Our real-life and business affairs revolve around simple and complex data. The data we have means a lot to us to comprehend useful information. However, data visualization poses an integral role in our lives. Business analysts are often steered with challenging situations where we have to make sense of specific features with a single visual perception. Comparing the twisty data to fetch the target value is really workable for decision-making. It also indicates if it is good, bad or useless to make a sound decision. Moreover, limitations and validation of the data are all this in a limited space to represent. To solve complex data handling challenges, there are several ways to go. However, one of these ways—Bullet Chart, is all-way-round.
Example
A bullet chart is an ideal case to go for data depiction. For example, in a single bullet chart, you need to depict your revenue return. You can compare it as per your target-based revenue standards and also display whether the crafted revenue is good or bad, depending on predefined parameters. It sounds difficult to represent in a simple way, but a bullet chart is good to go.
To discuss the matter of the bullet chart in-depth, we unfold the scrolls of the secrets.
What is Bullet Chart?
A bullet chart is one of the smartly used graphs for data depiction. It is also known as a bullet graph. It is one of the highly appraisable bar graphs that seems to resemble progressive bars and other horizontal lines or bar charts.
Historical Background of Bullet Chart
Stephen Few invented the bullet chart or diagram to substitute the conventional dashboard meters and gauges. This chart with bullet representation can take up more elaborative information in contrast with the previously mentioned example without compromising the context of the data with less chart junk. It is also a great method for space savers since you can adjust all information within a single bar space.
When Should You use Bullet Chart?
The primary use of the bullet chart is to present the spread of data by highlighting miscellaneous schemes of a single color. This chart is very useful in manipulating the variation of a single target data value which is effective for data reports. With that fact being said, it is factual to render this type of chart for data depiction since it doesn’t get to be weighed to gauge any complicated data elements and shapes. There are also several representation templates that you can sketch with online tools to enforce a very accessible chart.
What Does a Bullet Chart Look Like?
Bullet graphs decipher a singular variable just like a bar does. It looks to a great extent like a bar graph. Thanks to its templates, just one bar gets taken to represent. However, a bullet chart incorporates additional features with some extra context that makes it resilient to show the right data translation. Most bullet graphs also seem to be showing a target line and, in the background schematic with some shaded gradual fluctuating levels. Typically bullet charts are up within dashboards because they host a lot of information into a small limitation of space. The dashboard possesses many graphs in a single unit and lots of data depiction but make sense of the bullet charts in the middle and on the right part to go.
What is the Purpose of a Bullet Chart?
Bullet charts are purposefully applicable and ideally useful for any business dashboard with respect to data visualization. One of the focal applications of the bullet chart over the other types of the chart is that it doesn’t cover up much space within the dashboard as it is very optimal and compact for data visualization, apart from the fact that line and gauge charts surpass wider space. Such charts can also be misleading, especially if they hold up key points or values exempted from the applications because of space limitations. At the same time, there might be some argumentative discussion about the line and gauge charts being unreliable. There is the general settlement the charts validate across a valuable chunk of space. Bullet charts have been developed for people who want to assess the lure of all information and insight in one dataset without needing to flip between pages and compare different data valuableness. A bullet chart possesses the necessary information while sustaining flexibility and visual space-saving to room for more data representation cases.
Secretive Effectiveness of Bullet Chart
The bullet chart has been considered a secretive tool for effective and efficient financial and data analysis. Bullet charts can be utilized as an effective substitute for dashboard gauge graphs and are ideally compatible for a range of applications in dashboards visualizing KPI (Key Performance Indicators). Nonetheless, bullet charts in excel compare actual results to forecasts. Bullet charts are presently taken as being one of the most effective graph classes in the business world. The template and recent use of the bullet chart or bullet graph seek to do away with the traditional chart or graph visual peak, which can make analysis bound to accomplish the data file. This comparatively new chart kind is assessed as an advanced category of the traditional chart system. Such a view offers new and entrant data analysts increased freedom and ease of use without disrupting the extraneous data visualization.
Primary Components of Bullet Chart
A bullet chart is an assortment of bar graphs that has fundamentally evolved from the traditional thermometer charts and progression bars that come to be observed in many dashboards. The bullet chart was developed by Stephen Few and got used as an alternative for various dashboard gauges and meters. The primary purpose behind the evolution of these bullet charts was to handle the fundamental issues found in gauges and meters. The problem was that they tended to view too concise information and required much data space. With that, they are also curtailed with useless and distracting assortments.
Now let us talk about some of the primary components of the bullet chart. There are five essential parts of a bullet chart discussed below.
- Performance Measure
One of the primary components of a bullet chart is a performance measure. It is the actual value of the data or joint metrics. This is a fundamental component with textual details that reveals what your chart goes depicts the data about.
- Comparative Measures:
The second component of data representation is the one or two comparative or based measures in bullet charts. They get used to comparing the real-time performance of the metrics against a given data value with the target root.
The comparative measure is generally used to showcase a straight horizontal line which is put at the target data value. It figures out if you have reached the target data if the bullet chart is set up with or passed it.
- Featured Measure
The featured measure is the third important component of a bullet chart that helps visualize the data. This is, in fact, a line or bar that passes within the Qualitative range of the data values. It gets used to determine the current key performance of the subjected dataset. It ensures the data flow and fluctuations.
- Qualitative Scale
Data representation in the chart goes along two main axis—Y-axis and X-axis. Each of the subject axes defines the best use case of data. The qualitative Scale is one of the fugitive components of the bullet charts. The component is the lied along the linear X-axis that is used for measuring the data value of the metrics. That is where your data reserves a specific position on the chart.
- Quantitative Scale
Finally and importantly, the bullet chart comes to completion with the Qualitative Scale. It is used to measure the data metric with the nature of the position. You can figure out the nature of the data metric, whether it can be bad, good, or null to display a data value.
Be it noted that this primary component of the bullet chart had been added to represent the actual value of the whole chart. This is the real presence of the dataset that trails to the qualitative Scale. While adding this bar, it is essential to keep in mind that you give it a recognizable color that should also make it more prominent, taking up less space. This is typically presented as a black bar in the chart area.
Conclusive Thoughts
Bullet chart has a vast array of usages and applications. As you can see, bullet charts have a great variety of simpler and shorter data visualization with the complex dataset. It has much more to offer than a common gauge or thermometer. So, if you don’t know what other charts can do for you, a bullet chart is viable to host complex data with a fewer range of space. This is so why a bullet chart is better than using gauges and meters. Then assuming this “Bullet chart-A comprehensive, in-depth guide,” it must have helped you understand all about it. Therefore, reading this guide will surely help you visualize the huge compact of data. So, don’t forget to keep learning a safe, authentic and relentless learning and knowledge from us.