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BestChartstoCompareActualValueswithTargetsWhatis
yourtake?
PostedonDecember18th,2009inChartsandGraphs,Featured16comments

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Yesterdaywehaveapostonusingthermometerchartstoquicklycompareactualvalueswithtargets.Todaywefollowupthe
postwith10chartingideasyoucanusetocompareactualvalueswithtargets.

Ihaveaddedmycommentstoeachoptionalongwithusefullinkstolearnhowtomakesuchachart.

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6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

Thereisapolltoo,attheend.

(1)Gauge/SpeedometerChart

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

Familiarmetaphorthuseasytounderstand
Easytoconstruct
Goodforcommunicatingonedatapoint

Whatisbad?

Takestoomuchspace
Baddesignchoiceformostprofessionalsituations

TutorialstomakeGauge/SpeedometerChart

Tutorial1|Tutorial2

(2)ThermometerChart

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

Familiarmetaphorthuseasytounderstand
Easytoconstruct
Gooddatatoinkratio

Whatisbad?

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6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

Donotsayanythingabouttrends
Notappropriatewhenactualvaluesexceedtargets

TutorialstomakeThermometerChart

Tutorial1|Tutorial2

(3)BulletChart

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

Comprehensive
Aestheticandverygooddatatoinkratio

Whatisbad?

DifficulttoconstructinExcel
Takestimetoreadthefirsttime

TutorialstomakeBulletChart

Tutorial1|Abulletchartalternative

(4)AreaChart

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

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6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

Showstrendalongwithcurrentstatus
Easytoconstruct
Easytocompare

Whatisbad?

Notgoodforsmalldatasets

(5)LineCharts

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

Easytoconstruct
Showstrendalongwithcurrentstatus
Easytoreadandunderstand

Whatisbad?

Lookstoosimple

(6)ColumnChartwithMarkers

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

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6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

Easytocompare&read
Easytoconstruct

Whatisbad?

Notgoodforsmalldatasets

TutorialstomakeColumnChartwithMarkers

Tutorial1

(7)PartiallyOverlappedChart

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

Easytoconstruct

Whatisbad?

Difficulttocompare

(8)TrafficLights

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6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

Familiarmetaphorthuseasytounderstand
Easytoconstruct(withExcel2007ConditionalFormatting)
Goodfortables

Whatisbad?

Donottelltheentirestory,soshouldbeusedonlyintablesorwithotherdisplays

(9)PieCharts

http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/12/18/chartstocomparetargets/ 6/13
6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

Familiarmetaphorthuseasytounderstand
Easytoconstruct(withExcel2007ConditionalFormatting)
Goodfortables

Whatisbad?

Workswhentargetsare100%
Cannotshowwhenactualvaluesaremorethantargets
Piechartscanbehardtoread

TutorialstomakePieCharts

Tutorial1

(10)UsingTextJustsaythething

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6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

Whatisgoodaboutthisapproach?

Easytoread
HighestDatatoinkratio
Veryeasytoconstruct

Whatisbad?

Toosimple
Leavesthefinerdetailsout

Whatchartdoyouprefertocompare
actualvalueswithtargets?

Gauge(Speedometer)Chart

ThermometerChart

BulletChart

AreaChart

LineChart

ColumnChartwithMarkers

PartiallyOverlappedChart

TrafficLightsinaTable

PieChartsinaTable

Justusethetext

Other:

Vote

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InteractiveComparisonChartsusingFormControls
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Charleystutorialonmakingbulletchartsusingexcel

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16ResponsestoBestChartstoCompareActualValueswithTargetsWhatisyourtake?

1. AndyCotgreavesays:
December18,2009at11:23am
http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/12/18/chartstocomparetargets/ 9/13
6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

Greatpost.Icantvote,though,becausetheanswerIwanttoputdownisitdepends.Aswithallvisualisations,youvegottotakeinto
accountyouraudience,yourpurpose,technicalskills,whereitwillbeviewed,etc.

Reply

2. JonPeltiersays:
December18,2009at11:49am

ImwithAndy:Itdepends.SomeIwoulduse,someImightuse,someIwonttouchwithabargepole.

NaturallyIhavecomments

Thedialgauge,thoughfamiliar,islesseasytoreadthanalineartypeofchart(thermometerorbullet).Itsreallynobetterthanthetraffic
lights,becauseallitcanreallytellyouiswhichcategorythepointfallsin:red,yellow,orgreen.

Bythesametoken,piechartsaresofamiliar,peopledontknowtheycantreadthem.Rememberhowlongittakeskidstolearntoread
ananalogclock?

Bulletchartsdontshowtrends.

Withanyofthechartsthathaveafilledcomponentandamarkerorinecomponent,itmakesmoresensetousethefilledcomponent
(area/column)fortarget,andthelinesormarkersforactual.

Reply
3. CandlestickChartingForDummies(KindleEdition)|AllTradingBooks.comsays:
December18,2009at12:46pm

[]BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets[]

Reply

4. TonyRosesays:
December18,2009at2:01pm

Ivotedfor#6eventhoughIagreewiththeothercommentsthatitdepends.

Themajorityofthevotesareforthe#2,thermometerchart.Istillhaveyettounderstandwhathappenswhenyouareaboveplan/goal,
whichwasbroughtupinyesterdayspost.

Also,IagreewithJoninthatitwouldbebettertofliptheseriesandmakethefilledpartthetargetorgoalandthelineormarkerthe
actual.

Iamalsoafanofusingtextwhenappropriateifthedataisamongothermetricsinatypeofdashboard.Callingitoutbysayingactualand
%achievementisagoodoption.

Reply
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6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

5. NaomiB.Robbinssays:
December18,2009at2:52pm

Anotheritdependsvote.Areyoujustlookingatoneorareyoucomparinganumberoftargetswithactuals?Youdidntincludeatext
box.Theproblemwithsentencesisthattheycangetlostinapageofgraytext.Atextboxcancallattentiontothenumbersandline
themupeffectively.

ImwithJon:SomeIwoulduse,someImightuse,someIwonttouchwithabargepoleandImsurprisedthatsomeofyourreaders
votedforthelastgroup.

Reply

6. BobGannonsays:
December18,2009at9:53pm

Jonsays:
Withanyofthechartsthathaveafilledcomponentandamarkerorlinecomponent,itmakesmoresensetousethefilledcomponent
(area/column)fortarget,andthelinesormarkersforactual.
Whydoesthismakemoresense?Ilike6thewayitis,althoughIwoulduseaheavydashfortheplan/targetmarker.

Reply

7. BernardLebellesays:
December19,2009at9:26am

Itdependsisalsomytake.WhatIusuallytrytodrillintomyclientsdashboarddesignisthefundamentaldifferencebetweenspot
results(amIontargetforthismonth)andlongtermtrends..Ialwaystrytocreate3differentsetofgraphstorepresentreal
perormance:
spotresultsvsobjectives
cumulativeresultsvsobjectives
longtermtrend(movingaverage)mostly)toseewhereweregoing

Reply
8. linksfor20091220says:
December21,2009at1:24am

[]BestChartstoCompareActualValueswithTargetsWhatisyourtake?(tags:excelcharts)[]

Reply
9. FluTrendsinaCitychartfromGoogleisAwesome!|PointyHairedDilbert:Charting&ExcelTipsChandoo.orgsays:
January15,2010at7:31am

[]Related:ChartingPrinciples,Howtocompareactualvalueswithbudgets[]

Reply
http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/12/18/chartstocomparetargets/ 11/13
6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

10. ExcelDashboardsforTrackingSalesPerformance32ExamplesofSalesDashboards|PointyHairedDilbert:Charting&ExcelTips
Chandoo.orgsays:
January17,2010at10:44am

[]ExcelChartingAlternativestocomparevalues[]

Reply

11. JamieRegansays:
February16,2010at5:50pm

Jonsays:
Withanyofthechartsthathaveafilledcomponentandamarkerorlinecomponent,itmakesmoresensetousethefilledcomponent
(area/column)fortarget,andthelinesormarkersforactual.
Whydoesthismakemoresense?Ilike6thewayitis,althoughIwoulduseaheavydashfortheplan/targetmarker.

Itotallyagree,Bob.Iwouldnormallyfavouralineforthetargetandacolumnfortheactual,youcanseequiteeasilythenwhichcolumns
breakthroughtheline,then.

Reply
12. MSExcelTippsfrProjektleitersays:
March3,2010at2:38pm

[]bestchartstocompareactualvalueswithtargetsdenStatusmalanderszeigen,z.B.alsTacho[]

Reply

13. zzzsays:
September10,2010at1:41pm

Thermometercharts:Notappropriatewhenactualvaluesexceedtargetsthisiseasilysolvedbymakingthemercuryportiona
differentcolorfromtheborder,thenyoucanclearlyseewheretheexpectedrangeendsandtheactualvalueskeepgoing.

Reply

14. Godsbodsays:
April27,2012at10:22am

Peopleseemtoknockgaugesquiteabitindashboarding,buttryingtoshowcomparisonofrealtimedatabetweenoperatingsitesand
targetsforeachsitecaneasilybedonewithabankofgaugesthathavetheoptimaloperatingpointsat12oclock.

Thehumaneyeisgreatatpatternstripping,andanydeviationofagaugefromtheexpected12positionwillquicklyregisterwithan
operatorandattracthisattention.Usingacolourbackground,ormeteredge,willalsoindicatethesensitivityofaparticularsite.

Reply
15. Iwonteatdonutwithathreadinside,butletsmakeoneanyway!|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnlinesays:
http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/12/18/chartstocomparetargets/ 12/13
6/6/2015 BestChartstoCompareActualvalueswithTargets(orBudgets)ChartingOptionsforExcel|Chandoo.orgLearnMicrosoftExcelOnline

February20,2014at8:09am

[]Bestchartstocompareactualwithtargetvalues[]

Reply
16. Iwonteatdonutwithathreadinside,butletsmakeoneanyway!TechBloggerssays:
February20,2014at7:20pm

[]Bestchartstocompareactualwithtargetvalues[]

Reply

LeaveaReply

MakeaQuickThermometerCharttoCompare
The1000thPost
TargetsandActuals

http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/12/18/chartstocomparetargets/ 13/13