Here are 11 chart types you may need for operations

In the DT era, we receive massive amounts of data from various channels every day. They are feedback on our previous actions, but the human brain’s ability to digest data is limited. To timely understand the meaning of the data, we need the help of data visualization tools .

However, there are many types of charts. How can we make the right choice to achieve the effect of "a picture is worth a thousand words"?

Five relationships in data

First, we need to understand that data generally contains five types of related relationships: composition, comparison, trend, distribution and connection.

The composition focuses on the percentage of each part of the whole. If you want to express information such as "share", "percentage" and "expected percentage", you can use a pie chart at this time.

Comparisons show the order in which things are arranged—are they about the same, or is one more or less than the other? "Greater than", "less than" or "roughly equivalent" are all keywords in a relative relationship, and bar charts are the first choice at this time;

Trend is the most common time series relationship. It is concerned with how data changes over time. The weekly, monthly, and annual trend is increasing, decreasing, fluctuating, or basically unchanged. In this case, a line chart is used to better show the trend of the indicator over time.

Distribution is concerned with how many items are included in each numerical range. Typical information includes: "concentration", "frequency" and "distribution". In this case, a column chart is used. At the same time, different distribution characteristics can be displayed through maps based on geographic location data.

The connection is mainly to see whether the two variables express the pattern relationship we expect to prove. For example, it is expected that sales may increase with the increase of discount amount. At this time, a bubble chart can be used to show the relationship between the variables of "related to...", "grows with...", and "different with..."

The five relationships contained in the information

It can be simply summarized as follows

Composition: Percentage of the total

Comparison: Ranking of projects

Trends: How they change over time

Distribution: Frequency of items

Connection: The relationship between variables

Specific usage scenarios of charts

Next, let's take a closer look at the characteristics and applicable scenarios of the charts provided by DataView:

1. Funnel chart

The funnel chart is used to represent the process of layer-by-layer analysis, starting from a total value (the top), and continuously removing the parts that are not of interest to finally get the value of interest.

It is mostly used for process analysis with relatively standardized business processes, long cycles, and many links. By comparing the width and size of each link, it can intuitively discover and explain the problem.

Common application scenarios:

1) E-commerce websites: Conversion rate comparison can fully demonstrate the final conversion rate from users entering the website to completing purchases.
2) Marketing promotion : reflects the conversion of each link of search marketing , from display, click, visit, consultation to the number of customers and loss in the process of generating orders.

3) CRM: The sales funnel chart is used to show the conversion comparison of customers at each stage.

2. Pyramid Chart

Pyramid charts are used to display pyramid-like hierarchical structures and data volumes. For example, the income distribution of a country, the top of the pyramid shows high-income categories, gradually decreasing to the bottom representing low income.

3. Radar chart

Radar charts can be used to show changes in numerical values ​​over a period of time, and can also be used to show the relative relationship between the main parameters of a specific object.

Radar charts are often used in financial analysis to analyze indicators such as a company's debt capacity, operating capacity, profitability, and development capabilities.

4. Map

Maps are the most information-dense way of visualizing data. People use maps in their daily lives, so they can understand them intuitively.

DataView provides three types of maps based on different visualization principles: area maps, scatter maps and heat maps.

Regional map: It is divided according to the administrative divisions of countries, provinces and cities. It is used to display geographical information and information related to the geographical location. The number of indicators can be distinguished by the depth of color.

Scatter map: Based on Amap, it uses scatter points to represent information indicators of the location by locating longitude and latitude.

Heat map: A graphic representation of the geographic area where visitors are located in a specially highlighted form, with different colors reflecting the distribution of density in different areas.

5. Bar Chart

Bar charts express comparative relationships and can be arranged in any order to emphasize the relationship. They are suitable for highlighting the top 3 or top 5 data. For example, counting the sales of best-selling products in the retail industry is a good application. It is the most common type of chart and should account for 25% of all atlases.

6. Column Chart

The column chart uses height to reflect data differences and is used to show how many items (frequency) fall into a data segment with certain characteristics.

For example, to analyze whether there is an aging phenomenon in the company's personnel composition, you can use a bar chart to see how many employees are under 25 years old, how many employees are between 25 and 35 years old, and other age distributions. At the same time, bar charts can also be used to represent trend changes with fewer data values.

The analysis charts include single indicator bar chart, multi-indicator bar chart and stacked bar chart types.

Single indicator bar chart

Multi-Indicator Bar Chart

Stacked Column Chart

7. Line Chart

Line graphs are useful for showing relationships that change over time, especially when trends are more important than individual data points.

In the process of choosing between a bar chart and a line chart, the nature of the data can be considered. The bar chart emphasizes the level of quantity. It is more suitable for showing events that occur in a short period of time. Production data is very suitable for this area. Line charts emphasize the movement of angles and the transformation of images, so they are best used to show the development trend of data. Inventory is a good example. The use of bar charts and line charts should account for about 50% of the atlas board.

The line chart type can include a single line chart, and can also compare the trends of multiple indicators in the chart.

Single Line Diagram

Comparison of multiple indicators trends

8. Pie Chart

When constructing a proportional relationship, it is best to use a pie chart to give an overall image and show the percentage of each part in the whole, such as the estimated sales of product A accounting for the largest share of all product sales.

In order for a pie chart to be as effective as possible, use no more than 6 ingredients. People's eyes are more accustomed to observing in a clockwise direction, so the most important part should be placed close to the 12 o'clock position. If no part is more important than other parts, then you should consider arranging them in order from large to small.

In addition to standard pie charts, Data View also provides two types of pie charts: hollow pie charts and ring pie charts.

Standard pie chart

Hollow pie chart

Ring Pie Chart

Attention! When pie charts are not suitable:

The pie chart presents the changes in data through area. When the proportions of various indicators are close, it is impossible to intuitively judge the size of the area. In this case, a bar chart is chosen to present the data, and the pattern will be clearer. Pie charts are the least commonly used charts, with usage in less than 5% of all presentations and reports.

Wrong chart type

The right chart type

9. Bubble Chart

The bubble chart determines whether there is a relationship between two variables and can reflect five-dimensional data. The different colors or labels of each bubble, as well as the bubble point size, can reflect a dimension. The typical usage rate is 10%.

10. KPI chart

The most direct display of results is suitable for highlighting indicator values ​​or differences, which can be reflected through primary and secondary indicators. Avoid too much information; the more intuitive the better.

11. Area Chart

Similar to a line chart, an area chart emphasizes the degree to which a variable changes over time and can also be used to draw attention to trends in aggregate values. Use areas filled with colors or patterns to display data. The number of area pieces should not exceed 5.

12. Forms

The table can be used to perform pivot table functions by dragging the indicators of interest, such as primary and secondary classification, to understand more detailed data.

Comprehensive Use

Pie charts, column charts, bar charts, line charts, and bubble charts can make up 90% of the graphics in a visual report. Other visual displays can combine charts for comprehensive use.

The above are the basic usage principles of charts provided for everyone, which are applicable to most chart production in daily work.

Finally, I hope everyone can choose the appropriate chart based on the information they want to express, so that data visualization can help reduce the burden on our brains and speak for our data.

The author of this article @数据观 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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