Observable blog

Insight to impact — solving the last mile in data.

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Observable Framework 1.12

Data Transformation

It’s never okay to crop the y-axis, except when it is

by Robert Kosara

A common rule of creating charts says to never cut off the y-axis for bar charts, but that it can start at any point for line charts. Research shows that cropping the y-axis leads to confusion, even with line charts. There is a useful rule of thumb that helps make this choice, though.

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Product

Five techniques to improve chart annotations

by Fil Rivière and Allison Horst

Observable Data Visualization Engineer Fil Rivière shares five useful patterns for better chart annotations including pointer-driven marks, continuous crosshairs, staggered axes, and grouped tips — all with examples implemented in Observable Plot.

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Data Transformation

Deliver big insights in small spaces

by Allison Horst

Learn chart types and strategies to design rich data visualizations that let viewers dig deeper into the data, even in small spaces.

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Data Transformation

How to build successful user-facing data apps

by Robert Kosara

User-facing data apps are different from traditional internal-facing BI dashboards, both in terms of their users and their use cases. In this post, we discuss these differences and present strategies for creating successful data apps for users external to your organization.

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Product

Announcing Observable Cloud

by Mike Bostock

Observable Cloud is the fastest data app hosting, with secure sharing and integrated analytics, all fully automated for continuous deployment.

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Product

Unheralded essentials of Framework data apps: an overview for data teams

by Allison Horst

For data teams and analysts that are new to building data apps with Observable Framework, we share eight unheralded (but essential) things to know as you dive in.

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Data Transformation

Seven ways to design better dashboards

by Robert Kosara

A good dashboard helps people quickly understand data and make decisions. This post offers seven ideas and guidelines to help you make better dashboards for your users.

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Product

From data exploration to production-ready data apps with Observable Notebooks and Framework

by Allison Horst

Observable is the best place to build and share custom data apps for user-facing analytics. Here, we explain where Observable Notebooks and Framework shine in the data analysis lifecycle from initial data exploration and testing to final, production-ready data apps.

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Product

Five underused charts for richer dashboards

by Allison Horst

Donut, line, and bar charts are great for displaying some metrics, but their simplicity — in some ways, what makes them so common and useful — can also leave understanding on the table. Here, we share five chart types that go beyond the basics to reveal deeper insights from data, and provide users with more engaging and informative dashboards.

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Data Workflow

How Observable makes building data apps faster and easier

by Robert Kosara

Building custom data apps is expensive and time-consuming. Observable helps you create dashboards and data apps faster and easier, and offers hosting customized for data apps in organizations.

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Product

Takeaways from building our showcase dashboards with code

by Allison Horst

We recently published six example dashboards built with Observable Framework. In this post, we share takeaways from our experience developing custom dashboards and data apps with code, with a focus on flexibility, project organization, and customization.

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