The Smart Alternative to the Pie Chart

The Smart Alternative to the Pie Chart

The reputation of pie charts has majorly dropped in the past years. Unfortunately, all the coverage by reputable media and books by visualization experts, still haven’t persuaded companies to take it easy with the pie chart.

Asking, is not enough. Convincing, is not enough. Provide them with a good tool, and they might say yes. If you use Excel for reporting, this video is your Toolkit.

What works against pie charts:

  • Difficult to compare slice sizes & values, especially when they are close in size.
  • Can unnecessarily take up the readers time trying to match each slice with the correct category.
  • Can become messy.
  • Can be easily manipulated to give false impressions (Yes. Even Steve Jobs did it – fast forward to minute 8, but people have caught on…)

What works in their favor:

  • Can be created quicker than your boss can blink.
  • It’s a circle. which means it shows the full picture.
  • Require minimal additional explanation.

A compromise has to be made. I find Stephen Few’s suggestion (see video) to be just that!

Click HERE for the full course and to learn more techniques for effective charts.

Note: Alternative to the pie chart is based on - "Show me the Numbers", Stephen Few, Second Edition, Analytics Press

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