Data
Charts people can read on a phone
Five rules from building election maps for regional papers, where most readers arrive on a small screen.
6 min read
When two regional papers adopted my chart kit for election night, 80% of readers were on phones. Desktop habits broke immediately.
Rules that survived: label the line, not the legend; show one comparison per chart; round numbers hard; make the tap target the whole row; and never hide the source.
The best feedback came from the night editor: nobody asked what a colour meant.
Written at the desk on the penthouse floor. Reply to any issue of Small Batch Notes and it comes straight to me.
Next note on the board
Writing the words first
I write the headline, button labels and error messages before I draw a single box. Here is why it works.