Popular and Widely Used Charts
Whenever we talk about visuals there is no right or wrong. It completely depends upon the point of view of an analyst, about what they are trying to portray. We cannot deny the fact that there are some charts with which the human brain has familiarized itself over a period of time. These are not necessarily the best charts because that is subjective. The charts that I am discussing below are those charts that are widely familiar to people all across the globe.
Tableau in itself is a wonderful tool. Though it has very limited options when it comes to visualization, 24 Visuals to be specific. The purpose is that tableau likes to limit its data visualization tool and the reason to limit the option of custom visuals was to convey a better story of what the data scientist is trying to convey in a simple format.
There are many options to create custom visuals indirectly like Waterfall chart, Bump Chart, Slider Chart, Dumble Chart, Motion Chart. Which I’ve discussed in my previous blog. To give you a few easier custom charts which are more widely used on a regular basis is what I will be discussing below.
Bubble Chart
Usually, there are 2 required pills first dimension over which you wish to see the change. The second will be a measure to see the magnitude of change over the dimension. They are usually color-coded so it is easier to identify the category of the largest bubble.
Waterfall Chart
Waterfall charts are used to explain changes in performance. Typical use is to explain the change in earnings from one year to the next. As discussed in the previous story.
Motion Chart
Motion Charts show data using 2 Dimension( 2D ), it shows us the change over a period of time in an X-Y Plane type of view. Apart from the motion it also allows us to customize the path of that motion which is of utmost importance.
You find the link to the below chart here
Scatter Chart
Scatter charts require both pills to be measures and the basic rule that is usually practiced to differentiate between the dependent and the independent variables and then placing the Independent variable on the X-axis and the dependent variable on the Y-axis.
Pie Chart
It is recommended that we limit the usage of this chart only when the list of distinct values in a particular dimension does not cross 5. If it exceeds more than 5 then we can switch to another widely used chart Treemap Chart.
TreeMap Chart
This type of chart is used to show hierarchical data using size and color. One good example of when to use a treemap would be the relationship of revenue versus profit by geographical region.
Word Cloud Chart
The words in the cloud are sized according to some measurement of their occurrence frequency. Larger and bolder words occur more often. If the viewer wants to see the actual numbers, they can drill down to find the underlying data.
Bar in Bar Chart and Donut Chart are the two most popular charts with Bar in Bar using a Bar chart as the base chart and Donut chart using Pie chart as the base chart. These two examples will be discussed below.
Steps to create a Bar in Bar Chart:
- Create a Regular bar chart like so. Make sure to add measure value on the row shelf. Note: Remove all the additional measures from the measure value card.
2. Add Measure names to the color card in the marks card.
3. Turn off the Stack Marks from Analysis < Stack Marks < Off.
4. Ctrl + Drag the same Measure Names to the size card.
5. Reverse the Measure Values to see the reverse view of the population in 2018 and 2019.
Step to create a Donut Chart.
- Create a blank numeric calculation field just to add to the row shelf.
2. Create a basic pie chart
3. Add the created calculated field on the row shelf. This will create two pie charts in two separate rows.
4. Right-click and convert it to a dual-axis
5. Increase the size of the chart from the marks card shelf from the first-row card.
6. Decrease the size of the second chart from the second card on the marks shelf
7. Lastly change the color of the second chart by selecting a diff. Color from the same card.
8. Lastly to add labels drag the Fuel-Type to Label on the marks card. Additionally, you can also delete the 1 in the center.
This brings us to the end of the discussion. In case of any query regarding the approach you can comment down and we could continue the discussion further.
