6-8 UI · Data Visualization
Every chart, chosen for the question
This is the 6-8 chart system, grouped by the analytical intent behind it: comparison, ranking, trend, distribution, part-to-whole, correlation, spatial, and the signature 3D stage. Every example runs on live water-polo and basketball data, sits in the broadcast HUD frame, and stays honest by construction: zero baselines, rate kept apart from volume, and 3D that decorates the stage without ever distorting a magnitude.
Analytics DeskSignature 3D · orbit the stageBruins finish inside 5 meters — the perimeter dries up
Use when position IS the story. Orbit the pool to read where shots fall and which zones actually convert — depth encodes real position, never a value.
Bruins 68% to close it out
Use for a probability or normalized rating. The shaded arc carries the uncertainty band — never a false-precision needle.
Kovač leads the field with 21
Use for a broadcast magnitude comparison — extruded chrome with a flat, readable front face keeps every height directly comparable.
How to pick a chart
Name the question first
Write the literal question one persona is asking, classify its intent by the verb, read the data shape — then reach for the chart. The verb almost always names the group.
Comparison
Who is better, and by how much?
Ranking
Where does this sit in the field?
Trend
Which way is it heading, and when did it turn?
Distribution
How is it spread, and where are the outliers?
Part-to-whole
What is it made of?
Correlation
Does X drive Y — rate vs volume?
Spatial
Where on the pool or the court?
Probability
How likely, and how good?
Comparison
Who is better, and by how much?
Westgate out-works Southport across the board
Use when a same-unit metric is compared across categories within two or three groups.
Bauer's edge is sprint and vision; Kovač owns attack
Use for a multi-metric identity of one entity across three to eight axes.
Ranking
Where does this sit in the field?
Kovač tops the board — +3 on the field
Use for a sorted, largest-first standing on one metric, with a rank column and per-row drilldown.
Saves and steals clear target; conversion lags
Use when each row carries a target to beat — the color reads attainment against it.
Westgate grades out at 8.1 / 10
Use for a normalized rating, with its uncertainty shown and the playoff line marked — the color band IS the verdict.
Trend over time
Which way is it heading, and when did it turn?
Ravens climb from 5.8 to 8.2 — Marlow leads the surge
Use for a metric over time against a reference, one to four series — dotted league average, teal subject, yellow focal line drawn last.
Perimeter volume overtakes the paint by game 10
Use when the filled mass should read as accumulating volume — stacked bands show the mix and the total at once.
Distribution
How is it spread, and where are the outliers?
Most swim 29–30s; a long right tail trails off
Use for the spread of one quantity across a cohort — honest bins, a zero baseline, and the mean and median marked.
The U16 band is the widest — boom-or-bust talent
Use when the median, quartiles, and outliers matter more than a single average can show.
The left post finishes; top-center stalls every quarter
Use when one value is read across a two-way category grid — a null cell renders as an honest dash, never a zero.
Part-to-whole
What is it made of?
Even strength drives 52% of Bruins goals
Use for a small-set composition of five slices or fewer, with semantic colors — never a pie past five.
Goals and saves on pace; assists trail
Use for a few gauge-like completions read at a glance — each ring is one metric against its own target.
Bruins bury the third — most of their goals come after half
Use when a sub-segment mix is compared within each category — segment colors carry the same meaning across every bar.
Correlation
Does X drive Y — rate versus volume?
Marlow is high-volume and high-finish — a true number one
Use to separate rate from volume — league-mean quadrants split the efficient role player from the high-volume star.
Bauer pairs top PI with the heaviest minutes
Use when a third quantity layers onto a two-metric relationship — bubble area encodes minutes, honestly by the square root.
Spatial
Where on the pool or the court?
Default water-polo court viz — ShotMap3D plots the same located attempts two ways. Position encodes real space, never a value; color marks the outcome and marker size carries shot quality (xG).
Bruins live at the left post; the 5-meter is cold
Use for half-court / attacking-end data — one possession, steep perspective, the goal at the top-back as the pool recedes.
Both cages in one frame — the Bruins finish on the left, fade on the right
Use when the shot chart must span the whole pool end-to-end — a side elevation with a cage at both ends and the 2m/5m/6m lines mirrored.
Flat fallback — reach for the 2D ShotMap in print / report mode or dense analysis where a flat read is faster.
Bruins live at the left post; the 5-meter is cold
Use when location and outcome together tell the story — makes fill, misses ring, colored by result.
Lions get to the rim; the right wing goes quiet
Use the same spatial read on a basketball court — the sport prop swaps the geometry, colored here by player.