to introduce the data visualization checklist.