Guidelines

Use When

• Displaying the distribution of a set of items relative to two axis variables.

Don′t Use When

• Displaying the distribution of a set of items relative to three variables, one of which is expressed through the size of the plotted item. Instead, use a Bubble chart.
• Representing the statistical correlations between pairs of variables in a set. Instead, use a Correlation Matrix.

Visual Language

• Never use colors other than those defined in the visualization palette.
• Always use the relevant color orders and meanings from the visualization palette.
• Use hover crosshairs when it is important to be able to see a plotted item’s exact placement on each axis.

Legend

• At container widths of 600px or less, the legend will move to the top of the chart.
• When the legend is at the top and contains more items than fit in the available space, the full legend is accessible within a Popover triggered by an Icon-Only Button.

• The Popover containing the full legend includes logic to prevent it from overlapping the chart unless there is no space available to the right of, or above, the data visualization.

Behaviors

• When hovering over items within the legend, the plotted items associated with that item become opaque, while all other plotted items and legend items fade back.
• When hovering over a plotted item, the plotted item and its matching legend item become opaque, while all other plotted items and legend items fade back. A tooltip appears, surfacing the underlying data values of the holding.

Responsiveness

• Within container widths of 600px or less, the internal padding between elements tightens.

Editorial

• Strive for short, succinct axis labels and legend items that clearly describe the data.
• Include the unit or increment in axis labels.

Code Reference

Necessary code documentation can be found in the MBC repository.