A Guide to Plain Language Data Visualizations: Guidelines for More Understandable Chart Design.

The research proposes a Plain Language Guide for graphic design, aiming to make information more understandable for end users during their interactions in open government data systems, dashboards and reports. The Guide was developed based on practices collected in a literature review and presents 55 guidelines for the design of the most common graphs such as bars, pies, lines, etc. In a preliminary study, adapting the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), professionals from public organizations positively evaluated the Guide, considering it useful. However, they did not fully follow the Guide’s guidelines when creating the graphics. Despite this, the Guide has potential to improve the comprehensibility of data visualizations.