The „Bullet graph“ as proposed by Stephen Few is a variation of the classical bar chart. Bullet graphs were developed to overcome the fundamental issues of gauges and meters for the visualization of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in management dashboards. Inspired by a discussion in the IBCS Report Design Forum on LinkedIn, we evaluate the example published in Wikipedia and try to find out whether there are potential improvements and pitfalls. Our benchmark are the International Business Communication Standards (IBCS®, see http://www.ibcs-a.org). Conclusion: Our analysis suggests three improvements which should be taken into account in practical applications. They are presented in the following slides.

1. IBCS® EVALUATION OF „BULLET GRAPHS“
2016-02-04
rh@hichert.com
www.hichert.com
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbH
Bullet graph with 3 improvementsOriginal „bullet graph“

2. Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
here as presented in Wikipedia
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000

3. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
here as presented in Wikipedia
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
The dark line represents
the actual value

4. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
3210 54
The gray bands represent
ranges of performance
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
here as presented in Wikipedia
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
The dark line represents
the actual value

5. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
here as presented in Wikipedia
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
The dark line represents
the actual value
The gray bands represent
ranges of performance
The vertical line represents
a target or plan value

6. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000

7. This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
The light gray should not
have an arbitrary length as
shown here. Furthermore, it
is not representing a third
range of performance (!)
1
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000

8. This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
1
Therefore, we do not need
the light gray color
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000

9. 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards 1
Therefore, we do not need
the light gray color

10. 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards 1
…in this case we can use
lighter gray colors

11. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards 1
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
…in this case we can use
lighter gray colors

12. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
IBCS suggest normalized
target values – otherwise
the KPIs cannot be
compared properly (!)
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards 1 2
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000

13. 3210 54
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
Target
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards 1 2
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
IBCS suggest normalized
target values – otherwise
the KPIs cannot be
compared properly (!)

14. 3210 54
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
Target
IBCS suggest to highlight
the variances in order to
quickly understand the
chart by seeing and not by
reading bar by bar
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards 1 2 3
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000

15. 3210 54
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
Target
…good variances with green
(resp. light) lines
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards 1 2 3
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
IBCS suggest to highlight
the variances in order to
quickly understand the
chart by seeing and not by
reading bar by bar

16. 3210 54
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
Target
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards 1 2 3
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
…good variances with green
(resp. light) lines
IBCS suggest to highlight
the variances in order to
quickly understand the
chart by seeing and not by
reading bar by bar
…bad variances with red
(resp. dark) lines

17. 3210 54
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
Target
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
there are three potential improvements with respect to the IBCS Standards
We compare with
the original
0 1,5001,000500 2,5002,000

18. Profit
%
Revenue
tUSD
Avg. Order Size
USD
New Customers
Count
Customer Satisfact.
Top Rating of 5
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
15%10%5%0% 30%25%20%
3002001000 600500400
1,5001,000500 2,5002,000
3210 54
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
This is a typical „bullet graph“ as suggested by Stephen Few –
here presented in Wikipedia
We compare with
the original

19. Bullet graph with 3 improvementsOriginal „bullet graph“
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbHSource: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_graph of 2016-01-31 (redrawn picture)
We compare with
the original

20. If you want to know more about our work
and the rules behind this concept visit us
at www.hichert.com and www.ibcs-a.org.
As always, we like to hear your critical
comments and suggestions!
Rolf Hichert and Jürgen Faisst
2016-02-04
rh@hichert.com
www.hichert.com
© HICHERT+FAISST GmbH