Comments on: Pie Chart Rant #1: Too Many Wedges http://tworivers.com/blog/archives/169 Thu, 21 Apr 2011 11:55:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Hagan http://tworivers.com/blog/archives/169#comment-7 Hagan Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:31:57 +0000 http://tworivers.com/blog/?p=169#comment-7 You are absolutely right, Ben! This is something I will incorporate into rant #3. You are absolutely right, Ben! This is something I will incorporate into rant #3.

]]> By: Ben Bodien http://tworivers.com/blog/archives/169#comment-3 Ben Bodien Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:02:44 +0000 http://tworivers.com/blog/?p=169#comment-3 Another problem with pie charts is that they convey magnitude using area. The human visual cortex is actually quite poor at judging areas, and significantly better at judging lengths (and distances) (look up Steven's Power Law). If your objective is to allow people to compare magnitudes, a bar chart is pretty much always a better choice, unless you really need to show relative parts of a whole. Another problem with pie charts is that they convey magnitude using area. The human visual cortex is actually quite poor at judging areas, and significantly better at judging lengths (and distances) (look up Steven’s Power Law).

If your objective is to allow people to compare magnitudes, a bar chart is pretty much always a better choice, unless you really need to show relative parts of a whole.

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