Chart

Synonyms

Diagram; Graph; Information graphic; Map

Definition

A chart is an instrument to consolidate and display information.

The term is applied to virtually any graphic that displays information, be it a map used for navigation, a plan for military operations, a musical arrangement, barometric pressure, genealogical data, and even lists of tunes that are most popular at a given time.

Definitions of specialized charts typically include the graphical method on which the chart is based (e.g., bar chart) and or its application area (e.g., CPM chart), but it does not specify design principles. Tufte [2] introduces the notion of “chartjunk” and defines it to be that part of the chart which functions only as decoration, all of which is considered to redundant data ink.

Sometimes charts are reduced to refer to maps and diagrams, excluding graphs and tables.

Key Points

Because charts are used for different purposes, there exist almost as many different types of charts as there are...