Pros and Cons of Chart Taxonomies

A strong starting place for learning or unnecessary creative constraint?

Chart taxonomies are a popular starting place for people new to data visualization, but do they unnecessarily constrain our thinking and ignore the fundamentals of data visualization design? These taxonomies can help analysts and designers make better-informed decisions about what charts to use when. Data visualization instructors often use these taxonomies as a tool, helping to make sense of what can feel like an overwhelming list of options.

But experts in data visualization have also suggested that these same taxonomies oversimplify chart selection and limit innovation in data viz design. Alberto Cairo was sharing insights from the recent Symposium on Data Science and Statistics and stated that Leland Wilkinson (author of The Grammar of Graphics) went so far as to say taxonomies of charts are harmful.

Prompted by Alberto Cairo’s tweet, a group of semantics and data viz enthusiasts parsed the pros and cons of chart taxonomies in a recent conversation on the Data Visualization Society’s (DVS) Terminology channel.