Learn how to choose the right chart based on the message you are trying to convey. See chart examples that address a wide range of business questions.

1. MASTERING CHART
SELECTION
How To Choose The Right Chart

2. Track
Compare
Segment
Types of Charts
Start by understanding what you’re trying to do.

3. Types of Questions
Often this is easier to assess if you think about the questions you’re trying to
answer.
Track
Compare
Segment
How do sales compare to previous periods?
How have earnings changed?
What has contributed to the change?
How does retention compare to competitors?
What is the pricing for different brands?
Which economies are strongest?
What is our market share by channel?
Which product categories are the largest?
Who competes in our markets?

4. Track
• The objective is to show what’s happened over time.
• The bar chart is the workhorse of this category but area charts, line
charts and bar-line charts are also popular.
• When in doubt, start with a stacked or cluster bar chart. You can easily experiment with
other chart types by choosing “Type” in the Mekko Graphics menu.
• Anticipate follow-on questions and add data or enhancements to answer
them.
• What’s the growth rate? Add a CAGR column or growth line.
• Does revenue vary widely by period? Add a rolling average line.
• Why did cash flow change between 2 periods? Use a cascade chart to show how each
step contributed to the change.

5. How has revenue changed?
Add a growth line to show change over the time period and/or a CAGR column
to show annual growth rate.

6. How are sales tracking vs. prior weeks?
Add enhancements like a target line or rolling average to give additional
context.

7. How do sales compare to other
products?
Use a line chart to emphasize overall trends. Adding the data row helps the
audience understand how growth rates have changed.

8. How have earnings changed?
You can also add a second metric, growth rate, to show how growth is
changing. Use the 2Y axis for growth rate.

9. What’s driving the change?
Use cascade charts to show how products or regions contributed to the change
between the two time periods.

10. Which items had the biggest
impact on cash flow?
Use a cascade to walk the audience through each step. Show positive
contributions as green and negative as red.

11. Compare
• The objective is to show how products, categories, countries or markets
compare to each other on one or more key metrics.
• Start with a bar chart to show the comparison for a single metric.
• Add more value to a bar chart by turning it into a bar mekko.
• The width of the bar often helps the audience understand the importance of each bar so
use a measure of size (revenue or number of users) or profitability.
• When comparing multiple metrics, use a scatter or bubble chart.
• Use a scatter chart to compare across two metrics. Add a regression line if the line helps
you make your point.
• The bubble chart allows you to add another dimension to a scatter chart (typically a
measure of size).

12. How do our retention rates compare?
Use color to distinguish between business and consumer products or services
and add an average line to highlight over and under performance.

13. What is the pricing for different brands?
Use an average line to highlight how each brand compares to the average.

14. Which product category has
the biggest upside?
Use net lines to show current forecasted performance as a second series.

15. How does technology use vary
by generation?
You can use a series of bar charts to show comparisons on different market
research questions.

16. Where are labor costs the highest?
A bar mekko allows you to show a second metric, GDP in this case, to help the
audience see the relative importance of each bar.

17. Which products are the most profitable?
The bar width helps the audience understand the impact of the profitability
differences.

18. Which Asian economies are strongest?
Use a scatter chart to show each country on two key economic measures.

19. How do restaurant stocks compare?
Adding the regression line helps make the point that the stocks above the line
are priced at a premium.

20. Which countries have the highest
consumption?
To add a third metric, use a bubble chart. If we did this as a scatter chart, we would
miss the key insight that the largest markets by population have the lowest
consumption volume.

21. Segment
• The objective with segment charts is to show a more detailed view of
the components underlying a metric.
• Costs by category
• Revenue by customer
• Market by region and competitor
• A 100% stacked bar chart is a good place to start as it allows you to
show each segment and its relationship to the whole.
• Add a 2nd exploding bar to provide even more detail for a segment.
• Use a cascade to guide the audience step by step through each segment.
• The marimekko is the powerhouse chart of this category. It shows
your audience in a single chart how a market can be segmented by
geography, categories, products or competitors.

22. What is our market share by channel?
Using two 100% stacked bars allows you to show market share for each
channel and make comparisons between channels.

23. Where do we make money?
Use multiple 100% bars to show more than one metric. Add a data column to
showcase data that supports your message. In this case, the most profitable
market is declining.

24. Where can we cut costs?
Use the exploding bar to drill down on a particular cost category.

25. How has the product mix evolved?
You can use 100% bars over time to show mix changes, in this case by price
tier. Skip years to highlight the changes and add a CAGR column to reinforce
the message that growth is in the highest and lowest price tiers.

26. How are profits distributed?
You can use the cascade chart to walk the audience through each segment
and its relationship to the total.

27. What’s included in the $2+ Trillion
IT industry?
The marimekko allows you to show an industry by category and segment.
Notice that each category has different segments.

28. Who competes in the electric car market?
The marimekko allows you to show the market by competitor and product
category. Notice that some competitors appear in multiple product categories.

29. Where are wine grapes grown?
A marimekko can be used to show a wide range of metrics, including costs,
customers, or in this case, capacity by region and country.

30. FAQs
Q: What are my best chart options if I have data across multiple years?
• If time is one of your variables, use trend charts. A bar or line chart is a great choice if you
have 1 or more metrics. Consider using a 2Y axis if one of your bars or lines is hard to see
on the Y axis.
Q: Can I use data from multiple time periods in other chart types?
• Typically compare and segment charts use data at a point in time. You can use a 100%
stacked bar to show segment changes over time. If you want to use a bar mekko, scatter
or cascade with time series data, convert the data into growth rates (e.g. sales growth,
profit growth).
Q: How do I show different segments for each bar?
• You can have different segments in a 100% stacked bar chart or a marimekko Simply add
series (rows) to your data set and only add data in the bars (columns) where you want that
series to appear.
Q: I’m stuck. What would you advise me to do?
• Put your data into the Mekko Graphics data sheet and start experimenting with different
chart types (click Type in the menu to quickly see your data in another chart type). The
best place to start is typically a stacked or cluster bar chart.
Q: Can I use your charts?
• Absolutely. Please take any of the charts in this presentation or download our chart gallery,
which includes more than 150 charts, from our website. Download a free trial of our
software to modify these charts.