How Charts Work: Understand and explain data with confidence

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Why charts matter

A firm grasp of the facts

There is a moment in Double Indemnity, the 1940s Hollywood noir classic, when you finally realise that anti-hero Walter Neff’s attempt to get away with murder will end badly. His colleague, Barton Keyes, suspects foul play in a seemingly straightforward insurance case.

What makes it clear that Neff is up against a master logician? Keyes has outsized charts on his office walls that project a bold message: beware the intellectual power of an executive with a firm grasp of the facts.

Fast forward to the twenty-first century and the intervening decades have not necessarily been kind to the use of charts ...