visualization-choice-reporting_skill

Overview

This skill helps you pick the right visualization for your question and data, then produces a narrated report that highlights key insights and recommends actions. It combines chart selection, perceptual best practices, and a concise narrative framework to turn data into actionable stories. Use it to design dashboards, stakeholder slides, or exploratory analyses with clear next steps.

How this skill works

I clarify the question and profile the data (type, granularity, size, dimensions). I map the question to an appropriate chart family (trend → line, comparison → bar, distribution → histogram, relationship → scatter, composition → treemap) and design the visualization with accessibility and perception principles. I then write a narrative using Headline → Pattern → Context → Meaning → Action and validate results against a simple rubric. The output is a visualization spec plus a short narrated report with recommended actions.

When to use it

• When you ask “what chart should I use?” or “visualize this” for a dataset
• When building dashboards or presentation slides for stakeholders
• When exploring data for trends, distributions, relationships, or composition
• When monitoring KPIs or preparing a recurring report (weekly/monthly)
• When you need a clear recommendation based on metrics (growth, churn, ROI)

Best practices

• Start with a one-line insight headline, not a descriptive title
• Match question type to chart family and prefer position over angle/area for accuracy
• Keep Y-axis choices sensible (start at zero for bar/column) and pick appropriate scales
• Use colorblind-safe palettes, limit hues to 5–7, and add patterns if needed
• Annotate key points, mute non-data ink, and include source/date and alt text
• Prefer small multiples or aggregation over cluttered multi-series charts

Example use cases

• Monthly revenue trend by segment → multi-line chart with annotations and action plan
• Product A/B test performance → scatter/bubble chart showing effect size and sample size plus recommendation
• Marketing channel ROI comparison → horizontal bar chart ranked with benchmark lines
• Customer churn distribution by tenure → histogram or survival curve and retention actions
• Geographic sales hotspots → choropleth or bubble map with prioritized sales regions