Comments for Support Analytics Blog

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Ross

Ross — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:58:05 +0000

Since you are already using Tableau Public, you could use filters and reference lines so that you can control those pieces you want to analyze. If you only want to compare Twitter and Facebook, the rest is just white noise! A line chart comparing the two and filtering the rest would be easy to make. If you want the whole smash though, Joe Mako’s approach is not bad.

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Tony

Tony — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:04:24 +0000

I agree – these are good. I like that I can see all four graphs on my screen as well as seeing both the percentage from the first and from the previous. Both are good views into the data. What I also like a lot is that even though it’s hard to label the lines, in Tableau you can click on one of the reach methods and it is highlighted in all of the charts. Even further, if I hold down ctrl and hit multiple methods, they are each highlighted.

Maybe a slight improvement would be to abbrev. the labels on the x-axis and decrease the size of the four charts.

Though your version takes up more real estate then the HubSpot one, it turns a very bad chart into insights that mean something valuable. Nice job Joe and thanks again for sharing!

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Tony

Tony — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:50:44 +0000

That’s too funny.

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Jon Peltier

Jon Peltier — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:50:16 +0000

These are good. A series of line charts showing a whole array of quantities.

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Jon Peltier

Jon Peltier — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:48:50 +0000

My system is not perfect. I often sit down to write an article, go to Google to get some info, then find the same article I had written months before.

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Joe Mako

Joe Mako — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:35:33 +0000

Since it is a time series, I would go with a line chart. Something like: http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/Reach/ReachDashboard

(I made up my own data, so there are some interesting stories to be seen. I also used a different structure of my data source, so it is easier to make charts like these in Tableau.)

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Tony

Tony — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:56:32 +0000

WKim, I would love to get a look at your chart? I think I would agree with your approach, but by having the visual, I would be able to confirm or recommend a different visualization. Would you be able to change or remove any proprietary information and send it to me? Thanks for the information and comment!

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Tony

Tony — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:48:36 +0000

Joe, you are absolutely right. I did use a generic 25% increase for each segment for each month because I didn’t have access to the original data. I agree that showing the percent change from month to month is a good idea, but the real question is what style chart do you use? Thanks for the comment!

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Tony

Tony — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:45:59 +0000

Derek, if the primary goal was to show the changes in the total, a single line graph would have been a good choice. I prefer a line over a column when time is on the x-axis. Thank you for your comment!

Comment on Analyzing a Stacked Bar Chart by Tony

Tony — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:42:50 +0000

Jon, I prefer to label the lines themselves. But in this case, the lines at the bottom are too clustered to make this a feasible option.

I need to know your secret for keeping track of these articles. You have a knack for pulling them out at the precise time.

Thanks for the comments!