Column charts, also referred to as vertical bar charts are used in most cases to show KPIs and Metrics that need to be conveyed by value. Column charts are also good comparative charts when KPIs go into negative values.
Present your KPIs: Choose appropriate charts/graphs and tabular data to present the information in the simplest possible way. Keep the charts relevant, focused, and in context. Present your KPIs in a logical order to keep the flow of information or the 'story' from getting disjointed.
KPI Charts are the key performance indicators in a dashboard where the performance is measured and presented in the form of KPIs. Use these charts to display the KPI value, the difference between the actual and target values, and their difference percentage as well.
Line Chart
Line charts are best used to express changes in a metric across time, or progress across a series of stages.
The four most common are probably line graphs, bar graphs and histograms, pie charts, and Cartesian graphs. They are generally used for, and are best for, quite different things. You would use: Bar graphs to show numbers that are independent of each other.
Bar charts and pie charts are very common chart types with some overlap in use cases.
A KPI dashboard displays key performance indicators in interactive charts and graphs, allowing for quick, organized review and analysis. Key performance indicators are quantifiable measures of performance over time for specific strategic objectives.
Define your KPIs
Arguably the most important step to creating a successful KPI scorecard is to define the metrics you will use to measure your performance. There are many KPIs available in all key areas of a business, however, only specific ones will actually tell you the insights you need to measure your goals.
A KPI should be simple, straightforward and easy to measure. Business analytics expert Jay Liebowitz says that an effective KPI is one that “prompts decisions, not additional questions.” For example, “How many customers did we add this quarter?” is clear and simple.
A KPI presentation should include minimal text and be about showing your progress with visualizations and data. A common rule of thumb for a KPI presentation in PowerPoint or Google Slides is five words per line and five lines per slide. For this reason, images are important to include for a good KPI presentation.
In short, the optimal number of KPIs in an executive dashboard should be between three and ten. It's not the place for irrelevant KPIs to the managers like bounce rate or average time spent.
A key performance indicator (KPI) dashboard is a single page or single screen view of multiple charts that tell the story of the subject matter you're building your dashboard for. If it's a safety dashboard, it's telling the story of what makes your organization safe.
Key Performance indicators (KPIs) are individual metrics that can be displayed on a dashboard to track key measurements. You can think of them as a single important number that is displayed in large text. Dashboards are a collection of Insights and KPIs put together on a page.
An Excel dashboard is a high-level summary of key metrics used in monitoring and decision-making. It shows you most of what you need to know about a subject without going into specific detail. A dashboard often has visuals such as pie charts, line graphs, and simple tables.
Bar charts are good for comparisons, while line charts work better for trends. Scatter plot charts are good for relationships and distributions, but pie charts should be used only for simple compositions — never for comparisons or distributions.
If you want to compare values, use a pie chart — for relative comparison — or bar charts — for precise comparison. If you want to compare volumes, use an area chart or a bubble chart. If you want to show trends and patterns in your data, use a line chart, bar chart, or scatter plot.
Arguably the most popular type of chart, a pie chart is a circular graph that visualizes a part-to-whole relationship. It shows how the data is divided into categories with a certain value (the slices), but it always keeps the link between the value of one category and the total sum of those categories (the pie).
Research shows the most reliable and profitable chart patterns are the Head & Shoulders, with an 89% success rate, the Double Bottom (88%), and the Triple Bottom and Descending Triangle (87%). The most profitable chart pattern is the Rectangle Top, with a 51% average profit.
Popular graph types include line graphs, bar graphs, pie charts, scatter plots and histograms.