Words such as chart, graph, plot are often used interchangeably. Some authors have given precise meanings to these words and have used them consistently but many others dont.
Data visualization technology providers such as PowerBI (Microsoft), Tableau, IBM, and Matplotlib, also define data visualization in their own words.
Unfortunately, in the literature of data graphs, standard terminologies are little.
Visualization: Visualization is my umbrella term. A visualization is any kind of visual representation of information designed to enable communication, analysis, discovery, exploration, etc. - A. Cairo (TTA), pg 28.
Visualization systems: Computer-based visualization systems provide visual representations of datasets designed to help people carry out tasks more effectively. - T. Munzner (VAD), pg 1.
Data visualization: A data visualization is a display of data designed to enable analysis, eploration, and discovery. Data visualizations aren’t intended mainly to convey messages that are predefined by their designers. Instead, they are often conceived as tools that let people extract their own conclusions from the data.
Data graphics: Data graphics are instruments for reasoning about quantitative information. They are effective way to describe, explore, and summarize information. - E. Tufte (TVDQI), pg 9.
Data visualization: A chart/diagram/picture that is created as a visual representation of information. - Oxford dictionary.
Infographic: An infographic is a multi-section visual representation of information intended to communicate one or more specific messages. Infographics can be lush, colorful, and fun if their designers don’t forget that their fundamental goal is to make the public better informed. - A.Cairo.
Here is an example.
News application: A news application is a special kind of visualization that lets people relate the data being presented to their own lives. Its main goal is to be useful by being customizable according to each person’s needs. - A. Cairo.
Here is an example.
