CONNECTED SCATTER

scatter with points connected in time order. Needs: one entity, two measures, several periods; the trajectory is the message.

change-over-timecorrelation

DL-01 AGRAW

Use when

trajectories: cost vs output, price vs volume, risk vs progress over years
showing that the RELATIONSHIP moved, not just each measure

Do not use when

many entities (CH-COR-01)
audiences unfamiliar with the form (it needs a walkthrough)

See instead

many entities at one moment: CH-COR-01

Alternatives

CH-TIM-01 (one measure over time)

Rules

points connect in data (time) order; the trail is muted, points labeled by period
highlight the latest point
both axes zero-based with algorithmic ticks

Never do this

arrows on every segment
smoothing the trail
unlabeled periods

QA before delivering

points in time order
every point labeled with its period
latest point highlighted
source present

Data shape

title	action title stating the trajectory with numbers
source	bottom-left always
unit_x	on max x tick
unit_y	on max y tick
points	array of {label (period), x, y, highlight?} in TIME ORDER

Sample data (golden)

{
  "title": "Unit cost fell 34% while output doubled since 2020",
  "eyebrow": "COST VS OUTPUT . 2020-2026",
  "source": "Source: sample dataset v1, 2026-07-12",
  "unit_x": " units",
  "unit_y": " $",
  "points": [
    {
      "label": "2020",
      "x": 210,
      "y": 148
    },
    {
      "label": "2021",
      "x": 240,
      "y": 141
    },
    {
      "label": "2022",
      "x": 268,
      "y": 133
    },
    {
      "label": "2023",
      "x": 305,
      "y": 124
    },
    {
      "label": "2024",
      "x": 348,
      "y": 116
    },
    {
      "label": "2025",
      "x": 390,
      "y": 104
    },
    {
      "label": "2026",
      "x": 424,
      "y": 98,
      "highlight": true
    }
  ]
}