• Hi All

    Please note that at the Chandoo.org Forums there is Zero Tolerance to Spam

    Post Spam and you Will Be Deleted as a User

    Hui...

  • When starting a new post, to receive a quicker and more targeted answer, Please include a sample file in the initial post.

Best chart for lots of data series

S

Skysurfer

New Member
Hi,


I have a chart design dilemma I could use your wisdom on regarding the maximum number of series to throw on a chart.


I designed a dashboard for a client where the main (largest) chart is a clustered column showing sales over six months. There are 3 - 4 columns in each cluster, each column being a sales channel. And each cluster is over a month and there are six months (which can be dynamically scrolled).


But now the client wants the same chart to show the detail (the drill-down) on the exports sales channel...and there are 12 sales channels in exports. That's 12 columns. What is the best chart...or chart layout...to show 12 data series? (And I know right around the corner is a request to drill-down again to show the countries in each region, some having upwards of 12 countries.)


What would be the best approach? Is there an example on your site?


Lawrence
 
Lawrence

The type of Chart Line vs Column probably doesn't matter too much, either will be messy after even half a dozen sets of data are displayed.


The other problem with financial data is scale, ie: where lots of your data is similar in value, but one set of data is say 20 x the value of the others, This causes the data which is close to be hidden and clumped together at the base of the plot to allow the outlying set to be displayed.


Have you thought about building in a tool which will interactively allow the user to display the data and :


1. by using a slider either select a single set of data and change the data set using the slider so that each set can be viewed individually and its own trends examined or


2. By Using a slider allow the user to add sets of data one series at a time, ie: start of with the largest data set and then by moving the slider, add progressively smaller data sets until they are all displayed.
 
Hui,


I really like your ideas. Currently, the main chart is VERY dynamic (scroll across time periods, select which data series to show) and I would like to add a feature where the user can click on a column and get it the chart to show detail of that column. For example, click on the exports column and the 12 regions appear in a column cluster.


But to make that practical, your "grouping" idea may be the key...


Would it make sense to show a cluster of, say, the 3 biggest regions individually and then all the others in the 4th column? Then have the ability to break those others out one at a time? How would I structure something like that? Have you ever seen an example of that?


Lawrence
 
Lawrence

Setup a temporary area which is large enough to capture all the sets of data you are likely to need and chart

Set The chart up on the temporary area to chart all rows of the temporary area

In the Temporary area use a simple lookup to pull data from the original data area subject to the Row/Col being <= the slider value if greater than the slider value put a NA()

That way you chart all teh data all the time, but anything greater than the slider value wont show up on the chart as it will be a NA()


You could also use the Temporary area to sort or re-arrange the data before charting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top