Chartosaur Blog

An Ordinary Chart That Does Everything Right

An ordinary scatter plot with a trendline, close to what Excel would give you by default, and the storytelling choices that make it land.

Reacting before reading

Interpretation is the hardest part of analysis to teach. Seven things a dip on a chart might actually be before it is a problem worth acting on.

A Slow Look at Redfin's Best Time to Buy Chart

A nice-looking Redfin chart, and the small design choices doing most of the work.

Two Charts, Same Study

Designing for Different Readers

Same study, same numbers, two completely different chart designs. Neither one is wrong, they're just doing different jobs.

Same Data, Different Story

A dataset doesn't have a story in it. You put one there. And it's a lot easier to put the wrong one there than most teams realize.

Controlling the Narrative

How Charts are used to Mislead You

From cherry-picked data to manipulated axes, here are five real world case studies of how charts can distort the truth.

NBC's Grocery Price Tracker

The Mixed Story Behind Your Shopping Cart

NBC's tracker uses real checkout data to show how grocery prices have changed across different metro areas. Some items have dropped from earlier peaks while others are higher than last year.