Descriptive statistics is usually done by data visualization and it is quite useful to understand the data and convey your insight. There are many chart types in the data visualization such as bar chart, pie chart, line chart, scatter plot, histogram, heat map, treemap, highlight table, Gantt view, waterfall charts, bump charts and bullet graphs, etc.
When I was a newbie, I liked to use fancy chart types and make the chart type be colourful and complex. However, it is totally misunderstanding the purpose of the data visualization. The purpose of data visualization should be to convey your insight and make the right action according to the insight by transforming the messy data into a tidy story.
So, what is the most powerful chart types in the data?
It is a line and a bar chart. The reason is these two intuitive geometric patterns in the human mind. And the pie chart is the one you most should not use. I’ll use a few simple cases to show it.
Line Chart
Business scenario: You’re a business owner. Now, you want to know how is the company’s revenue of 2021 and 2020? Then you’re using the chart to know this. You draw the following two charts.
Which chart do you think is easier to know the revenue difference between 2021 and 2020?
By the line chart, you can see 2020 revenue totally dominates 2021 obvious; however, it is very difficult by the heat map.
Bar Chart
Business scenario: Now, you know 2021 revenue is lower than 2020. You want to know which month is the best and worst. Then you make two charts again.
By the bar chart, you can know the best month is 2020-01 and the worst one is 2021-12. By the bubble chart, you may take a while to know it even though the bubble chart is really a fancy chart.
Pie Chart Taboo
Why shouldn’t use the pie chart which is used very common in business?
Now, you show the revenue in 2021 by month of a pie chart as follows. Do you think it can convey the information clearly?
If by a bar char, it is quite clear Jan. is best and Dec. is worst.
Summary
So, the line chart and bar chart can handle most cases of business scenarios. A line chart is usually for trending and a bar chart is usually for comparison.
Lastly, recommend a book for you.
Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals