PhonePe | August 2025
Introduction
PhonePe, India's largest payments platform, were expanding their investor relations efforts in the face of their upcoming IPO. In addition to an IR website we designed for them, we also crafted data visualisation guidelines and systems for their IR team.
The guidelines were attuned to the OR team's needs, and complete with a customised repository, enabling team members to plug in their data and generate guideline-adherent charts.
The Problem
The need for data visualisation guidelines stemmed from noticeable variations across assets produced by the IR team. We performed an extensive audit of the most common chart types used by PhonePe across 14 different collaterals, identifying:
The most common chart types PhonePe relied on
Patterns that worked well and were worth retaining
Shortcomings that did not follow best practices or effectively convey the story behind a chart
These findings served as the bedrock upon which our guidelines were crafted.
Guidelines
Encompassing most fundamentals of data visualisation and storytelling, the guidelines were structured up as 10 simple rules for the team to follow:
Ask the right questions while making a chart
Define the purpose of your visualisation
Focus on your audience
Your chart, on its own, should tell a story
Communicate numbers effectively & consistently
Pick the right chart for your data
Choose colours with purpose
Style all chart elements well
Make your charts accessible to all
A final checklist for your charts
The guidelines were replete with a chart chooser; sample data structures per chart type; best practices (sorting, labelling, gridlines and axes); tips on the judicious use of colour; colour as a storytelling tool; understanding when to use sequential, categorical, and diverging scales; how to style charts well; and accessibility in dataviz, from writing alt text to making charts colour-blind friendly and performing contrast checks.
The Result
The data visualisation guidelines were designed to serve as an actionable, clear, and principle-driven framework that would help PhonePe's IR team produce consistent and compelling charts to engage with their investors.
Team
Designer, Project Manager, and Writer: Swathi Singh
Co-writer: Gurman Bhatia
Design Intern: Ipshita Raj
With mentorship from Amy Cesal
Agency: Revisual Labs