While I agree to some of the points made in the post, I don't think the author provided a better alternative. Stacked bars are not any better for looking at how the percentage change on the green one.
* It retains the line aspect of it, which is essential as we are talking about a trend here.
* It easily allows you to see it both in stacked and overlapped lines. Each one of them is good at communicating clearly a certain point about the data.
* It also mitigates the problem in nostromo's comment, where a whole bunch of lines could overlap without a clear view on a single point of interest.
Who's still printing these days? :) It's safe to say that iPads and smartphones have made it easy to consume content anywhere needed. Interactive documents are definitely where the puck is headed.
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While I agree to some of the points made in the post, I don't think the author provided a better alternative. Stacked bars are not any better for looking at how the percentage change on the green one.
http://i.imgur.com/jfuJGu5.gif
Here is my solution:
* It retains the line aspect of it, which is essential as we are talking about a trend here.
* It easily allows you to see it both in stacked and overlapped lines. Each one of them is good at communicating clearly a certain point about the data.
* It also mitigates the problem in nostromo's comment, where a whole bunch of lines could overlap without a clear view on a single point of interest.
That doesn't translate to print (a problem with any dynamic content). Or even, say, to static screenshots.
Who's still printing these days? :) It's safe to say that iPads and smartphones have made it easy to consume content anywhere needed. Interactive documents are definitely where the puck is headed.
It happens more often than you'd think, and as I noted, even static screenshots or images won't reflect the dynamic nature of that graphic.
Those are both issues you could address with small multiples, a Tufte method.