Teaching:TUW - UE InfoVis WS 2006/07 - Gruppe 08 - Aufgabe 2

Poor Graphic

Sotheby's / Christie's Worldwide Sales Market Share Analysis

Criticism

• Chartjunk: The columns are filled with distracting gradients.
• Data-Ink ratio: Much of the graphic is filled with useless patterns. The actual (overly large) pie charts occupy only a fraction of the graphic.
• Data Density: One pie chart per year seems a bit excessive for the amount of information they provide.
• The individual pie charts are virtually indistinguishable, making pie charts a rather poor choice in this context.
• The pie charts are arranged diagonally without any meaning (except for the growing years)
• The position of the pie charts suggests an increase on the y-axis which doesn't have any function or labels.
• There are four graph labels in different fonts with redundant information.
• The labels are not anywhere near the pie charts and have to be found to derive any meaning from the charts.

Improved Graphic

Improvements

• Market share changes visible over the years.
• Removed confusing and unnecessary backgrounds.
• Increased data-ink ratio.
• Labels are clearly visible next to the lines.
• Difference between market shares easy to determine.

Variation

Sotheby's / Christie's Worldwide Sales Market Share Analysis - Improved Graphic - Variant 1

Sotheby's / Christie's Worldwide Sales Market Share Analysis - Improved Graphic - Variant 2