A Dot Plot (also known as a Wilkinson Dot Plot) is a visualisation that uses dots to plot data points along a value scale. Unlike on a Cleveland Dot Plot, which only plots singular dots positioned along a value axis, Wilkinson Dot Plots plot multiple dots for each category, interval, or time point in the dataset.

In other words, the number of dots plotted in this type of Dot Plot is proportional to the quantities or frequencies in the data. Each dot can represent a unit (a single count) or any number of units (e.g. each dot represents a count of 10).

Dot Plots can be handy for displaying simple comparisons between categories, visualising distributions like on a Histogram, or visualising values changing over time if there’s a time axis.

A “Unit Chart” is practically the same as a Dot Plot, but instead of using dots, it uses any other shape (e.g. a square or rectangle for each unit). When icons are used instead of simple shapes, then this chart can be known as a Pictogram Chart.

Tools to generate Dot Plots or Unit Charts with:
Flourish
Vega