rules

There is a recurring argument that line chart baselines must start at zero, because anything else would be misleading. The critique is misguided.

There are visualization rules and there are visualization suggestions. Most are suggestions. The ones that are rules exist because of how our brains process visual information. There’s just no getting around it.

There are rules—usually for specific chart types meant to be read in a specific way—that you shouldn’t break. When they are, everyone loses. This is that small handful.

This is part two in a seven-part series on basic rules for graph…

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