BUBBLE

bubble chart: scatter plus an area-coded third measure. Needs: entities with two positional measures + one size measure; under ~15 points.

correlationmagnitudeoutlier-detection

DL-01 AGRAW

Use when

two related measures plus a weight (budget, volume, headcount)
the big-and-bad quadrant story: position shows risk, size shows stake

Do not use when

the size measure is decorative (use CH-COR-01)
sizes within +/-20% of each other (area differences invisible)
more than ~15 bubbles (labels and circles collide)

See instead

the third measure adds nothing to the story: CH-COR-01

Alternatives

CH-COR-01 (drop the size measure)

Rules

bubble AREA is proportional to the size measure (radius by square root), never radius-proportional
what size encodes is stated in the title or eyebrow, never in a legend
every bubble labeled; one highlight maximum
all CH-COR-01 axis rules apply

Never do this

radius-proportional sizing (quadruples the visual weight)
size legends with sample circles
overlapping unlabeled bubble clouds
animating bubbles over time in a static deliverable

QA before delivering

area-proportional sizing verified
size meaning stated in text
every bubble labeled
highlight count <= 1
title compounds position and size with numbers
source line present bottom-left

Data shape

title	string, action title naming the point where size and position compound
eyebrow	string caps, rendered only when the DL chrome asks for it
source	string, rendered bottom-left, always
unit_x	string appended to the max x tick
unit_y	string appended to the max y tick
points	array of {label, x >= 0, y >= 0, size > 0, highlight?}

Sample data (golden)

{
  "title": "System D compounds the deepest backlog with the largest budget",
  "eyebrow": "READINESS X BUDGET . WEEK 28",
  "source": "Source: sample dataset v1, 2026-07-12",
  "unit_x": "%",
  "unit_y": "",
  "points": [
    {
      "label": "A",
      "x": 92,
      "y": 12,
      "size": 30
    },
    {
      "label": "B",
      "x": 88,
      "y": 18,
      "size": 22
    },
    {
      "label": "C",
      "x": 74,
      "y": 25,
      "size": 18
    },
    {
      "label": "D",
      "x": 41,
      "y": 63,
      "size": 55,
      "highlight": true
    },
    {
      "label": "E",
      "x": 66,
      "y": 31,
      "size": 26
    },
    {
      "label": "F",
      "x": 80,
      "y": 22,
      "size": 20
    },
    {
      "label": "G",
      "x": 58,
      "y": 38,
      "size": 34
    },
    {
      "label": "H",
      "x": 70,
      "y": 26,
      "size": 24
    }
  ]
}