Chart Wizard. A guide to graphical representation of numeric data

The increasing availability of numeric data in any areas (marketing, research, communication, etc.) necessarily involves the use of charts that have to be able to clearly show the results of its processing. The tools must be then easy to use, intuitive, and, above all, provide a wide range of possible representations for the same quantitative numerical result. At the same time the users are requested to make an effort in having a clear idea about what they want to get from these tools, and how, on the basis of the data they have. This situation of constant activity promotes not only the evolution of web-based visualization tools, but also the emergence of new methods of representation, through the cognitive contribution of all of the users. The Chart Wizard tries to be a first attempt at devising a method which may be applied to the most modern consultation and information tools (tablet, mobile device, etc.) and, at the same time, may give the user an easy access to very technical topics. At the basis of the choice of the suggested tools there is a clear intention of limiting the possible options to web-based softwares only. The proliferation of web platforms that offer the possibility of creating graphical and high-quality statistical representations is enough to allow almost anyone to get basic and complex charts with just a few clicks. Moreover, the functioning of these web tools often rely on data-entry interfaces also web-based and easy to use.