CHAPTER 2
WHY DO WE SEE SO
MANY BAR CHARTS?
In the previous chapter we saw how color and bar length helped you better understand data. Color and length are examples of preattentive attributes. A preattentive attribute is a fancy term for things that people notice without even noticing they’ve noticed them; that is, things the mind processes instantly without conscious effort.
Size is another preattentive attribute (Figure 2.1).
FIGURE 2.1 Circle size can be used to encode data.
It’s obvious that the circle on the left is the largest and the one on the right is the smallest, but can we determine how much larger the circle on the left is than the ...
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