Audience

• General users
• Specific users

Consider your audience when you’re creating data visualization.

Key questions

• Who is your audience?
• What is their familiarity with data visualization?
• How much information do they need?

If your user group is general (i.e. the American public)

For the general public, stick with basic and most common chart types that people can easily understand. Adding emphasis and labels will help highlight the point of the visual and tell the story of the information. Consider using multiple simple charts to step the user through the data, rather than one big complex visualization.

If your user is refined to a specific audience

When you’re creating visualizations for a specific target, take into consideration their familiarity with the data, visualization types, and the terminology used to label and describe data. More complex stories might necessitate more complex visuals, however, this does not mean it should lack emphasis.