The Wilson Rule

When an interactive data visualization is paired with written analysis, the user should be able to recreate all of the author's assertions in the interactive itself. The author should not have access to tools or information that the user does not.

If a scatterplot shows the voting behavior and donation levels for members of Congress, say, the analysis should not reveal that the median level of donations to Democrats is higher than that to Republicans if this is not an observation that can be verified visually. If this point is important enough to mention, it should be incorporated into the interactive.

At present, this is an aspirational rule. There are plenty of Wilson Rules violations on Time.com, but hope springs eternal.