skills/visualization-strategy-and-critique/references/critique-lenses.md

# Critique Lenses

## What Problem This Solves

This reference gives a fast way to critique a chart or dashboard without jumping straight to style comments.

## When to Use It

Use this when reviewing an existing visualization or when a user says a chart "feels wrong."

## Key Takeaways

- Critique semantic truth first, then encoding, then composition, then implementation.
- Separate problems of question framing, scale and aggregation, labeling, accessibility, and interaction.
- A polished chart can still be analytically weak.

## Common Mistakes

- Leading with aesthetics instead of analytical fit.
- Fixing hover, color, or layout when the comparison itself is wrong.

## Adjacent Skills

- `../SKILL.md`
- `../../accessibility-and-inclusive-visualization/SKILL.md`

## Source Links

- [Perceptual Edge](https://www.perceptualedge.com/)
- [Edward Tufte books](https://www.edwardtufte.com/books/)