Updated: February 11, 2019

Choosing the Correct Chart Type

Intro

Charts are used to visually represent how numeric values relate to each other. Therefore, it’s crucial to define the type of relationship you want to illustrate when choosing the correct chart type.

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

Want to dive deeper? Follow the links below to find out more about related controls, the SAPUI5 implementation, and the visual design.

Elements and Controls

Implementation

No links.