Highlight the right elements of a chart
Aug 28, 2013
The big news in the tech world is Steve Ballmer's retirement accouncement. Andrew Sullivan cites this chart by Derek Thompson as a reason for Ballmer's departure: (original article)
How about this version?
What makes this version better?
- Having the Microsoft/Wintel area at the bottom means the boundary of the area traces its rise and fall
- Choosing a heavy color for Microsoft/Wintel draws attention to the main stage
- Focus numerical labels on the particular items that convey the story, i.e. the numbers highlighted at the top of the original chart in red
- Subtle and sparse gridlines tied to the key message
- Tilt labels to fit inside areas
- Place data labels inside chart next to the highlighted features
- Draw attention to the boundary of the Microsoft/Wintel area
Android doesn't even belong on this chart. It's not a Personal Computing Platform. Phones are not PCs.
Posted by: ........... | Aug 28, 2013 at 05:37 PM
It certainly looks better the other way up. And I agree on selection of a heavier color for the main point - but don't you think it would be stronger still to just pick a color for Microsoft (say a blue - since that's most strongly associated with the brand)and put all the others in a greyscale set?
Also what's the logic for those dates - do they tie into major wintel releases?
Posted by: Powerfulpoint | Aug 29, 2013 at 06:53 AM
....: I'm guessing Android is there because of tablet computers.
Powerfulpoint: I didn't have a handy tool to switch the other colors but yes, putting all of them in grayscale is better.
I have no idea about 1983 but the 1998-2005 appears to capture the peak of Microsoft's dominance
Posted by: Kaiser | Aug 30, 2013 at 12:30 AM
The problem is with the stacked area chart. Almost never a good choice. Just a flawed construction. Sometimes with small series a layered approach is possible but more often small multiples will work fine. An example http://synbarligen.typepad.com/synbarligen/2012/02/utryckning.html
Posted by: Jörgen Abrahamsson | Sep 02, 2013 at 07:50 AM