Visualization Specification
Chart title (finding): [state the finding, not the description] Owner: [name] Date: [YYYY-MM-DD] Destination: [dashboard name / slide deck / report]
Purpose
Question this chart answers: [one sentence] Primary audience: [role / technical level] Decision or action it supports: [what will the viewer do after seeing this?]
Chart specification
Chart type: [bar / line / scatter / histogram / funnel / donut / other] Justification: [why this type for this data — e.g., "Line because data is continuous over time"]
| Axis / Element | Field | Aggregation | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| X-axis | [field name] | [none / month / category] | [date format / label] |
| Y-axis | [metric name] | [SUM / AVG / COUNT] | [$, % / number] |
| Colour | [field or fixed] | — | [palette or single colour] |
| Size | [field or fixed] | — | [if bubble chart] |
| Tooltip | [fields to show on hover] | — | — |
Y-axis starts at: 0 / [other value — state reason if not 0]
Data
Source: [schema.table or pipeline] Filter conditions: [e.g., "status = 'completed' AND date >= '2024-01-01'"] Grouping: [e.g., "GROUP BY month, region"] Sample size / row count: [n]
Design instructions
Highlight: [which bar / point / line to accent — e.g., "Highlight the current month in dark blue"] Annotation: [what to call out — e.g., "Add callout on March dip: 'Server outage Mar 14'"] Reference line: [e.g., "Add horizontal line at target = $120K"] Legend: [position / not needed — explain if removing] Colour palette: [specific colours or palette name]
Accessibility
- Colour-blind safe (no red-green contrast)
- Axes labelled
- Data labels included where chart will be printed or exported
- Alt text written for embedded use
Acceptance criteria
- Title states the finding, not the description
- Numbers match the source query output
- Reviewed by [name] before publication
Template: viz_spec_template.md