Small Multiples: Comparing Data with a Grid of Charts
Small multiples are a comic strip for data, showing different dataset slices in a grid of charts with identical axes. They're used to compare trends across categories, like sales per region. The footgun is using inconsistent scales, which breaks comparison.
Small multiples are like a comic strip for data, presenting different slices of a dataset in a grid of simple, side-by-side charts. By using the exact same scale and axes for every chart, they make visual comparison effortless. This is ideal for tracking metrics across multiple dimensions, like user engagement per country or error rates per software version. The primary footgun is breaking the rule of identical scales; even a small change in an axis destroys the chart's integrity and misleads the viewer into seeing false patterns.
Read the original → Wikipedia: Small multiple
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