The other day, while doing consulting for one of my customers, I had a strange problem. My customer has data for several KPIs and she wants to display average of top 5 values in the dashboard.
- Now, if she wants average of all values, we can use AVERAGE() formula
- if she wants top 5 values to be highlighted, we can use LARGE() formula and CF.
but average of top 5?
I said what any consultant would say. “It is possible”
After thinking for a while, I found the solution by nesting LARGE() formula with AVERAGE() formula. Like this:
=AVERAGE(LARGE(A1:A10,{1,2,3,4,5}))
There is no need to press CTRL+SHIFT+Enter after this formula and it works fine.
You can use similar formula to get Average of bottom 5 values like this:
=AVERAGE(SMALL(A1:A10,{1,2,3,4,5}))
Now, your home work:
Ok, here is an interesting twist to this formula. My formula works fine as long as the list has at least 5 values in it. But, lets say the input range (a1:a10) is dynamic. That means, it can grow or shrink.
Now, how would you modify this formula so that it works even when there are less than 5 values ?
Go, figure that out. When you are done, come back here and post a comment.
9 Responses to “Show forecast values in a different color with this simple trick [charting]”
While this works in a pinch, it clearly "lightens" the colors of the entire chart. Depending on where you use this, it will be blatantly obvious that you don't know what you are doing and present a poor looking graph.
Why not separate the data into different segments when charting and have as many colors as you have data points? You might have to create a new legend and/or repeat the chart in "invisible ink", but it would be cleaner and more consistent when new or updated data becomes available.
While I think I agree that doing it "properly" via a second series is preferable, I don't necessarily agree that making the entirety of the "future" (data, gridlines, and even the axis) semi-transparent is "poor looking". I think it could be seen as adding more emphasis to the "future-ness" of the forecast data.
In short, it's another tool for the toolbox, even if it's never needed.
Simply and clever 🙂
Quick & effective, cool. thanks.
I always use the dummy series.
Nice little trick, thanks very much!
Two sets of data better. Control is much better.
You can use the same chart next month to see what is actual and what is forecast.
To use this trick, I think grid lines has to be removed, that will make the graphic much more sharp.
to be honest, i dont understand why there is needed to do this way... in this case horizontal lines will be pale as well. then why a just can't change the color of the line partly???
Great tutorial. Thanks for the tutorial!