Description

Parallel coordinates chart is a type of visualization used to plot multivariate, numerical data across many performance measures. Each of the variable corresponds to its own vertical axis (the scales can be different) and each data element is displayed as a series of connected points across all axes.

When to Use

Parallel coordinates chart is used for comparing multiple numerical variables simultaneously when those variables have different magnitudes (different scales) and different units of measurement. It allows to find similarities, clusters, patterns, or no particular relationships in multidimensional datasets.

Dos

• Keep it simple
• Order the axes in a way that it can help to identify patterns or correlations across variables
• Highlight meaningful data points with particular color to visually separate them from the rest

Don'ts

• Don’t show many numerical variables at the same time

Tools available

Other chart types of comparison