How to choose the right chart for data and dashboard

“Which chart should I choose for my dashboard?” Many data analysts ask this when they first start building dashboards. The same data can be shown in many different charts, which can be confusing. In this article, I will show you how to choose the right chart for your data when building a dashboard, and introduce common chart types so you know when to use each one.

How to choose the right chart

In my opinion, to choose the right chart for your dashboard, you need to consider three factors: the chart’s purpose, the audience viewing the dashboard, and the limitations of your dashboard platform. If a chart meets all three, it is the right chart.

Purpose of the chart: Each chart should answer at least one question, such as “How are the company’s profits growing?” A Time series chart fits here because it shows profit growth over time.
Audience viewing the dashboard: Several charts may serve the same purpose. Choose the one your audience can understand right away. For example, for “What is the age distribution of customers?”, a Boxplot chart is correct, but it is hard to read for people without a statistics background. A Bar or Histogram chart will be much easier for them to understand.
Limitations of the dashboard platform: This is an obstacle that dashboard builders can hardly avoid. You may know the perfect chart to answer a question, but your company’s dashboard platform doesn’t support it. For example, Tableau Desktop has no built-in Sankey chart, so you have to follow dozens of steps from expert tutorials to build one.

Types of charts on a dashboard

There are a huge number of charts in data analysis and data science. Here I only list the charts commonly found on dashboards and supported by dashboard platforms, and explain what each one is for, so you can choose the right one for your data.

Scorecard chart

Choose a Scorecard chart to give an easy-to-understand overview of a metric or project’s performance and progress against its goals.

Use cases: Total revenue, number of orders, and ad spend for the reporting period.
Where to place it: The top of a dashboard.

Scorecard showing KPI metrics — Scorecards work well for overall KPI totals at the top of a dashboard

Gauge chart

Choose a Gauge chart to represent the progress of a KPI and compare it with the target at the most general level.

Use cases: Monthly sales KPI completion, budget utilization rate.
Where to place it: The top of a dashboard.

Gauge chart shaped like a dial showing KPI completion — A Gauge shows how much of the target a metric has reached

Line chart (Time series)

Choose a Line chart to easily spot trends and fluctuations in metrics over time. This chart appears on most dashboards.

Use cases: Daily revenue, weekly website sessions, comparing trends across a few channels.
Where to place it: The top and middle of a dashboard.
Variation: Area.

Line chart showing a metric over time — A Line chart shows the ups and downs over time

Area chart

Choose an Area chart to show how a metric changes over time like a Line chart, while still giving a sense of volume like a Bar chart. Like stacked bars, Area charts can also be stacked on top of each other.

Bar chart

Choose a Bar chart to compare data across categories. If you use time as the X-axis, a Bar chart can also show how a metric changes over time.

Use cases: Revenue by product, orders by branch, orders by month.
Where to place it: The middle of a dashboard.
Variations: Countplot, Horizontal bar, Stacked bar.

Bar chart comparing values across categories — A Bar chart works for both categories and points in time

Pie chart (Doughnut)

Choose a Pie chart (Doughnut) to show each part as a percentage of the whole, so viewers can easily see how the data is distributed. However, a Pie chart becomes confusing and ineffective when there are too many parts or when the parts are very close in size.

Use cases: Revenue share by channel, new vs. returning customers (ideally fewer than 5 groups).
Where to place it: The middle and bottom of a dashboard.

Doughnut chart splitting shares by group — Pie/Doughnut charts are easiest to read when there are only a few groups

Map chart

Choose a Map chart to help users understand the relationship between data and geography, supporting decisions and planning in many fields.

Use cases: Revenue by province, deliveries by region.
Where to place it: The top and middle of a dashboard.
Variations: Bubble map, Filled map, Heat map, Line map, Connection map, Combo map, Geo chart.

Map chart showing data by region — A Map chart suits data tied to geographic locations

Scatter chart

Choose a Scatter chart to analyze relationships between variables in your data. It shows how strongly the variables are correlated and helps you spot relationships and trends. Each point on the chart represents a pair of values of two variables.

Use cases: Ad spend vs. revenue, price vs. units sold.
Where to place it: The middle of a dashboard.
Variation: Bubble.

Scatter chart with points spread across two axes — A Scatter chart lets you quickly see whether two variables are correlated

Bubble chart

Choose a Bubble chart to show complex relationships between three or more variables. It gives a comprehensive view of relationships and trends in the data and makes it easy to group and compare data points visually.

Use cases: Cost, revenue, and number of orders for each campaign on the same chart.
Where to place it: The middle of a dashboard.

Bubble chart where bubble size represents a third variable — A Bubble chart adds a third variable through bubble size

Bullet chart

Choose a Bullet chart to compare the performance or progress of certain indicators with set goals, helping users quickly recognize progress and evaluate the situation.

Use cases: Actual sales vs. target for each salesperson.
Where to place it: The top and middle of a dashboard.

Bullet chart with an actual value bar and a target marker — A Bullet chart compares the actual value with the target on a single bar

Treemap chart

Choose a Treemap chart to show hierarchical data as rectangles. The large rectangle represents the whole data set and is divided into smaller rectangles that represent its parts. The size of each rectangle usually reflects a value such as sales, profit, or volume, and color is often used to show another variable.

Use cases: Revenue by product category, then broken down by individual product.
Where to place it: The top and middle of a dashboard.

Treemap chart with nested rectangles by category level — A Treemap shows the share of parent and child categories

Sankey chart

Choose a Sankey chart to visualize how things flow from a source to a destination. It gives a visual overview of how a system distributes and transforms its inputs.

Use cases: User flow from traffic source to the checkout page, budget split across departments.
Where to place it: The middle and bottom of a dashboard.

Sankey chart with flows between steps — A Sankey chart shows how much flows from one step to the next

Waterfall chart

Choose a Waterfall chart to track how individual changes add up to the overall change in a metric from start to finish, so viewers can easily see the key factors behind the final result.

Use cases: Starting from revenue and subtracting each cost item to arrive at profit.
Where to place it: The top and middle of a dashboard.

Waterfall chart with rising and falling bars in sequence — A Waterfall chart breaks out each addition and subtraction behind the final number

Timeline chart

Choose a Timeline chart to present information in chronological order. This helps viewers easily see important milestones and understand the overall progress of an event or project. It provides a visual and easy-to-understand view of how events or phases develop.

Use cases: Product launch milestones, a project roadmap.
Where to place it: The top of a dashboard.

Timeline chart marking event milestones — A Timeline arranges milestones in chronological order

Boxplot chart

Choose a Boxplot chart to visualize the distribution and spread of your data. It helps you identify key characteristics and detect outliers in the data set. A boxplot shows the distribution based on summary values such as the median, quartiles, minimum, and maximum.

Use cases: Comparing the distribution of order values across regions, finding unusual orders.
Where to place it: The middle and bottom of a dashboard.

Boxplot with quartile boxes and outlier points — A Boxplot summarizes the distribution and the outliers

Candlestick chart

Choose a Candlestick chart for technical analysis of financial assets such as stocks. It gives detailed, intuitive information about price movements and market sentiment.

Use cases: Daily price movements of stocks, exchange rates, or commodities.
Where to place it: The top and middle of a dashboard.

Candlestick chart with open, close, high, and low price candles — Each candle shows the open, close, highest, and lowest price

Histogram chart

Choose a Histogram chart to show the distribution of continuous data with vertical bars. Each bar represents a range of values (a bin), and its height shows how many observations fall into that range.

Use cases: Customer age distribution, delivery time distribution.
Where to place it: The middle and bottom of a dashboard.

Histogram dividing data into value ranges — A Histogram counts how many values fall into each range

Heatmap chart

Choose a Heatmap chart to show data in a table or matrix as colored cells, where the color of each cell reflects its value. Heatmaps help you explore relationships, distributions, and patterns within a data set.

Use cases: Orders by hour of day and day of week, a correlation matrix between variables.
Where to place it: The middle and bottom of a dashboard.

Heatmap using darker and lighter colors by value — A Heatmap uses darker colors to make high-value cells stand out

Gantt chart

Choose a Gantt chart to show a project schedule and its tasks. It helps managers and teams understand the timing of each activity and how activities depend on each other, so they can adjust the plan when needed and keep the project on schedule.

Use cases: Progress of tasks in a project, an event planning schedule.
Where to place it: The top and middle of a dashboard.

Gantt chart with task bars along a timeline — A Gantt chart shows when each task starts and ends

Table (Pivot table)

Choose a Table (Pivot table) to summarize, analyze, and compare data across many dimensions. You can also use a pivot table to see data distribution by creating a percentage pivot table.

Use cases: Viewing detailed figures across several dimensions, or placing it under a chart so viewers can look up exact numbers.
Where to place it: The middle and bottom of a dashboard.

Pivot table breaking down figures by several dimensions — Use a Pivot table to see detailed figures for each dimension

Conclusion

In my experience, most dashboards only need a Scorecard, a Line chart, a Bar chart, and a Table to answer nearly every question. Use the other charts only when you really need them, because the longer viewers have to think, the less often they come back to the dashboard. If you have questions about any chart, feel free to leave a comment below and chat with me.

How to choose the right chart for data and dashboard

How to choose the right chart