This is a guest article written by John for our Excel Dashboard Week.
Executive Review Dashboard using Excel
Snap-shot of the dashboard:
Purpose of the dashboard:
This Dashboard was constructed for a number of reasons, one of which was to reduce the number of reports produced with the same data ( up to 6 separate files ). As we all know, when it comes to senior management and reports / files the more information they can get on one report / file the better for them. So, with this in mind I created the Dashboard to show the data they need to see “quickly” each week.
How this Executive Review Dashboard is made?
I used various functions / formulas to help me construct this Dashboard, this isn’t the first one I have created, but I think this is the best one I have done so far and it is all thanks to the hints and tips and assistance I get form Chandoo’s site as well as Excel User *(Charley Kyd was the first inspiration for me to get involved with Dashboards ) and also a shout out to Clearly and Simply, another great site.
[Note by Chandoo: I have added numbers 1 to 7 on the snapshot to help you understand below portion.]
The top left corner (1) has data that shows what is happening right now, i.e. QTD Order volume, WW Requested supply, WW Available supply and the Avg projected orders ( based on historical analysis ). This table format is then supported by a simpler bar chart below it.
Below that I have used Scroll Bars (2 & 3) to allow a lot of data to be shown in a small space, scroll bars do this very nicely. The data in here would be a list of all the products within the current range of orderable parts ( the detail behind the table and bar chart above ). [Related tip: How to create a scrollable list in Excel Dashboards?]
The middle table (4) ( Last 4Qtrs + CQ 2009 Order Load by product ) shows the historical data for each of the current products ( and perhaps their predecessors ) with a bar chart to the right of it (6) showing the overall volume of those products and the table and bar chart are controlled by the drop down menus above the bar chart.
The Line Chart below (7) that shows the overall Sales Trend by month with a drop down menu to enable you to choose each year separately.
To the left of that there is a table (5), which is a snapshot using the picture link function, of the current order load status by product and again supports the data on the left hand side of the Dashboard.
Final Notes:
If anyone would like to leave a comment or ask questions about this Dashboard or indeed need help with anything ( even if I don’t know the answer I am sure Chandoo and his growing community would be able to help ) please feel free to ask.
Just a note to close. Since I started utilizing Chandoo’s site I have now started my own community internally within the company I work for and I am now teaching other people about Excel ( albeit 2003 level for now ) and encouraging them to expand their own knowledge of Excel and perhaps share what they learn with their colleagues and I fully intend to point some of these people to Chandoo’s site and will encourage them to sign up for Excel School.
Download Executive Review Dashboard Workbook:
Click here to download the executive review dashboard workbook & play with it.
Added by Chandoo:
What I liked in this Dashboard:
Techniques used: John used a variety of techniques like formulas (SUMPRODUCT, OFFSET), dynamic charts, scrollable lists and picture links which help us in analyze lots of information and present the results in minimal space.
Dynamic Dashboard: The dashboard lets us analyze and understand information for any quarter or region which is very good.
What can be improved in this dashboard:
Layout: Ideally, if a dashboard is in a rectangle or square layout, it would be easy to read and understand. The current setup suggests that it is incomplete.
A little more visualization: There are lots of numbers in this dashboard. I would suggest adding few more visualizations like showing indicators or applying conditional formatting or replacing a table with a chart. This would reduce the comprehension time. Of course, you can always add hyperlinks to detailed data so that if an executive is interested to drill-down, she can do so.
Spell out key messages: This dashboard would become even more effective by adding a small comment area at the bottom or top where key messages can be highlighted. [Related: Tweetboards as an alternative to Dashboards]
Thanks to John
Thank you very much John for sharing your work with all of us and showing us what is possible. I really appreciate your effort in writing this guest article and spreading good word about Chandoo.org and Excel School.
Say thanks to John
If you liked this dashboard, say thanks to John. Also, feel free to share your views on this dashboard. How would you have designed an executive review dashboard if it were up to you? Please share using comments.
Contribute to Excel Dashboard Week:
You can contribute tips, screen-shots, excel workbooks or links that I can share with our readers on Friday (25th March).
Click here to send your tips & files for Dashboard Week
PS: The link to Excel user site is affiliate link, meaning if you click on it and purchase anything from the site, I get a small commission. I do this because I think Charley’s products are awesome.
37 Responses to “Pie of a Pie of a Pie chart [Good or Bad?]”
If I could have the same quality of graphics and illustration in Office Apps, I would certainly use it.
If I could have the same quality of graphics in Office Apps (Excel, PPT) I would certainly use it.
Chandoo,
First, let me say I love your blog. I like this post, and I think that technically (in terms of readability of data) your argument is correct. The bar of bars, and the table, are much better for readability and accuracy, and as you say would be much easier to produce.
But these points ignore the context of the chart. If the chart was part of a scientific paper, your solution would be a valid one. The context in this case is an illustrated atlas of wildlife. A companion graphic to go with written text. The importance of aesthetic goes up over readability and accuracy. Much of the data and points (I assume) will be covered in the text.
There's always a pure technical tufte-esque argument. But I sometimes think it ignores the value of aesthetics. (Which I admit are quite subjective)
Great post though. Thanks.
The Treemap makes the scope of the data much clearer! The 3D pie chart depiction is deceptive.
This reminds me of the videos ive seen on the internet where it compares the relative sizes of the earth with the larger planets, then the sun, then other stars in the galaxy. Eventually there is an image showing the largest star in the sky with a little pixel representing the sun.
My point is if you varied the size of the charts it would help convey the message. The first chart (salt vs fresh) would be the biggest and the rest would be arranged in descending order. I feel this would be more accurate.
It may be helpful to consider the advice of Steven Few and Edward Tufte regarding pie charts in general. To summarize, they are seldom the most useful way to present data. Here's Few's thoughtful piece on the subject.
http://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/08-21-07.pdf
Try putting the percentages on the bar charts instead of actual amounts. Lakewater would be .013 % instead of 52.
That is very good pie chart example.
Please send example file if it is possible.
It will work , even though colors may be confusing , it can be labeled well . Also it can be called as the drilled chart , as it drills in information further , like the first chart may show business in a region , second may drill into a particular region , thrid may further drill into wat products are there in that region . It works well for me , i would more vote for the 2 nd option .
Overall all this site is awesome ,
p.s : just like me
The risk with pie of a pie of a pie chart is that Jon may have a seizure by looking at it. Also, it isn't easy to read. 😉
I dunno. The only thing worse than a pie chart is a cascading series of pie charts. I don't even think they really lend themselves to this sort of thing. It just becomes a big hide-the-ball game with your viewer.
Those goofy connectors between the pies are pure chart junk. I can't really tell if the second chart has 2 series or 3 - because the connector is a different color than the 2 labeled slices. Despite that, even whereas the drill down kind of works, still the individual components suffer from the same old weaknesses that 3d pie charts have.
Use a large bar chart as your "cover story", and fill in the sub points with smaller bar charts - or even go grab the Fabrice SFE project for extra butter. Use page orientation, color, and some text styles to guide your audience through the drill downs.
FWIW, if you check out the guy's site, you can find several other truly mortifying charts:
http://www.andrewdavies.com.au/index.html
The methane emissions one is particularly heinous. Although, I'm kind of debating what I think about the 'Glacier Changes" chart. I'd kind of like to see the data on that to see how it would look in a more traditional horizon chart.
Thank you, that was scary. I don't understand the "Glacier changes" Chart at all...
Its a very nice way to represent the data, especially when we have sets and sub-sets within the data.
I like these!
Except for the fact that they aren't dynamic and hence must be setup manually each time
It would also be nice if they could be interrogated as in select a different segment and the new data falls out automagically, but then none of the standard Excel charts do that either.
I'd like it better if the bars were stacked. How about this idea (I hope I can convey it in words):
First bar is vertical and stacked.
Second bar is horizontal, stacked horizontally and the same proportion had it been on the first bar.
Third bar is vertical, stacked vertically and the same proportion had it been on the second bar.
Then it would really look like you are zooming on the chart, like the Powers of Ten video, or maybe like the golden ration spiral.
These looks shunting but setting up for each step makes kicks them out. However if these can be arranged automatically by native excel or by VBA, these will be the part of my "Archery"
I agree with Chandoo's Suggestion about the Bar Graph which represents data in a very appropriate manner. Even I prefer doing the same. I seldom use Pie Chart unless required.
That's a real nice example of a missleading infographic. But to be honest, I think chandoos suggestion is not much better!
Why are pie charts bad? I think because they don't show the real size-relations. The biggest pie in that example ist 300k big. The 2nd one has only the size of 10k, about 3% of the first one. Niether the pies nor the bars show the real sizes. I jnow, it's hard to show the sizes because the values of the second and the third pie are so small. But that's what visualization are about - showing relations to allow the reader to see the real sizes!
So how to show the real figures?
First possibility is o use a 1:1 scaling. Well then, you need a very big screen to show also after a 90° rotation, wihich I would prefer because it's a structural comparison and not a timeline. Maybe that solution is not the perfect way.
The other chance you have is to zoom in but to really show that you zoom in! http://www.pro-chart.de/images/Water_Fall.png maybe gives you a first impression what i mean. (i was a quick try, done in 10 minutes)
The next way is, maybe to fold the bars like in the financial report 2011 of the Post of Switzerland page 22. That chart is based on an excel chart. Maybe can explain you how to do it 😉
Financial Statement: http://www.post.ch/en/post-startseite/post-berichterstattung/post-berichterstattung-service/post-berichterstattung-downloads/post-gb-2011-finanzbericht.pdf
page 22: http://www.pro-chart.de/images/FS_Schweizer_Post.png
A way that is not so very common is to divide the bars in a lot of single datapoints. So maybe the 390k bar then consists of about 5,000 single datapoint. That's not possible - it is! Have a look:
http://www.pro-chart.de/images/Dotted_WF.png
It's pure excel!
Now one single point ist 0,2% of the whole (in the example above). Add more datapoints and you can visulize the very big and the very small numbers!
Wish you a lot of fun - visualizing with excel can be very powerful!
Joerg
...if you would like to know how these charts work, just send an email to J.Decker@pro-chart.de
Hey Joerg,
I don't dig so much the dotted waterfall thing. But this is kind of awesome:
http://www.pro-chart.de/images/FS_Schweizer_Post.png
Can you help me on the bar of bar graph? Would it be possible to create that from pivot table? Can you show me how to create the bar of bar graph?
do nothing but say "Awesome!"
You are a Rock star.....This seemed an answer as if someone was reading my mind and just had the solution to my questions on what I exactly was looking for .....What a Fab !!
can u explian me step by step
Can anyone please explain how to make this chart please.
Do you mean the pie of a pie chart or the folded bar chart?
Joery PIE OF PIE Chart please
Can someone please explain how to make PIE OF PIE Chart.
@Mandeep
The last line of the post is:
PS: If you want to know to create this pie of pie of pie chart in excel, see here.
Due to forum migration, link is now:
http://chandoo.org/forum/threads/multiple-pie-chart.7343/
Hi... i love these charts.... can any one show me how to draw these charts in excel 2010
@Vamshi
The very last line of the post refers you to:
PS: If you want to know to create this pie of pie of pie chart in excel, see here. http://chandoo.org/forums/topic/multiple-pie-cahrt
Where is the attachment....it used to be there...i have seen this before but now i am not able to find...
See this:
http://img.chandoo.org/playground/WaterDistribution-chandoo.xlsx
And this:
http://chandoo.org/forum/threads/how-do-you-create-this-chart.9743/
Normally I don't learn post on blogs, however I would like to
say that this write-up very compelled me to try and do so!
Your writing style has been amazed me. Thank you,
quite great article.
This is very impressive, I would like to learn how to build this for myself. I have tried for some time now, is there a step by step process on how to create these waterfall pie of pie charts?
I am novice to excel and use it very seldom. But your blog contains to the point information one needs to get going.
I was searching for a trick to do a Pie chart drill down - for example the first pie chart shows how the prices are distributed between perishable and non-perishable items.
Now if we want to know how the perishable items are distributed - one can click the segment and it will draw another pie chart with distribution of all different perishable items (milk,meat,fruit,veg etc)
So do you have any such trick?
Regards,
electrojit
I like the look of your pie of pie of pie chart, although I understand that the relative size of each pie does not represent the actual percentages.