DOT STRIP

every raw value as a dot on one shared scale, one strip per category. Needs: 3+ raw values per category, few enough to plot individually (<= ~30 per row).

distributioncomparison

DL-01 AGRAW

Use when

small samples where every raw value can be shown honestly
comparing spread and overlap across a few categories

Do not use when

hundreds of points per row (CH-DST-04 summarizes)
two paired measures per category (CH-DST-02)

See instead

one pooled group, outliers by name: CH-DST-07
too many points to draw raw: CH-DST-04

Alternatives

CH-DST-07 (one pooled swarm)
CH-DST-04 (5-number summary)

Rules

raw values only: no jitter, overlaps are information
shared zero-based scale across all strips
highlight bolds the category label, dots stay one role

Never do this

random jitter (breaks determinism and honesty)
per-row scales
summarizing away the raw values

QA before delivering

>= 3 values per row
shared scale
unit once
source present

Data shape

title	action title with a number
source	bottom-left always
unit	on the top axis tick
categories	array of {label, values: [raw values], highlight?}

Sample data (golden)

{
  "title": "Team North clusters under 12 days",
  "eyebrow": "CYCLE TIME BY TEAM",
  "source": "Source: workflow tracker, June",
  "unit": "days",
  "categories": [
    {
      "label": "North",
      "values": [
        5,
        6,
        7,
        8,
        8,
        9,
        10,
        11,
        12
      ],
      "highlight": true
    },
    {
      "label": "South",
      "values": [
        7,
        9,
        11,
        13,
        15,
        17,
        19,
        22,
        26
      ]
    },
    {
      "label": "East",
      "values": [
        6,
        8,
        9,
        12,
        14,
        15,
        18,
        21,
        24
      ]
    },
    {
      "label": "West",
      "values": [
        8,
        10,
        12,
        14,
        16,
        18,
        20,
        23,
        28
      ]
    }
  ]
}