Choosing the Best Chart Type for the Data

When adding a chart to your story or analytic applications page, choose the best chart type for your analysis.

You can add many charts to your story or analytic applications page, and you can have more than one chart on a page. Choose different chart types to display different aspects of your data.

Overview of Chart Types
Charts for different types of analysis

Type of analysis

Suggested chart types

Usage example

Comparison

Compares differences between values or shows a simple comparison of categorical divisions of measures.

For parameter details, see: Parameters for Bar, Column, Stacked, and Waterfall Charts.

  • Bar/Column
  • Combination Column & Line
  • Combination Stacked Column & Line
  • Stacked Bar/Column
  • Waterfall
  • Use a Bar/Column chart to compare the differences in sales revenue between countries.

  • Use a combination chart to compare two different types of data in the same chart.

  • Use a Stacked Bar/Column chart to represent at least three series of data, each series represented by a color stacked in a single bar (for example, sales for 2013, 2014, and 2015).

  • Use a Waterfall chart to understand how an initial value is affected by a series of intermediate increase or decrease values.

    The initial and the final values are represented by columns attached to the baseline, while the intermediate values are denoted by floating columns. The columns are color-coded to show Increase, Decrease, and Total values.

Trend

Shows a trend in the data values (especially for dimensions that are time-based, such as Year) or the progression of your data and possible patterns.

For parameter details, see Parameters for Area, Line, and Time Series Charts.

  • Area
  • Line
  • Trend Time Series
  • Use an Area chart to show percentage of total sales for a limited number of regions (Canada, Germany, China, Italy).

  • Use a Trend Time Series chart to view sales revenue trends of a product throughout a range of years.

Distribution

Shows distributions between several groups or sets of data.

For parameter details, see Parameters for Box Plot, Radar, Heat Map, and Histogram Charts.

  • Box Plot
  • Heat Map
  • Histogram
  • Radar
  • Tree Map
  • Use a Box Plot chart to summarize annual sales amounts according to geographical regions. For each country, plot a box that shows the range and distribution of the regional sales amounts within that country.

  • Use a Histogram chart to indicate the number of data points that lie within a range of values.

  • Use a Radar chart to view sales for each department throughout a calendar year.

  • Use a Tree Map chart to display hierarchical data using nested rectangles.

Correlation

Shows the relationship between values or compares multiple measure values.

For example, you can view the correlation of two measures and understand the impact of the first measure on the second measure.

For parameter details, see Parameters for Bubble and Scatterplot Charts.

  • Bubble
  • Cluster Bubble
  • Scatterplot
  • Use a Bubble chart to show the number of products sold in a certain region; the larger the bubble, the greater the number of products sold in that region.

  • Use a Scatterplot chart to consider a larger scope of data for the purpose of determining trends.

Indicator

Shows a business's metrics.

For parameter details, see Parameters for Bullet and Numeric Point Charts.

  • Bullet
  • Numeric Point
  • Use a Bullet chart to view your organization's revenue performance for the quarter.

Other (More) chart options, including percentage

For parameter details, see Parameters for Donut, Marimekko, and Pie Charts.

  • Donut Chart
  • Marimekko
  • Pie Chart
  • Pie and Donut charts show the percentage of parts in a whole or values as ratios to a whole.

    The legend shows the percentage and the total values.

  • Marimekko charts use varying heights and varying column widths to depict data.