#HTE

Yea or Nay? Circular and Radial Bar Graphs for Presenting Information

Living on this rural farm, my vehicle situation is opposite from many in the suburbs: I need a truck, but I don’t want to get one. Nevertheless I was reading up on the Ford Ranger and its competitors on Car & Driver, when I came across this peculiar take on the bar graph:

What the hey? I found this circular arrangement chaotic, confusing to read and much harder to get a quick visual sense of comparisons.

After poking around a bit, I couldn’t find quite the same style as was in the C&D article, but it does seem a subset of information designers have begun toying with circles. I believe they’re doing this out of a desire for novelty rather than an urge to more clearly present information. Take a look at this “dazzling” (those are the creator’s words) radial bar chart:

Or these circular barplots:

And this circular stacked barplot:

Even aside from the tiny text, does anybody actually enjoy tilting their heads this way and that? Does anybody actually find these easier to read?