Play Your Charts Right is a Geckoboard data-visualization project: an illustrated poster and set of cards offering 12 practical ways to make charts easier to read and less likely to mislead. Its advice is a useful checklist, not a set of universal rules; the right presentation depends on the audience, purpose, medium, complexity and data.
What is the Play Your Charts Right project?
Geckoboard’s project, by Aspasia Daskalopoulou and published September 27, 2018, presents chart-design guidance as 12 illustrated pieces of advice. Daskalopoulou describes the work as an illustrated cheat sheet, poster and cards. The poster is branded Geckoboard. The project’s exact relationship to the longer supplied title, “A Data Visualization Project,” is not confirmed; this article covers the closely matching Geckoboard project.
The central question is practical: how can you make a chart clear without implying more than the data supports? The project author’s qualification matters: “How effective a chart is depends on many factors: the intended audience, the purpose, the presentation medium, the level of complexity, and of course the data itself.” The recommendations below should be applied with that context in mind.
How to choose a chart and scale that fit the data
Use a zero baseline for bar-chart comparisons
Bars encode values by length, so a truncated baseline can make modest differences look much larger. For bar charts intended to compare magnitudes, start the value axis at zero unless there is a clear reason the chart’s task requires a different treatment. Label the scale so readers can see what is being compared.
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Do not manipulate a line chart’s aspect ratio
A line can appear steep or nearly flat depending on the chart’s width and height. Avoid stretching or compressing the plot area to dramatize or soften a trend. Choose a readable scale and proportion, and make the axes clear enough that viewers can judge the pattern rather than its styling.
Consider alternatives to pie charts
Pie slices require viewers to compare angles or areas, which can be difficult, particularly when values are close. The poster advises that a better alternative is often available, not that pie charts are always wrong. For precise lookup, use a table; for comparing category values, a bar chart may make differences easier to see.
Use area and volume encodings sparingly
People generally compare lengths more readily than areas or volumes. If a chart uses circles or other shapes whose size represents a value, make sure the size encoding is necessary and understandable. Avoid decorative 3D effects: when depth does not represent meaningful data, it adds visual complexity without adding information.
How to make a chart easier to read
Give the chart a clear point
A chart should support a specific comparison or message. Avoid adding dimensions or details that do not help the reader understand that task. If only one or two values matter, the poster suggests showing them directly rather than making the reader decode a chart.
Reduce decoration and use color with purpose
Keep attention on the data by removing unnecessary visual elements. Use color to distinguish meaningful categories or highlight a relevant value, not merely to decorate. Too many colors or decorative effects can compete with the information the chart is meant to communicate.
Round precision the data does not justify
Unnecessary decimal places can make figures harder to scan and imply a degree of precision that is not useful. Round values when the extra digits do not change the interpretation or decision, while preserving detail when it is important to the task.
Label titles and axes instead of leaving mysteries
Provide a title that says what the chart covers and label the axes, including units where relevant. Readers should not have to guess what a series, category or scale represents. Direct labels can also help when a chart contains only a small number of values.
How to avoid misleading comparisons
Be cautious with dual axes
A chart with two value scales can make unrelated series appear to move together: changing the scale can change how closely their lines align. Avoid dual axes when they might imply a relationship that the data does not establish. If two measures genuinely need to appear together, label both scales plainly and explain what comparison is—and is not—being made.
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Before choosing a chart, ask whether its visual encoding matches the relationship in the data. Bars emphasize lengths, while area and volume can be harder to compare; line-chart shape is sensitive to scale and proportions. No single chart type is best for every dataset or audience.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When a table or plain numbers work better
Charts are not automatically the clearest way to present data. Use a table when readers need to look up individual values, and consider showing a small set of figures directly when a chart would add decoding work rather than insight. In tables, the poster recommends right-aligning whole numbers so their digits line up for easier scanning.
A practical checklist before sharing a visualization
- Does the chart type support the comparison the data warrants?
- For bars, does the baseline make magnitude comparisons fair?
- Could the line-chart scale or aspect ratio exaggerate or minimize the pattern?
- Would a table or a few direct values serve the reader better?
- Do area, volume, color or 3D effects add real information?
- Are titles, axes, units and series clearly identified?
- Have you removed needless decoration and unsupported decimal precision?
- Could a dual axis imply a relationship that is not established?
The poster contains 12 illustrated recommendations; that count describes the project’s advice, not an empirical study result.
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