There are a few types of text that absolutely must be present. Assume that every chart needs a title and every axis needs a title (exceptions to this rule will be extremely rare). The absence of these titles—no matter how clear you think it may be from context—causes your audience to stop and question what they are looking at. Instead, label explicitly so they can use their brainpower to understand the information, rather than spend it trying to figure out how to read the visual. Don’t assume that two different people looking at the same data visualization will draw the same conclusion. If
...more
