Prompt library
Choose the right chart for the message
Grounding chart choice in perceptual ranking (position > length > angle > area) replaces taste debates with mechanism. Titling the chart with the message and running the lie check are the two moves that most raise chart quality in real decks, and the final rule keeps the chart faithful to the data.
Last reviewed July 17, 2026
The prompt
Advise on the right chart.
The data: {{data}}
The single message the chart must carry: {{message}}
Audience and medium: {{audience}}
Deliver:
1. The recommended chart type, and the reason stated as perception, not preference (what the eye compares easily: position along a scale beats angle, aligned bars beat stacked, and so on).
2. The runner-up and the specific case where it would win instead.
3. Design spec for the winner: axis choices (zero-based or not, and why), sort order, what gets color and what stays gray, the one annotation that does the pointing, and the title written as the message itself, not the data description.
4. The lie check: how this chart could accidentally mislead (truncated axis, cherry-picked window, unequal bins) and the guardrail for each.
5. What to drop: the elements a default charting tool will add that this message does not need.
If the data cannot support the message, say so; do not design a chart for a claim the data does not make.Run in idaptOpens a new chat with the prompt prefilled. Nothing sends until you press send.
Fill in the variables
| Variable | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| {{data}} | The data's shape | monthly signups for 3 plans over 24 months, one plan relaunched in month 13 |
| {{message}} | The one thing the viewer must take away | the relaunch worked and did not cannibalize the other plans |
| {{audience}} | Who sees it, where | executives, one slide, 10 seconds of attention |