The problem with using so many colors in a chart is it introduces a sense of complexity. People perceive more aesthetic designs as easier to use. They tend to be more engaged with a chart if it appears pretty.
The challenge with stacked bar charts is that if there is something interesting happening further up the stack, it becomes difficult to see because it is stacked on top of other things that are also changing. In this chart, with 7 different colours, it is hard to understand what’s going on.
There was a time when I believed stacked bar charts were all bad. Stacked bar charts can be difficult to read. Beyond the first bar, we struggle to quantify the height of the bars as they do not have a common base. Is there a way to overcome this limitation? Let’s explore! We will work through…