A quilt graph is a matrix of squares, with the x-axis (rows) representing years and the y-axis (columns) representing categories. It is a good way of showing, in the financial sector, the importance of diversification. Our client used color alone to differentiate categories, 16 in this case: a problem. We first assigned a hue to a category group–equities, for example–and then used pattern to reduce the number of values that would be required. We found that, while helpful, there was nothing particularly intuitive about the notation, even though we separated each column with space. Our next experiment, shown, was to keep our first color assignment and use letters, scale, and pictographs that related across categories and that had some intuitive basis. The client was afraid, however, to use it, preferring to stay with a dysfunctional but familiar graph.
