Briefle words · Data & charts
Sequential palette
A single hue that steps from light to dark to show categories or values that go from low to high.
Say it to an AI
A 100% stacked bar of active members by age band with a legend of shares. Age bands are ordered, so use a sequential palette (one blue from light to dark, young to old), not a categorical palette; sequential vs. categorical color is the whole point of this card.
How an expert would brief the stronger version of “Members by age band”.
See it
Try it as a puzzle →Audience card in the analytics area of a gym-membership platform.
Why: B runs from pale #DBEAFE for 18–24 to deep #1D4ED8 for 65+, so the strip reads left to right as young to old.
More ways experts use it
A 4×2 tile grid of hubs, each showing its on-time rate minus the 95% target in percentage points. Values sit either side of zero, so use a diverging palette (orange below, neutral grey near zero, blue above) with a legend bar, not a sequential palette that buries the target mid-ramp.
Hub performance tiles · Data & chartsHeatmap of room utilization, rooms by weekday, with a sequential palette from pale to dark blue. Always include a color scale legend (color bar) with the metric name and 0% and 100% end labels, otherwise the shades cannot be read as values.
Room utilization heatmap · Data & charts
Related words
Room 5 · Color & emphasis
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