We were showing patterns over time.

Pretty easy, right?

Let’s pretend your line chart has tons of lines. I’ve got plenty of resources about fixing spaghetti line charts.

But what if your line chart only shows a single variable??

A single line is so… lonely.

Before: Lonely Line Chart

There’s not much to look at.

It’s just a line.

Competing for attention with the gray grid lines.

Not terrible. But not great either.

(This report was for a lay audience, so we didn’t need to label all the percentages along the line. Those details belong in tables in the appendix. We purposefully labeled the first and last point – plenty of info for this audience – and kept the light gray grid lines so our readers could estimate the other values if they wanted to.)

After: Shading Under the Line

Whenever I have a single line, I add shading underneath it.

(Behind the scenes in Excel, this is called an “area chart.”)

Now, there’s more to look at.

(In technical terms, the shading gives us more preattentive attributes. The line isn’t competing with the grid lines for attention anymore; there’s more color to see.)

I used a 50% transparency, not a solid fill, so that readers can still see the grid lines peeking through.

Ann’s Favorite: Line + Shading Together

My personal fav is combining the line and shading together.

(Behind the scenes in Excel, this is called a “combo chart.”)

All 3 Options Together

What do you think?? Comment and let me know.

Download My Excel File

Want to explore how I made these charts?

It’s available for free here.

The post Lonely Line Chart? Try Shading Under the Line appeared first on Depict Data Studio.

AnnKEmery_Chart-Instructions-and-Templates

AnnKEmery_Dashboards

AnnKEmery_Dataviz-Best-Practices_Handout

AnnKEmery_Graphs-Possible-in-Excel_Slides

The post Global Excel Summit appeared first on Depict Data Studio.

Last week, I applied the optimist vs. pessimist style to a map during Office Hours.

(The real version of the map was about a different topic in a different state, but you get the idea.)

The Traditional Map

I’ve written about traditional and storytelling approaches before. You’re probably familiar with this terminology already?

The traditional version would have a topical title and regular ol’ brand colors.

The Storytelling Map: Optimist Version

In this optimist version, we’ve got a:

• “good” takeaway title;
• “good” brand color;
• “good” icon; and a
• call-out box highlighting a superstar.

The Storytelling Map: Pessimist Version

In this pessimist version, we’ve got a:

• “bad” takeaway title;
• “bad” brand color;
• “bad” icon; and a
• call-out box highlighting a laggard.

Which Version Should You Use?

That obviously depends on your audience and context.

You’re welcome to comment here with your own insights. I read every response.

Download These Maps

Want the Excel file that I used to create these maps? You can download it here.

The post Optimist vs. Pessimist Maps appeared first on Depict Data Studio.

…and you’ve seen heat tables…

…but have you tried tables with bubbles?!

There are obviously pros and cons of each approach – like everything with data visualization.

Comment below with your own insights into the pros and cons.

How to Make Tables with Bubbles in Excel

You’ll set up a Helper Table with x, y, and z values.

Then, you’ll insert a bubble chart.

Finally, you’ll adjust the axes, grid lines, colors, and labels, just like you normally would.

Let me know if you’d like a more detailed tutorial.

Download the Excel File

Or, you can download my Excel file and explore it yourself.

This is just the file I used for this blog post (not step-by-step instructions).

The post Tables with Bubbles appeared first on Depict Data Studio.

…why not try bubble charts?

Bar charts depict data with length.

Bubble charts depict data with area.

If you want to try bubble charts, you can make them in good ol’ Excel with this tutorial.

The post Bubble Charts (An Alternative to Bars) appeared first on Depict Data Studio.

Here are two common layouts that I’ve used over and over:

1. The filters along the top
2. The filters on the left side

Honestly, those are the only two layouts you should be using.

In other words, we’d never want to hide the filters along the bottom. And I don’t recommend placing the filters on the right side (because we read from left to right).

Here’s an example of each style.

(1) Dashboard Filters at Top

Here’s an example of a dynamic dashboard with a filter along the top of the screen.

These are pretend numbers, but inspired by a real dashboard I created during a workshop with a nonprofit organization. They wanted to be able to drill-down and look at a single cohort of participants at a time (just the Monday morning group, just the Saturday afternoon group, or just the Sunday evening group).

There are a dozen different graphs and maps, so it was impossible to fit everything on a single screen. (We didn’t want to sacrifice the font size – it’s nice and legible now, and if we shrunk everything down, it would be unusable.) So, the filter stays stuck at the top of the screen, and then the viewers can scroll downwards to see all the graphs.

(In Excel, we froze the panes so that the top few rows wouldn’t move.)

(2) Dashboard Filters Along the Left

Here’s a dashboard about fictional car sales.

There were several charts and maps, and I couldn’t fit everything on a single screen without sacrificing font size and readability.

So, the two filters are frozen on the left side, and viewers can scroll to the right to see all the graphs.

How to Make Dynamic Dashboards

Want to make something similar for your own workplace?

Here are all my dashboard blog posts and YouTube tutorials.

In particular, you might like these examples of dynamic dashboards made in Excel that you can use for inspiration.

Here’s a how-to video about making dynamic dashboards in Excel and another how-to video about making dynamic dashboards in PowerBI.

I also teach private workshops and online courses about dashboard design.

Do you have specific questions? Reach out anytime.

The post 2 Common Dashboard Layouts: Filters at Top & Filters on Left Side appeared first on Depict Data Studio.