Graphic designers love to use colour and innovative diagrams to catch the readers eye. Unfortunately this can make it difficult to analyse any underlying data.
Below is a pie chart taken from the 2008 annual report for Westfield (the worlds largest shopping centre owner). Pie charts are difficult to analyse because the reader is expected to compare the differences in the angles of the pie slices. This pie chart also has a strange choice of colours with New Zealand and United Kingdom having very similar colours making it difficult to differentiate between them. The faint shadowy circle within the pie is also distracting.
You are totally right. Can you give an example of a better way of communicating the information? A bar chart perhaps?
ReplyDeleteYes a simple 2 dimensional bar chart is frequently the best way to represent this information.
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