# 7. Do: Maximize the signal-to-noise ratio

It is tempting to show the amount of work you did and impress peer reviewers. But **an analysis that says a lot with fewer charts packs a more impactful punch than an analysis with repetitive or unnecessary visualizations**. “**Signal**” adds value to your analysis by helping make your point, while “**noise**” is either redundant, tangential, not informative, or otherwise unnecessary or even distracting (Nancy Duarte cited in Knaflic, p. 72). **Showing the same findings with multiple charts that don’t provide extra information can be a form of noise**.

#### Example

Do you want to show the same variable in daily, monthly, and annual frequency where the trends are the same? Build one chart with a **parameter** – let the user select one frequency at a time. Mention on the side that all options show the same underlying trend (if they do). That’s a chart that packs a lot of data ink in a small amount of space!