Creating mekko charts

The mekko chart is suitable for comparing groups, while being able to compare category items contained within these groups. Mekko charts are also known as mosaic plots, Marimekko charts, and Mondrian diagrams. The dimension axis shows the groups, while the measure axis shows the normalized percentage value for each category item. The size of each group shows its value.

You can create a simple mekko chart on the sheet you are editing.

Do the following:

1. From the assets panel, drag an empty mekko chart to the sheet.
2. Click Add dimension and select a dimension or a field. This dimension defines the grouping.
3. Add a second dimension in the order of hierarchy level. The second dimension you add defines the categories.
4. Click Add measure and select a measure or create a measure from a field.

In a mekko chart you need two dimensions and one measure.

Each bar corresponds to the first dimension, divided into smaller categories based on the second dimension. The values of the measures determine the relevant height of the categories inside each bar, as well as the size of the bars.

When you have created the mekko chart, you might want to adjust its appearance and other settings in the advanced edit mode. For information about styling, see Styling the mekko chart. For information about customizing other aspects of the chart's appearance, see Changing the appearance of a visualization.

Styling the mekko chart

With Advanced options turned on, you have a number of styling options available under Appearance in the properties panel.

Click Styling under Appearance > Presentation to further customize the styling of the chart. The styling panel contains various sections under the General and Chart tabs.

You can reset your styles by clicking next to each section. Clicking Reset all resets styles for all available tabs in the styling panel.

For general information about styling an individual visualization, see Applying custom styling to a visualization.

Customizing the text

You can set the text for the title, subtitle, and footnote under Appearance > General. To hide these elements, turn off Show titles.

The visibility of the different labels on the chart depends on chart-specific settings and label display options. These can be configured in the properties panel.

You can style the text that appears in the chart.

Do the following:

1. Click Advanced options.

2. In the properties panel, expand the Appearance section.

3. Under Appearance > Presentation, click Styling.

4. On the General tab, set the font, emphasis style, font size, and color for the following text elements:

   • Title

   • Subtitle

   • Footnote

5. On the Chart tab, set the font, font size, and color for the following text elements:

   • Axis label: Style the labels on the axes.

   • Value label: Style the labels for the dimension and measure values, including the percentage contributed by each value towards the total of the grouping above it in the hierarchy.

   • Legend title: Style the title of the legend.

   • Legend labels: Style the labels of the individual legend items.

Customizing the background

You can customize the background of the chart. The background can be set by color and image.

Do the following:

1. Click Advanced options.

2. In the properties panel, expand the Appearance section.

3. Under Appearance > Presentation, click Styling.

4. On the General tab of the styling panel, you can select a background color (single color or expression). You can also set the background to an image from your media library or from a URL.

   Information note

   To add a background image from a URL, the URL's origin needs to be added to the allowlist in your tenant's Content Security Policy. The origin must be added with the following Directive: img-src. This is done by a tenant administrator.

   For more information, see Creating a CSP entry.

   When using a background color, use the slider to adjust the opacity of the background.

   When using a background image, you can adjust image sizing and position.

Customizing the border and shadow

You can customize the border and shadow of the chart.

Do the following:

1. Click Advanced options.

2. In the properties panel, expand the Appearance section.

3. Under Appearance > Presentation, click Styling.

4. On the General tab of the styling panel, under Border, adjust the Outline size to increase or decrease the border lines around the chart.

5. Select a color for the border.

6. Adjust the Corner radius to control the roundness of the border.

7. Under Shadow in the General tab, select a shadow size and color. Select None to remove the shadow.