Two pies - too much

Pies are great to show relative sizes of surfaces, better than bars or columns. When it comes to comparing breakdowns on multiple dimensions though, the column chart cannot be beaten. See this example taken out of Haaretz this morning. What did I fix:

Two columns instead of two pies
Get rid of the 3D effects (earlier post)
Use consistent coloring for data series
Use consistent ordering for data series
First the chart with the number of households, then the chart with the breakdown of income

6 comments

calmputer consulting services2010-10-26 20:59:57

I am not against using pie charts. I agree with the author that putting two of them on the screen at the same time is only begging for the audience to get lost and pay attention to the wrong one--But I think the primary problem of these pie charts is using two types of grey colors for two of the categories. And the brightest, easiest to read color(red) doesn't even indicate the majority #. If you are going to use a 3-d pie chart, you HAVE to use the brightest color for the "majority" slice or you're begging the audience to misread the chart. Also, even in the simplest windows mode, you have 256 colors to choose from, why pick grey and off grey-light-blue as your colors unless you don't want people to pay attention to those #s? I didnt like the bar chart he used AT ALL.
The bar charts that were chosen by the author used (brown, browner, etc.) are just god-awful colors to use unless you want to turn people off. People under-value what power colors have on the effect and mood of info...rmation being conveyed. The attorneys I work with are usually totally unaware of this power until it is pointed out to them. The successful ones embrace the philosophy of color=power, and we are able to turn those things into presentations that make a big difference in the courtroom. I find the chart type isn't as important as how the important information is made easier (or harder) to read by how the chart is set up.

Peter Bedson2010-10-19 11:08:39

Pie charts are genrally a poor way of putting information over - the 3d pie is even worse as it distorts the geometry and, depending on which "slice" is at the "front", can appear to show exactly the opposite of what is intended. The "before" chart from the paper is even worse as the colours change meanings between the two pies!

Jon Peltier2010-10-12 13:23:54

Even one of those pies is too much. A nice clustered bar would be a fine replacement.

In some cases it may also be preferable to use clustered bars instead of stacked to show multiple sets of data (i.e., to replace multiple pies).

calmputerconsult2010-10-26 20:55:24

I think the author got it wrong here. He used the wrong colors on the pie chart to show the majority slide-- you want a bright color to show that. Picking two similar colors on any chart is a big mistake. His bar charts also show the same kind of error, brown, browner and orange-- I know it's halloween but give me a break! There are over 256 base colors to choose from-- pick ones that make a difference in the viewer's eyes or don't use a chart at all!

Jan Schultink2010-10-13 06:49:12

You are consistent in your dislike for pies :-)

Anonymous2010-10-24 17:26:52

Yes, pies are not meant for comparison. They can only be effective in showing components of a whole. 3D pies do not add anything that the plain old circle does. It is an overkill actually. I prefer a mono chrome pie with darker and lighter shades to distinguish components.