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In the product we sell, we show comparisons between websites on a number of metrics. Some of those metrics are best displayed with linear graphs, some are best displayed with logarithmic graphs.
As you can see, we have a dropdown menu to flip between the different metrics. Currently, we adjust the logarithmic setting automatically depending on what metric you're looking at.
We're concerned users don't "get" what is going on. Any brilliant ideas on how to do the representation? |
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In addition to using gridlines to reinforce the non-uniformity of the axis, you could also add:
Finally, if users are really looking at data that varies that wildly, is a log-lin line graph the best representation? What questions are they trying to answer? E.g., do they want to know month-over-month growth? How much better/worse they're doing than competitors? Throwing a graph up there is basically giving up, telling the users, "Here's the data--go fetch, yourself." What questions can you answer for them? Augmenting the graph with other visualizations will distinguish your site from the thousand other sites that just stick an unexplained graph in users' faces. |
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Perhaps you could express the non-linear scale by making your gridlines become denser along the y-axis, as in the (poor) MS Paint mockup below:
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What is the basis for your concern? Are you guessing or do you have data? That's the first step: actually ask your users whether this is confusing or not. Perhaps they understand just fine. One immediate thing I would change, however, is to have the "use logarithmic scale" and the actual readout on the Y axis be more visually connected. Consider actually labeling the Y axis as being on a logarithmic scale when it is vs. when it isn't. I'm also curious whether there's any visual feedback of the change that happens when you check the checkbox. Do you use something like a yellow fade technique to update them on what part of the interface has been changed? |
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I would give the logarithmic graph a background shading, graduating from white at the bottom to slightly less white at the top of each section, but making the top section of each colour progressively darker for each higher section - as in the first image below. You could then optionally also not make those gradients linear but roughly representative of the logarithmic tendancy - see second image. It might not even need to be as dark as this - it's purely a differentiator from the standard non-logarithmic graph, which you can either leave with a white background, or have a single linear graduation from bottom to top as in the third image below.
Non logarithmic:
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As a HubSpot user... Get it in there now. :) EDIT: Just realized that was a comment. In appropriate as a response so let me clarify: I recognize the UI as HubSpot (whether it is or isn't is irrelevant from a UX perspective) so I made a tongue-in-cheek response. The heart of the matter is logarithmic scale is not going to be understood easily by everyone, but I also use a tool called Market Samurai which provides me with good information because it provides logarithmic scale. Without it the ability to graph complex data is completely lost. I have previously used one tool where every time a change of scaling factors occurred they provided some sort of demarcation (double dashed line with the text <-- change in scale --> between the lines. Although not technically feasible in logarithmic scaling it could be used if you had standard breakpoints. Although it is not as clean or "sexy" it leaves little in the room for interpretation. |
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