GRAPHS

The Definitive Guide to Power BI Visuals

An interactive infographic designed to transform raw data into clear, compelling, and actionable data narratives by choosing the right visual for the story.

📊 Comparison & Ranking Visuals

Bar and column charts are foundational for comparing data across categories. Bar charts are superior for long category names, while column charts excel with chronological data.

Bar Chart: Ideal for Long Labels

The horizontal orientation provides ample space for readable category labels, preventing truncation or awkward angling.

✅ When to Use:

• Comparing individual values across different categories.
• When category names are long and horizontal labels are needed.

❌ When Not to Use:

• To show trends over time; a Line chart is better.
• To visualize part-to-whole relationships.

Column Chart: Best for Timelines

Vertical bars naturally align with a time progression from left to right, effectively representing a historical timeline.

✅ When to Use:

• To show chronological data or trends over a few periods.
• For side-by-side comparison of different values in each category.

❌ When Not to Use:

• When there are many categories or very long labels.
• For showing continuous trends over a long period.

📈 Trend & Temporal Analysis

Line and Area charts both visualize data over time, but they tell different stories. Line charts focus on the trend itself, while Area charts emphasize the cumulative volume or magnitude of that trend.

Line Chart: Focus on the Trend

Perfect for showing fluctuations and comparing the progression of multiple independent data series.

✅ When to Use:

• Tracking changes in a continuous metric over a long period.
• Comparing trends of multiple data series on the same timeline.

❌ When Not to Use:

• For categorical or non-sequential data.
• When highlighting the total value or volume is the main goal.

Area Chart: Emphasize Magnitude

The filled space represents volume, making it ideal for tracking total revenue or cumulative values over time.

✅ When to Use:

• To emphasize the total value of a trend over time.
• For showing cumulative data like total sales or inventory levels.

❌ When Not to Use:

• To compare many different series, as it can become cluttered.
• When the focus is on precise data points rather than overall volume.

🍰 Part-to-Whole Relationships

While a simple donut chart can show basic proportions, a Treemap is the superior choice for displaying complex hierarchical data with many categories in a compact, space-efficient manner.

Donut Chart: Simple Proportions

Effective for 2-5 categories. The center can be used to display a total value, improving space usage.

✅ When to Use:

• Showing the contribution of a few categories to a whole.
• To display a key metric in the center of the visual.

❌ When Not to Use:

• When comparing many categories or categories with very similar values.
• To represent hierarchical data.

Treemap: Complex Hierarchies

Nested rectangles represent multiple levels of a hierarchy, with area proportional to value.

✅ When to Use:

• Displaying hierarchical data in a compact, space-saving way.
• When there are many categories and sub-categories to show.

❌ When Not to Use:

• When the data is not hierarchical.
• To show trends over time.

💧 Process & Flow Analysis

These visuals audit sequential processes. Funnel charts track progression through stages, while Waterfall charts show how a value is affected by positive and negative changes.

Funnel Chart: Visualize a Process

Instantly conveys the health of a process, like a sales pipeline, highlighting drop-offs at each stage.

✅ When to Use:

• Visualizing a sequential process like a sales pipeline or customer journey.
• Quickly identifying bottlenecks or areas of low conversion.

❌ When Not to Use:

• When data is not part of a sequential process.
• For comparing values that are not part of a flow.

Waterfall Chart: Audit Changes

Color-coded bars clearly show how individual positive and negative values contribute to a final total.

✅ When to Use:

• Auditing a cumulative total that is affected by increases and decreases.
• Analyzing profit and loss statements or budget variances.

❌ When Not to Use:

• For simple comparisons of unrelated categories.
• To show trends over time without a focus on a cumulative total.

🤝 Relationship & Distribution

Scatter charts investigate the relationship between two variables. Bubble charts add a third dimension, represented by the size of the bubble.

Scatter Chart: Show Correlation

Plots data points on a two-dimensional graph to easily identify trends, patterns, and outliers between two variables.

✅ When to Use:

• Investigating the correlation between two continuous variables.
• Identifying outliers or data clusters.

❌ When Not to Use:

• To show data over time.
• When the data points are not numerical.

Bubble Chart: Add a Third Variable

An extension of a scatter chart where the size of each bubble represents a third variable, allowing for multivariate analysis.

✅ When to Use:

• Analyzing the relationship between three variables at once.
• Comparing multiple entities on two axes while showing a third value (e.g., population) as the bubble size.

❌ When Not to Use:

• When precision is critical, as bubble size can be hard to judge accurately.
• For data with many overlapping bubbles.

📍 Geospatial Visuals

These visuals display data in a geographical context. They are perfect for analyzing regional trends or performance.

Filled Map (Choropleth)

A map where regions (like states or countries) are colored with a gradient to represent a value, such as sales performance or population density. Darker colors typically indicate higher values.

✅ When to Use:

• Analyzing how a metric varies across different geographic regions.
• When the relative ranking of areas is the main insight.

❌ When Not to Use:

• When the exact location of a data point is critical.
• When the regions have a similar size, which can create a misleading impression.

Shape Map

A specialized map that uses custom shapes and boundaries to visualize data. This is useful for non-standard regions like sales territories or unique demographic areas.

✅ When to Use:

• Visualizing data on non-standard regions or custom territories.
• For a highly specific geographic analysis that standard maps can't support.

❌ When Not to Use:

• When a standard map is sufficient.
• For data points without a clear custom boundary.

🎯 Single Value & Progress

Sometimes, a single number tells the most important story. These visuals are perfect for highlighting key metrics and tracking progress towards a goal.

Card (Single Number)

Total Revenue

$2.4M

A simple, effective way to display a single, crucial number on a dashboard for at-a-glance monitoring.

✅ When to Use:

• Highlighting a single, crucial KPI or metric.
• For dashboards where at-a-glance information is needed.

❌ When Not to Use:

• When the user needs to see trends or details.
• For comparing many different values.

Gauge Chart

An intuitive chart that shows progress toward a target, similar to a speedometer, making it easy to see performance at a glance.

✅ When to Use:

• Tracking progress against a specific target or KPI.
• To provide an instant visual check of performance.

❌ When Not to Use:

• When there is no target or goal to measure against.
• For displaying more than one metric.

📋 Tabular & Hybrid Visuals

For detailed or multi-dimensional data, a simple chart might not be enough. Tables and Matrices provide structure, while Combo Charts allow for complex, dual-axis analysis in one visual.

Table and Matrix Visuals

A **Table** is a simple grid for raw data. A **Matrix** is a powerful pivot-table-like visual that supports multi-dimensional hierarchies and aggregations, providing a condensed view of complex data.

✅ When to Use:

• Displaying detailed, raw data in a simple, organized way.
• For multi-dimensional analysis with hierarchical data (Matrix).

❌ When Not to Use:

• When the goal is to show a trend or relationship.
• To compare many different values visually.

Combo Chart: The Dual-Axis Power

Combines a column and line chart to compare two measures with different scales in a single, cohesive visual.

✅ When to Use:

• Comparing two measures with different units or scales on one chart.
• To show the correlation between two metrics, such as sales and profit margin.

❌ When Not to Use:

• For simple data sets with a single metric.
• When it is not clear which axis corresponds to which metric.

🚀 Advanced & Custom Visuals

The Power BI visual library can be extended with custom charts from AppSource for specialized data stories, like project management or flow analysis.

Sankey Chart: Visualize Flow

A Sankey chart illustrates the magnitude of flow between different entities. The thickness of the links represents the volume, making it ideal for visualizing customer journeys or supply chain movements.

✅ When to Use:

• Visualizing the flow of data, money, or resources between entities.
• Analyzing a customer journey through different touchpoints.

❌ When Not to Use:

• For simple comparisons or trends.
• When the data does not represent a flow.

Gantt Chart: Manage Projects

Essential for project management, a Gantt chart displays tasks as horizontal bars along a timeline, clearly showing schedules, dependencies, and progress towards milestones.

✅ When to Use:

• Managing and tracking tasks in a project.
• Visualizing timelines, dependencies, and progress of a project.

❌ When Not to Use:

• For non-project or non-time-based data.
• To display simple metrics.