Happy 2026 from the Observable team! With the start of the new year, we're reminded that time flies and there's always a need to understand how things change as it does. Learn about 8 charts that clarify patterns, reveal anomalies, and help you track performance with time series data👇

✨ As 2025 comes to a close, we’re celebrating a big year at Observable — new products (Observable Canvases & Notebooks 2.0!), inspiring events, and innovative work from our community. Read our 2025 Year in Review for highlights, and to hear what we’re excited about in 2026 🎉 👉

🥧 We're not saying you're sick of pie (charts) these days, but there are other appetizing ways to visualize parts of a whole. In Observable Canvases, it's just a few clicks to advanced, interactive charts like treemaps, circle packing charts, and more: buff.ly/pI8mYII

🔎 Exploratory data analysis (EDA) is a critical part of any data workflow, but it can also be time consuming. Learn how our transparent, verifiable AI speeds up EDA in Observable Canvases by quickly profiling data, automating data wrangling, & prototyping charts 👇

✨ Observable’s Year in Review ✨ 2025 was a big year at Observable, with new launches like Observable Canvases and Notebooks 2.0, inspiring events, and incredible work from our community. As we head into 2026, here's a look back at highlights from the past year:

Before diving headfirst into a new dataset, Jared Whalen (The Pudding) reminds us to first ask why the data exists, & how it’s already been used. Catch more expert insights from top data journalists in our recent “Storytelling with Graphics” webinar 👉 buff.ly/6PmuD06

🚀 We recently rolled out improvements to the SQL node in Observable Canvases, making it even easier to write & iterate on custom queries. Learn about dialect-aware autocompletion, improved error handling, & UI refinements in the SQL node, plus get a preview of what's coming in 2026:

Did you miss last week’s webinar featuring leading data journalists from Reuters, Axios, and The Pudding? Check out our recap blog post for key takeaways from the discussion and a behind-the-scenes look into impactful graphics by our panelists:

In last week's Storytelling with Graphics webinar, we went behind the scenes with leading data journalists to learn how they transform messy datasets into informative and impactful stories. Catch the full discussion here: buff.ly/6PmuD06

When Karim Douieb shares a new data visualization, it travels far and fast, sparking meaningful conversation along the way. In our latest Creator Spotlight, we dive into the anatomy of an impactful visualization with Karim, and how he designs for clarity, impact, and emotion:

Newsrooms have long pushed the boundaries of what data visualization can do — crafting charts and infographics that don’t just inform, but move people. TOMORROW: Our webinar with expert data journalists provides a peek behind the curtain on their process. 🔗

🚀 Big SQL upgrades just landed in Observable Canvases. From dialect-aware autocomplete to helpful error messages and a smoother UI, it's now faster and easier to work in the SQL node. Catch up on what’s new, and learn what's coming next →

In our recent webinar, Data Visualization Developer Kelsey Nanan shared how low-code tools speed up testing, design, and iteration. See how Observable Canvases help analysts get from big databases to fast, interactive charts in just a few clicks: buff.ly/HkV5RVR

Readers have come to expect engaging data visualizations and infographics from their news sources. On Dec 4, experts from Reuters, Axios, and The Pudding will unpack what makes a visualization clear, credible, and emotional. Register for the webinar:

Missed our “Art + science” webinar? Don’t worry — we have the highlights on our blog. Be sure to check it out, and hear their takes on choosing the “right” chart, personal influence, and their approach to collaborating with others:

What makes a data visualization not only inform, but resonate deeply with audiences?According to @karimdouieb.bsky.social, there are 5 essential ingredients. In this Creator Spotlight, Karim walks us through each of these elements & shares concrete examples from his work. Read more:

How do data journalists turn raw data into stories that inform and inspire? Join experts from Reuters, Axios, and The Pudding on Dec 4 for a behind-the-scenes look at how newsrooms approach storytelling with graphics. Register now:

“When researchers can see their data, they start asking better questions.” In our latest Creator Spotlight, Dr. Philip Bogden shows how his data app helped oncology researchers move beyond spreadsheets to unlock richer, interactive data exploration. Read 👇

Want to show how your data adds up? 📊 Meet 6 chart types for visualizing parts of a whole — from treemaps to streamgraphs — plus tips on when each may be a good fit for your data. Learn how you can create the featured charts & many more in Observable Canvases, each in under a minute: buff.ly/RtIRpxT

[TOMORROW] Get ready for our webinar: Art + science: Blending creativity and analysis in data visualization 🎨📊 Our guests will share their perspectives on chart choices, interactivity, AI, and more.

In Observable Canvases, users can freely arrange charts and analysis across two dimensions for unconstrained, branching data exploration. Learn how we designed custom connectors that keep data flow clear and manageable at any scale: buff.ly/aEfiuLx

Want to make visuals that don’t just inform — but resonate? Join us on Nov 11 for Art + science: Blending creativity and analysis in data visualization, and learn how experts balance clarity, creativity, and collaboration. 🎙️@shirleywu.studio 🎙️@tanyashapiro.bsky.social 🎙️Kelsey Nanan

What happens when a computer scientist helps oncologists visualize patient-survey data? Read how Dr. Philip Bogden’s interactive data app turned messy spreadsheets into insights — and reshaped collaboration in medical research. buff.ly/kRyB12U

It's now even easier to build on-brand data visualizations in Observable Canvases. 🎨 With our new data-driven colors, you can quickly define custom color scales based on categories in your data. Learn how Observable helps you create fast, consistently branded charts: buff.ly/YCkFGLB

🕸️ For our final Observa-bite of the month we are adding radar charts (aka spider charts) to Observable Canvases. Check out radar charts, and all of our advanced chart types, available in canvases: buff.ly/l76pX6m

Great data viz is both art and science. 🎨📊 Join Observable’s @allisonhorst.bsky.social + our powerhouse panel for an inspiring discussion on where the two converge. 🎙️@shirleywu.studio 🎙️@tanyashapiro.bsky.social 🎙️Kelsey Nanan buff.ly/GuvF7c2

Observable’s built-in charts are designed by top data visualization developers, interactive by default, & fast — even with big data. We’ve expanded our suite of advanced types to include Sankeys, beeswarms, arc maps & more. Meet our state-of-the-art data visualizations 👉 buff.ly/eZYyQYd

Table nodes in Observable Canvases are powerful for fast, UI-based data wrangling. In addition to interactive filtering and column management, you can now derive new columns, convert data types, and limit rows — all in the same place. Learn more: buff.ly/l76pX6m

Ever built a chart that was technically correct, but still led people astray? Accuracy alone doesn’t guarantee clarity. Fast forward to 23:02 of the storytelling with data podcast to hear examples , and what you can do to balance data accuracy, clarity, and audience engagement.

🔍 Data exploration should inspire new questions & analyses. But some BI tools make exploration cumbersome, and discourage alternate exploration paths. Observable Canvases are designed for fast, iterative data exploration and analysis. Meet 8 canvas features that make it possible: buff.ly/oVZDhLX

Our state of BI and analytics survey is still open! Share your feedback on big topics in BI — like how you're using AI in your data work and the pain points you face in your role. Take the survey here —> buff.ly/N3ev6m4

🪄 Chart theming is here! Now, in Observable Canvases, you can apply custom color palettes and fonts to create dashboards that are automatically on-brand. Get started with dashboards and chart theming here: buff.ly/I1nu82R

You’ve shipped your dashboard and checked it off the list. ✅ Done? Not quite. “A successful dashboard isn't ever done… it should evolve to stay relevant as a hub for discussion and decision-making.” - Allison Horst (Observable DevRel). Hear more on the storytelling with data podcast→

😱 Horrified by the hours you've spent building dashboards that end up rotting in forgotten bookmarks? Observable Canvases simplify development, boost collaboration, & put interactive charts at your fingertips, so you can deliver better dashboards that stay alive for the long haul: buff.ly/43H8IKQ

Despite claims that dashboards are dead, they remain a highly requested BI deliverable. New features in Observable Canvases, like our streamlined viewer experience and control nodes, make dashboards easier to build and better to use, so they stay alive and well:

We have lots of exciting treats in store for the month of October! Check back each Tuesday for new features and functionality in Observable Canvases. The first new feature drops tomorrow (and it's a big one!).

🐝 Beeswarm charts are a powerful way to explore quantitative variable distributions, and a useful alternative to more aggregated options like histograms & box plots. Meet our expanding library of state-of-the-art, interactive charts in Observable Canvases: buff.ly/SLQY7SD

📣 Calling all data professionals! We just launched a new survey on the state of business intelligence and analytics tools, and we want to hear from you. Share your POV here:

Data joins are everywhere in analytics, but it's tricky to build UI-based joins in a reactive canvas. In Observable Canvases, we’ve built robust joins that avoid SELECT *, deduplicate columns, and handle upstream changes. Learn more:

We recently announced Observable Notebooks 2.0 with a new, open notebook file format + desktop app. Now, we’ve added Python & Node.js data loaders — special cells that run at build time, for better stability and performance. Learn more 👉

Slow-loading tables and overworked browsers can bog down analysis when you're exploring large datasets. In our new post, we explain how table virtualization in Observable Canvas keeps data work fast and fluid — even with big data, and when viewing complex, branching analyses: buff.ly/7cfqsQA

Treemaps help you go beyond donut charts and stacked bars to visualize parts of a whole for hierarchical data. Learn how canvases put state-of-the-art, interactive charts like treemaps, Sankey diagrams, beeswarms, bump charts, and more at your fingertips: buff.ly/DaE8zgO

Observable Plot has crossed 100,000 weekly downloads (and very close to 5,000⭐️s)! observablehq.observablehq.cloud/oss-analytic...

Observable Notebook Kit & Desktop 1.4 now support TypeScript cells, along with TypeScript for Node.js data loader cells. (Just type stripping, but greatly helps interoperability.)

Observable Canvases now support BigQuery making it easy for more companies to connect, query, and build. Get started today at: buff.ly/DaE8zgO

Self-serve analytics sounds great — that is, until tools overwhelm or constrain users, and adoption tanks. Our VP of Sales, Trevor Eddy, shares how collaborative analytics delivers insights and finally fulfills the promise of self-serve BI:

Sankey diagrams make it easy to see how quantities flow through a system, but they're tough to build from scratch. In Observable Canvases, you can create Sankey diagrams (plus arc maps, beeswarms, & more) in minutes — all optimized for clarity and performance: buff.ly/gsd0cpg

Observable Notebook Kit and Desktop 1.3.0 are out, featuring data loader cells. You can now (finally!!) write Python and Node.js in notebooks. 🐍 observablehq.com/notebook-kit...

Bump charts show how rankings shift over time, and are a great option when order matters more than absolute values. In Observable Canvases, you can now build & share responsive bump charts with just a few clicks. See what's new in our summer release: buff.ly/ZDxrAvt

For one of the most common operations in all of data wrangling, implementing UI-based data joins is anything but straightforward. Software engineer Tony Sullivan shares some unexpected challenges behind joins and how we handle them in Observable Canvases: buff.ly/4FRU9C9