#SPARKLINE CHARTS EXCEL HOW TO#
#SPARKLINE CHARTS EXCEL FULL#

That means a metric that is varying +/-50% from the average value can have a sparkline that looks almost identical to one that is varying +/-2%.

#SPARKLINE CHARTS EXCEL FULL#

How much is the metric really varying over time?В The full vertical range of a sparkline tends to be from the smallest number to the largest number in the included data.

What is the granularity of the data? In other words, is each point on the sparkline a day? A week? A month?.

But, it can be unclear as to whether the sparkline is the variation of the metric within the report period (the last two weeks, for instance) or, rather, if it shows a much longer period so that the user has greater historical context.

What is the timeframe covered by the sparkline? Generally, a dashboard will cover a set time period that is displayed elsewhere on the dashboard.

In different situations, the lack of the following aspects of вЂњcontextвЂќ can be pretty limiting: Wow! Sparklines ROCK!Д«ut, stillвЂ¦sparklines are easy to criticize. He believes (rightly), that dashboards need to fit on a single screen (for cognitive processing realities that are beyond the scope of this post), and sparklines are a great way to provide additional context about a metric in a very economical space. When Few designs (or critiques) a dashboard, he is a fan of sparklines. Their whole purpose is to provide a quick sense of historical context to enrich the meaning of the measure.

Sparklines are not meant to provide the quantitative precision of a normal line graph. In FewвЂ™s words (from his book, Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data): ItвЂ™s a brilliant concept, and IвЂ™m closing in on five years since I dedicated an entire blog post to it.ДЄnother Tufte-inspired technique that Few is a big fan of is the вЂњsparkline.вЂќ Simply put, a sparkline is a chart that is nothing but the line of data:

TufteвЂ™s вЂњdata-ink ratio.вЂќ The concept is pretty simple: devote as much of the non-white space to actually representing data and as little as possible to decoration and structure. One of those principles is вЂњmaximize the data-pixel ratio,вЂќ which is a derivation of Edward R. When developing dashboards, reports, and analysis results, itвЂ™s not uncommon at all for me to consciously consider some Few-oriented data visualization principles. IвЂ™m a fan of Stephen Few pretty much, always have been, and, pretty much, always will be. This will highlight all the highest profits.Originally written by Analytics Demystified on January 1, 2013 To do that, select a sparkline and go to the вЂњSparklineвЂќ ribbon and select вЂњHigh Point.вЂќ Now, the manager wants to highlight the highest profits for each salesman. Voila, you have successfully created sparklines in excel. Now, drag your fill handle down to create sparklines for the other profit trends as well. Now, select the cell you created the trendline in and move your cursor to the bottom right corner of the cell to bring out the fill handle.

Select the data range for the sparkline and click ok. You will need to select the data range for which you want to create the sparkline. Then go to the вЂњInsertвЂќ Ribbon and select your preferred sparkline.ДЄ dialogue box will appear. Creating a Sparkline in ExcelДЇirst, select the cell you want to create the sparkline in. Now, letвЂ™s look at the functionalities that come with creating a sparkline in excel. This is one of the limitations compared to general graphs or charts. Note: There are only three types of sparklines. However, functionalities related to a sparkline are not as versatile as a graph or chart in excel. It is a great tool to make data visually appealing and they help to identify patterns in a more limited setting. Sparklines are created to show variations in data or trends.

Sparklines are essentially graphs or charts, smaller in size, that are created inside a cell.

#SPARKLINE CHARTS EXCEL HOW TO#

So, without any further ado, letвЂ™s look at how to create a sparkline in Excel. The manager can create a sparkline for each of the salesmen and make the figures look visually appealing and more understandable. There are 10 salesmen, so creating individual charts or graphs is also not feasible.ДЇear not, Excel is here to the rescue. But only displaying numbers is not visually appealing. The agenda of the meeting is to review the performance. He has made a chart for the past 5 years to review profits generated by the salesmen. The manager is sitting with the 10 salesmen he manages.

Sparkline charts excel