Sparkline is a type of information graphics, that presents in a simple and condensed way trends and variation, associated with a measurement such as average temperature or stock market activity. These are often used as elements of a small multiple with several lines used together.
The Sparkline is proposed by Edward Tufte for "small, high resolution graphics embedded in a context of words, numbers, images" Tufte describes sparklines as "data-intense, design-simple, word-sized graphics".[1]. Whereas the typical chart is designed to show as much data as possible, and is set off from the flow of text (as in the box below), sparklines are intended to be succinct, memorable, and located where they are discussed.
As an example: The Dow Jones Index  for 7 February 2006 as a sparkline; it's also in the box below. Their use inline usually means that they are about the same height as the surrounding text.
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Sparklines
U.S. stock market activity (7 February 2006) |
| Index |
Day |
Value |
Change |
| Dow Jones |
|
10765.45 |
−32.82 (−0.30%) |
| S&P 500 |
 |
1256.92 |
−8.10 (−0.64%) |
| Nasdaq |
|
2244.83 |
−13.97 (−0.62%) |
References
External links
|
