7 Design Tips to Make Easy to Understand Charts and Graphs

Charts and graphs are powerful because they turn raw numbers into stories your audience can grasp instantly. When you use the right data visualization techniques, people don’t just see information — they understand it.

But creating clear and engaging visuals isn’t always easy. You need the right chart design principles, the right graph maker tools, and a sense of what your audience actually needs to see. A cluttered graph can kill interest in seconds, while a clean and intentional one pulls people in.

If you want your visuals to do the heavy lifting for you, start by choosing the right format. Some datasets demand bar charts, while others shine in line graphs or pie charts. And once you pick the right format, keep your design simple. Use clear labels, balanced spacing, and clean typography so your chart communicates at a glance.

Color also matters more than people realize. Strong contrast helps highlight key data points, while accessible color choices ensure everyone can interpret your work — including users with color vision deficiencies.

These are small choices, but they add up fast. If you want to create easy-to-understand charts that look professional and deliver clarity, here are the design tips you shouldn’t skip.

1. Pick the correct type of chart

There are many different types of charts and graphs you can use in data visualization, but the trick is picking the one that actually helps your audience understand the story behind your numbers.

You’ll usually see people rely on bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, or even Cartesian graphs because they’re simple and familiar. But every chart has a purpose, and using the wrong one can confuse readers fast.

When you understand how each format works, you can match your data with the most effective chart style. If you’re dealing with comparisons, a bar graph is your friend. If you’re tracking trends over time, a line graph gives clearer insights. And if you want to visualize proportions, a clean and well-labeled pie chart can still do the job — despite the hate it gets.

The goal is simple: pick a chart type that highlights your key message instead of hiding it.

Choosing the right format also improves readability, keeps your layout clean, and boosts the overall clarity of your data storytelling. And that’s exactly what your audience needs — a chart that communicates at a glance without forcing them to decode anything.

For example, if you’re working on nominal data, bar charts are best for you. If you’re dealing with ordinal data, you’ll find pie and bar charts quite helpful in presenting them.

Once you get this part right, every other design choice becomes easier.

2. Double-check your data.

Start with simple charts and graphs instead of complex dashboards. When you plot basic views first, it’s easier to spot weird spikes, missing values, or broken data visualization logic.

If a number looks off, assume it’s wrong and double-check your data before you send the report or step into a meeting. A two-minute review can save a very awkward presentation.

Common issues come from messy sheets, wrong ranges, or bad filters. Carefully scan your spreadsheet for typos, extra spaces, and misaligned columns that can corrupt your graph design.

Make it a habit to validate your source data before polishing labels, colors, or layouts. Clean data always leads to clearer, more easy-to-understand charts.

3. Make important details stand out

Creating a clear visual focus is what makes a chart instantly readable. When you highlight the right data points and guide the eye with intentional spacing, your audience understands the story faster. Strong visual hierarchy is the backbone of effective data visualization.

That’s why you should strip away anything that doesn’t help. Extra borders, fancy shadows, gradients, or decorative elements might look cool, but they usually distract from the insights that matter. Removing unnecessary styling keeps your graphs clean, sharp, and easy to interpret.

4. Don’t use unnecessary legends

Using legends doesn’t make sense if there are several data points. The same applies when you’re comparing just a few data points.

5. Pick the right colors

Using the right color is one of the quickest ways to keep your audience focused instead of confused. Strong, intentional color choices make your charts easier to read, help people spot patterns faster, and make your entire presentation look more professional.

When you’re trying to pick the best color palette for data visualization, start with simple, high-contrast combinations. Black and white always work. Blue and white works great, too. These pairs keep your charts readable even when viewed on small screens or projectors.

If you’re building a bar graph, use your brightest color to highlight the largest or most important value. For line graphs, apply bold, saturated colors to the lines that matter most so your viewers instantly know where to look. Subtle colors can support the background data without overwhelming the main trend.

Try not to use more than six colors in a single chart. Too many colors make the data feel noisy and force the viewer to work harder. Even worse, some combinations like orange–green or red–green can be a nightmare for those with color vision deficiencies, which affects about 10% of men.

Avoid combinations like yellow on white or navy on black. These look fine in theory but fail in real-world presentations because the contrast is too low. Your goal is simple: pick colors that make your data visualization clear, accessible, and instantly understandable.

6. Keep it simple

Special effects can help your visuals shine, but only when you use them with intention. A quick animation or a subtle text reveal can highlight key data points and make your chart feel more polished. But too many effects can turn a clean graph into visual noise.

Use simple movements like wipe transitions, small fades, or gentle pop-ups to guide attention toward important insights. These lightweight effects support clarity without stealing the spotlight from the data itself.

Think of animations as seasoning. A little enhances flavor. Too much ruins the dish. Keep your effects purposeful, minimal, and aligned with easy to understand charts so your audience focuses on the story, not the spectacle.

But here’s the thing:

Special effects aren’t always helpful, particularly if you overdo them. For example, constantly using large animation can detract attention from the most important information on your graph. Having twirling bar graphs and bouncing texts can decrease your chart’s readability, too. They might even leave your audience feeling confused and overwhelmed.

It’s not a good idea to use 3D effects either. This goes particularly true when you’re making bar graphs.

Having bars that look like cubes will just make it hard for your audience to understand where the top of the data ends.

7. Do a squint test

Squint test helps you confirm whether your chart is actually doing its job. It’s a quick way to check clarity without overthinking every detail.

To perform the squint test, look at your chart and gently blur your vision. You should still see the main comparisons, the overall shape of the data, and the key message even when the labels and numbers fade. If the chart loses meaning, that’s a red flag.

A good chart keeps its visual hierarchy strong enough that the story doesn’t disappear when details soften. This is why data visualization experts rely on this test as a fast way to evaluate chart readability and design effectiveness.

If you can still tell what the chart is trying to show, you’re on the right track. It means your spacing, layout, and emphasis are working together. But if you squint and the chart turns into random shapes with no obvious direction, go back and simplify the design.

Use this test especially when building bar charts, line graphs, and comparison charts where structure matters. Fix clutter, tone down unnecessary colors, and make important values stand out.

When your chart passes the squint test, it becomes easier to understand at a glance, improves data comprehension, and helps your audience catch the story instantly.

Bonus tip: Ask other people’s opinions

When you work on the same chart for hours, it’s easy to overlook small mistakes or miss a pattern that changes the whole narrative. A quick review from someone who hasn’t seen your work before can reveal blind spots and help you improve the clarity of your data visualization.

Fresh eyes can spot confusing labels, odd spacing, or colors that don’t support the story your chart design is trying to tell. This simple step often leads to cleaner, more easy to understand charts that communicate your message without noise. Just make sure you pick someone who can give honest feedback instead of telling you what you want to hear.

You don’t have to follow every suggestion you get. Your chart’s readability, accuracy, and the integrity of your data storytelling always come first. Treat feedback as a guide, not a rulebook. If a change makes your visual clearer without hurting the data, take it. If it dilutes the meaning, skip it.

Asking for outside feedback is one of the quickest ways to boost the quality of your graphs and charts, especially when you’re polishing the final version. It helps you refine design choices, fix distracting elements, and ensure that your visual actually communicates the insight you intended.

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