Comment by codeptualize | Hacker News Reader

Comment by codeptualize | Hacker News Reader

I would say there is a place for pie charts. The article seems to have accuracy as ultimate goal, if you need that accuracy; fully agree, pie chart isn't the best visualization. But, data visualization is often about story telling, and the small percentage differences don't always matter.

For example, if you are telling a story about how one of the slices is much bigger than the other ones, pie (and donut) charts, are a very effective and visually interesting way to tell that story. The other case where I like pie charts (and I do prefer donuts btw) is when the data isn't very accurate and "hiding" some of the detail is actually a better representation of reality.

So yeah, pick the chart that works best for the situation (and if possible, give multiple options), but I do not agree with writing off the whole chart type. Radar charts are more questionable imo haha.

Data visualization is in essence trading accuracy for readability, how much you want and need depends on the goal, audience and data.

I’ve seen an animation a few days ago [1] about the market share evolution of smartphone constructors for 20 years. The animated pie beautifully tells the raise of Apple, Samsung, Huawey and the fall of Nokia, RIM and others. So, fully agree, pie charts can be used if you don’t need the precision.

[1] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jameseagle_mobilephones-datav...

Strong disagree on any type of animated chart. All the information in the animation could be represented in a single image as a multiseries line graph. Animation adds no value and spreads the information over time.

I have to disagree, animation is again a storytelling tool. Instead of a flat presentation of data now you actually have a story with a beginning middle and end, it's much more engaging than a flat line chart.

Take the animated bar charts that where sort of a trend for a while on Twitter and Reddit, they got popular for a reason; they are interesting to look at. These types of charts, if done well, make you curious what will happen and how it will end.

With data visualization, and actually all design, you always have to consider your goals and audience.

If it's interactive with a slider, maybe (most people don't scrub the video). Human memory is bad, like really bad. You wouldn't make a bar chart and put some bars on one page and some bars on another page. Animated charts are like that. They're entertainment, not a tool for seriously comparing data.

> Animated charts are like that. They're entertainment, not a tool for seriously comparing data.

I personally hate pie charts and animated charts. For some leaders/meetings in some companies too many people want entertainment with a smidgen of info.

The point I'm making is that absolute statements about these things are incorrect. When used appropriately these tools can add to your visualization and story.

Let me give some examples of animation used in data visualization that really contributes to the story:

https://drones.pitchinteractive.com/

https://guns.periscopic.com/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/dec/...

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/29/opinion/clima...

I think it's hard to argue these are "entertainment", they all tell important stories using data and animation. In these examples animation adds to the story, making it more engaging, and drawing more attention to the issue than it otherwise would have gotten. It can evoke surprise, shock, emotion that could not be achieved otherwise.

It's a bit like: people often use text in very bad ways. To mislead, too much or too little information, large quantities that say nothing at all, unreadable styles, lack of structure etc etc. Does that mean text is bad and you stop writing text? Of course not.

Example of the animated bar charts for those unfamiliar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ix85wExFqw

Different people prefer to absorb data in different ways. Some people will prefer pie charts, other graphs, others tables of raw data. It's completely possible to present a pie chart, and include the percentages (or raw data) in the legend and make that into a table. You could even stick a bar chart into the table as well if it makes data look clearer. But you shouldn't just assume because you want to see data one way that everyone else wants to see it that way too.

Did they put pre-2000 Ericsson under Sony?

> For example, if you are telling a story about how one of the slices is much bigger than the other ones, pie (and donut) charts, are a very effective and visually interesting way to tell that story.

So is a stacked bar chart.

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