Data visualization plays a core role in the memorability and audience receptiveness to data.
One of the hardest things for me when training others in data visualization is breaking through the idea that good data viz decisions are not all creative or artistic, and that data communicators can fall back on foundations to make decisions. These “rules” include things like choosing the right chart type for the data you have (i.e. if your data doesn’t sum up to 100% - avoid pie charts!).
When editing data visualizations, the most useful rule of thumb I fall back on is to declutter and focus. This is a common recommendation in data visualization books, but I’ll pull directly from the research here - Steven Fran…
https://visualthinking.psych.northwestern.edu/publications/Ajani_Declutter_2021.pdf