Here's how to use conditional formatting with data bars for intuitive data visualization in Excel:

1. Select the Data Range:

- Choose the cells where you want to apply data bars. This typically represents the data points you want to visualize.

2. Apply Conditional Formatting:

- Navigate to the "Home" tab on the Excel ribbon.
- In the "Styles" group, click on "Conditional Formatting."
- A dropdown menu will appear. Select "Data Bars" from the submenu.

3. Choose Formatting Style (Optional):

- Excel offers several pre-defined color gradient styles for your data bars. You can choose from options like "Gradient Fill - Color Scale 2" or "Solid Fill - Blue."

4. Customize Data Bar Rules (Optional):

- By clicking on "More Rules" within the "Data Bars" submenu, you can access a wider range of customization options:
- Minimum and Maximum Values: Define the minimum and maximum values that will determine the data bar length. By default, it's set to automatic (based on your data range).
- Negative Value/Axis: Here you can set formatting for negative values (if applicable) and customize the axis line displayed within the data bars.

5. Preview and Apply Formatting:

- As you make changes, a preview of the data bars will be displayed in the formatting window.
- Once you're satisfied with the appearance, click "OK" to apply the conditional formatting with data bars to your selected cell range.

Benefits of Data Bars:

- Quick Visual Comparison: Data bars allow you to easily compare data points within a range at a glance. Longer bars indicate higher values, while shorter bars represent lower values.
- Highlighting Key Values: Data bars can visually emphasize high or low outliers within your data set.
- Easy to Understand: Data bars are a simple and intuitive visualization technique, even for users unfamiliar with complex charts.

Additional Tips:

- Consider using color scales that represent your data's meaning. For example, a green-to-red gradient might indicate good to bad performance.
- Data bars work well for single rows or columns, but might become cluttered for large datasets. In such cases, consider alternative conditional formatting options like color scales or icon sets.
- You can combine data bars with other conditional formatting rules for more intricate visualizations.