A bullet chart that includes four orientations and a few customization options. Use to feature a single measure against a qualitative range.
Bullet chart serves as a replacement for dashboard gauges and meters. Bullet charts were developed to overcome the fundamental issues of gauges and meters.
The bullet chart features a single, primary measure (for example, current year-to-date revenue), compares that measure to one or more other measures to enrich its meaning (for example, compared to a target), and displays it in the context of qualitative ranges of performance, such as poor, satisfactory, and good. The qualitative ranges are displayed as varying intensities of a single hue to make them discernible by those who are color blind and to restrict the use of colors on the dashboard to a minimum.
Bullet charts may be horizontal or vertical, and may be stacked to allow comparisons of several measures at once.
The Bullet chart consists of 5 primary components:
- Text label: Your chart caption which defines what your chart is about and the unit of measurement.
- Quantitative Scale: Measures the value of your metric on a linear axis.
- The Featured Measure: The bar that displays the primary performance measure (eg: Revenue YTD).
- Comparative Measure: The measure against which you want to compare your featured measure (eg: Target revenue).
- Qualitative Scale: The background fill that encodes qualitative ranges like bad, satisfactory, and good.