Choose your chart
Serverless Stack
Use this guide to pick the most effective visualization.
I want to visualize trend in time
| My data | My goal | Best choice | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| I have one data series | I want to track time-based changes to quickly spot issues rather than perform detailed analysis. | Line chart, Bar chart | Ideal for spotting small changes day‑to‑day changes (or across any time period). |
| I want to show overall intensity | Heatmap | Great for quickly assessing periods of high vs. low activity. | |
| I have more data series | I want to show differences among data series | Line chart, Grouped Bar chart, Heatmap | Keeping lines close or bars grouped enables quick, across-series comparison. |
| I want to show the sum of the data series | Stacked Bar chart, Area chart | Ideal for aggregating values into a single total to see overall behavior. |
I have one or more values to display
| My data | My goal | Best choice | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| I have one value | I want to display a single value | Metric chart, Bullet | Ideal for showing a single value, for example a KPI. To compare against targets, consider a Gauge in bullet style. |
| I have more values | I want to display the sum of the values as part of something | Bar chart | Great for fast comparison and clear ranking across series |
| I want to show their cumulative value | Treemap chart, Pie chart, Single Stacked bar chart | Also called “part‑to‑whole” charts, they show how an item compares to, and contributes to, the whole. |
| Chart type | Use when you want to... |
|---|---|
| Line chart | Show how a metric changes over time or another continuous dimension. |
| Area chart | Show change over time while emphasizing cumulative magnitude or part-to-whole stacking. |
| Bar chart | Compare values across discrete categories or show distributions with histogram buckets. |
| Metric chart | Highlight a single KPI or a small set of critical numbers. |
| Table chart | Present precise values, rankings, or multi-metric details in a compact layout. |
| Pie chart | Show simple part-to-whole composition with a small number of categories (generally ≤ 5). |
| Treemap chart | Visualize hierarchical part-to-whole across categories and subcategories. |
| Mosaic chart | Compare part-to-whole across two categorical dimensions in a tiled layout. |
| Gauge chart | Show progress toward a target or status against thresholds for a single metric. |
| Heat map chart | Reveal patterns by magnitude across two binned dimensions using color. |
| Region chart | Show geospatial patterns by coloring regions based on aggregated values (choropleth). |
| Waffle chart | Show part-to-whole as a grid of equal cells where filled cells represent proportion. |
| Tag cloud chart | Emphasize the most frequent terms; font size reflects relative magnitude. |
| Legacy metric chart | Maintain existing legacy panels; prefer the modern Metric chart for new visuals. |
- Keep composition simple
- Prefer Donut/Pie only with a few categories; otherwise use Treemap, Waffle, or Bar.
- Customize the appearance
- Adjust the appearance options as suggested in Customize the visualization display
- Be thoughtful with color
- Use consistent, meaningful color mapping for categories. Check Assign colors to terms.
- Mind accessibility
- Ensure contrast and avoid relying on color alone to convey meaning.
- Show uncertainty and gaps appropriately
- For time series, choose how to handle missing values. See options in Visualization appearance.
- Choose the right level of precision
- Use Tables for exact values; use charts to reveal patterns and trends at a glance.
Create and refine a visualization: Create visualizations.