The 25 Golden Rules of Data Visualization

Book/Course website - For the year 2026 - 2027

This book is the companion book to the Python Library GoldenViz . It covers the theoretical and essential aspects of applying the Golden Rules of Data Visualization.

Preface

In this book, I bring together the main ideas that I use to teach data visualization at University Paris Cité.

My goal is not simply to list abstract rules, but to help students understand how to look at a chart, question it, and improve it.

The 25 golden rules are my way of organizing the most common problems that appear in beginner visualizations.

Some charts are incomplete..

Some are hard to read..

Some are visually convincing but fundamentally misleading..

So in this course, You will learn how to identify these problems and how to avoid them.

What I cover in this course

Throughout the book, I return to the same kinds of mistakes that I regularly see in the classroom with my students, in misleading data visualization online, and more often than you would think, in news and media outlets:

• missing titles or axis labels
• unclear units
• misleading scales
• weak chart-type choices
• poor color choices
• cluttered layouts
• unnecessary complexity

The three principles that guide the course

The course is organized around three principles that I consider essential. They may not be exhaustive, but if you can understand and master these principles, you are far less likely to make the most frequent mistakes a lot of data people and non data people do:

Principle	Meaning
Completeness	The reader has the information needed to understand the chart
Readability	The chart can be decoded quickly and without unnecessary effort
Integrity	The chart does not distort the data or suggest false conclusions

So, These three principles structure the whole book. They also structure the way I read and analyze a chart, how evaluate my student’s work, the way I discuss examples in class, and the way I evaluate whether a visualization is successful or needs enhancements.

How I suggest you read this book

You can read this book from beginning to end following the order of the chapters, but you can also use it as a working guide.

I recommend starting with the course frame, then moving to the summary of the 25 rules, and then reading the three principle chapters in order.

Important Note

As you go, do not treat the rules as rigid commandments.

I want you to understand what each rule protects, when it matters, and what kind of mistake it helps prevent.

Enjoy making data speak!

How to cite this book

” Ben Saad, W. (2026). The 25 Golden Rules of Data Visualization (Version 1.0). Online book. www.goldenviz.org ”

BibTeX

@book{bensaad2026goldenviz,
  author    = {Wajdi Ben Saad},
  title     = {The 25 Golden Rules of Data Visualization},
  year      = {2026},
  version   = {1.0},
  publisher = {GoldenViz},
  url       = {https://www.goldenviz.org},
  note      = {Online book}
}