Ranking

Rank items from highest to lowest, or vice versa.
For example: Rank countries by market share.
Use: Bar chart or column chart

For more information, see Chart – Ranking.

Comparison

Compare values of items in a list that has no particular order.
For example: Compare revenues in a list of products, or transaction volumes in a list of banks.
Use: Bar chart, stacked bar chart, bullet chart, heatmap.

For more information, see Chart – Comparison.

Variation Over Time

Show the variation of values over time.
For example: Show the stock level over time, or expenses by month compared to budget.
Use: Line chart, column chart, stacked column chart, bullet chart.

For more information, see Chart – Variation Over Time.

Part to Whole

Display the contribution of individual values to the whole.
For example: Show the percentage of sales attributed to various regions.
Use: Pie chart, bar chart, line chart, stacked bar chart.

For more information, see Chart – Part to Whole.

Deviation

Show the deviation, difference, or gap between two sets of values.
For example: Show the deviation between actual revenue and target revenue by product.
Use: Bar chart, bullet chart, column chart, line chart.

For more information, see Chart – Deviation.

Distribution

Show the distribution within a set of values.
For example: Show how exam scores are spread or grouped around the median score.
Use: Bar chart, column chart, stacked column chart, line chart.

For more information, see Chart – Distribution.

Correlation

Show the correlation between two or three sets of values.
For example: Show how sales revenues are impacted by customer age.
Use: Scatter chart, bubble chart, bar chart.

For more information, see Chart – Correlation.

Cumulation

Show the accumulation of successive values.
For example: Show cumulation of stock day by day, or cumulation of revenues and cost for profit and loss.
Use: Waterfall chart

For more information, see Cumulation (Waterfall Chart).

Geographical Values

Use a map to show the values associated with geographical areas.
For example: Show revenues by country or region on a map.

For more information, see maps.

Recources