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Yea or Nay? Circular and Radial Bar Graphs for Presenting Information

Information designers should be well-rounded. I don't think their charts should be

By Rain Noe - November 18, 2019

in Visual Communication

Living on this rural farm, my vehicle situation is opposite from many in the suburbs: I need a truck, but I don't want to get one. Nevertheless I was reading up on the Ford Ranger and its competitors on Car & Driver, when I came across this peculiar take on the bar graph:

Image credit: Car & Driver

What the hey? I found this circular arrangement chaotic, confusing to read and much harder to get a quick visual sense of comparisons.

After poking around a bit, I couldn't find quite the same style as was in the C&D article, but it does seem a subset of information designers have begun toying with circles. I believe they're doing this out of a desire for novelty rather than an urge to more clearly present information. Take a look at this "dazzling" (those are the creator's words) radial bar chart:

Image credit: Vizzlo

Or these circular barplots:

Image credit: Circular Barplots

And this circular stacked barplot:

Image credit: Stack Overflow

Even aside from the tiny text, does anybody actually enjoy tilting their heads this way and that? Does anybody actually find these easier to read?

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hans henderson

5 years ago

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The subsequent graphs are nothing like the first.

Key is representing multiple dimension / factor / ratings in a "single" (yes comples) shape

See the comparison graphs here for different battery chemistries

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/types_of_lithium_ion

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Pete Schupska

5 years ago

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These radar charts are hugely common in the automotive industry; they quickly communicate consistent 'best-in-class' metrics. For example Ford's preference for Fuel Economy at the expense of acceleration.

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Doug Scott

5 years ago

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It looks like it ads more confusion than information. It is a style template in Excel, so it is inevitable that it would be used incorrectly. Typically, a polar chart would be used for information that was cyclic, not categorical. Seasonal variation would be an application where phase information would be the subject of interest. The target audience would have to have the abstract cognitive ability to read a graph. Popular magazines are not trade publications or scientific papers; the creators may not be familiar with Tuft's "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information."

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