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Choosing the right visualization

Visualizations let you present data so that your apps users can interpret and explore it. For example, a bar chart that compares sales numbers for different regions, or a table with precise values for the same data. Good visualizations help you quickly and accurately interpret displayed data.

Visualizations are easy to add and customize. They can take the form of charts, such as bar charts, pie charts,, tables, gauges, or treemaps. Each chart type has unique functionality. Qlik Cloud Analytics automatically highlights items associated with your selections so you can drill-down and filter.

Select visualization types that align with your purpose

Each visualization type has a specific goal. You need to think about the purpose of your visualization, and pick a visualization type that lets you explore your data for that purpose effectively.

For example: You want to show how a measure, quarterly sales, behaves over time. You should create a line chart, because one of its strengths is displaying how measure values change over time. Alternatively, you can start with the type of analysis you want to make. From the available analyses, you could select trend over time as your analysis type, which builds a line chart for you.

For more information, see:

Which visualizations are available?

There are two basic types of visualizations available in the assets panel.

  • Charts illustrate the data with visual elements like bars, lines, or points.
  • Text-based visualizations presents data in text form, for example, tables or filters.

There are analyses available in the assets panel.

There are dashboard objects available in the assets panel.

The best choice of chart or analysis type depends on the purpose of the visualization.

For more information, see Best practices for choosing visualization types.

If the predefined visualizations does not fill your purpose, you can use a visualization extension. You find them in the assets panel under Extension.

Charts
Chart Icon (Standard) Icon (Advanced) Description
Autochart - The autochart attempts to pick the best visualization for your selected data.
Bar chart, vertical grouped Vertical bar chart The vertical grouped bar chart groups one dimension by another dimension, such as City by Region, with vertical bars.
Bar chart, horizontal grouped Vertical bar chart The horizontal grouped bar chart groups one dimension by another dimension, such as City by Region, with horizontal bars.
Bar chart, vertical stacked Vertical bar chart The vertical stacked bar chart stacks one dimension by another dimension vertically.
Bar chart, horizontal stacked Vertical bar chart The horizontal stacked bar chart displays one dimension stacked by another dimension horizontally in bars.
Box plot Box plot Box plot The box plot is suitable for comparing range and distribution for groups of numerical data, illustrated by a box with whiskers, and a center line in the middle.
Bullet chart Bullet chart Bullet chart Bullet charts can be used to visualize and compare performance of a measure to a target value and to a qualitative scale, such as poor, average, and good.
Combo chart, vertical Vertical combo chart Combo chart The combo chart combines bars and lines in the same chart. The bars and lines have different axes to enable comparing percentages and sums.
Combo chart, horizontal Horizontal combo chart Combo chart The combo chart combines bars and lines in the same chart. The bars and lines have different axes to enable comparing percentages and sums.
Distribution plot Distribution chart Distribution chart The distribution plot is suitable for comparing range and distribution for groups of numerical data. Data is plotted as value points along an axis.
Donut chart Donut chart Pie chart The donut chart displays the relation between values and the relation of a single value to the total.
Gauge Gauge chart Gauge chart The gauge is used to display the value of a single measure, lacking dimensions.
Histogram Histogram Histogram The histogram is suitable for visualizing distribution of numerical data over a continuous interval, or a certain time period. The data is divided into bins.
Line chart Line chart Line chart The line chart displays data lines between values. Line charts are often used to visualize a trend in data over intervals of time.
Line chart, area Line chart Line chart The area line chart displays trends over time, with filled in areas beneath lines.
Map Map Map The map is used to combine geospatial data and measure values, such as the sales for a region or a store.
Mekko chart The mekko chart compares a group while comparing category items contained within these groups.
Pie chart Pie chart Pie chart The pie chart shows the relation between a single dimension and a single measure.
Scatter plot Scatter chart Scatter chart The scatter plot presents values from two measures. This is useful when you want to show data where each instance has two numbers, for example, country (population and population growth). An optional third measure can be used and is then reflected in the size of the bubbles. When showing large data sets colors will be used instead of bubble size to represent the measure size.
Treemap Treemap Treemap The treemap shows hierarchical data. A treemap can show a large number of values simultaneously within a limited space.
Waterfall chart Waterfall Waterfall The waterfall chart illustrates how an initial value is affected by intermediate positive and negative values.
Visualization bundle - - The Visualization bundle is a set of charts that can be used to enhance and increase your Qlik Sense app's charting capacity.
Text-based visualizations
Chart Icon (standard) Icon (advanced) Description
Filter pane Filter container Filter container The filter pane allows you to control what data that is shown in the visualizations on a sheet. A filter pane can filter the data of several dimensions at once.
KPI KPI KPI The KPI is used to present central performance figures. You can add a link to a sheet.
NL insights NL Insights NL Insights The NL insights visualization displays natural language insights about data in the form of a chart.
Pivot table Pivot table Pivot table The pivot table presents dimensions and measures as rows and columns of a table. The pivot table allows you to analyze data in multiple dimensions at a time. The data in a pivot table may be grouped based on a combination of the dimensions, and partial sums can be shown.
Table Table Table The table displays values in record form, so that each row of the table contains fields calculated using measures. Typically, a table includes one dimension and multiple measures.
Text & image - Text You can use the text & image visualization to add text, images, measures and links to a webpage. (Advanced edit mode only)
Analyses
Analysis type Icon Description
Anomaly (spike) Anomaly (spike) Detect and show large data variations including spikes and dips in a time series.
Anomaly (trend) Anomaly (trend) Detect and show abrupt data variations including change points between time series segments.
Breakdown Breakdown Show multiple dimensions in order of contribution.
Breakdown (geospatial) Breakdown (geospatial) Show geographical contributions to a measure
Calculated measure (KPI) Calculated measure (KPI) Show a calculated measure.
Clustering (k-means) Clustering (k-means) Show clusters of measures associated with a dimension using a statistical algorithm.
Comparison Comparison Show multiple measures for a dimension.
Correlation Correlation Show the strength of the relationship between two fields.
Mutual information Mutual information Detect and show dependencies between the source and driver fields.
Overview Overview Show the distribution of measures for one or more dimensions.
Process control (mean) Process control (mean) Show measures over a time period compared with the overall mean of expected values.
Process control (rolling mean) Process control (rolling mean) Show the performance of a measure over time between two calculated control limits.
Ranking Ranking Show dimensions in the order of their contribution to a measure.
Ranking (grouped) Ranking (grouped) Show hierarchical dimensions in order of their contribution to a measure.
Relative importance Relative importance Show the relative importance of dimensions contributing to a total.
Time series decomposition Time series decomposition Decompose a time series into trend, seasonal, and residual components.
Trend over time Trend over time Show the performance of a measure over time, optionally broken down by a dimension.
Trend with forecast Trend with forecast Show measures along with forecast over the current and future time periods.
Year to date Year to date Show a comparison of dimensions for the same period in previous years.
Dashboard objects
Object Icon Description
Button Button You can use buttons to add quick links for easy selection and navigation in your app. (Advanced edit mode only)
Container You can add visualizations in a limited space and show or hide the visualizations inside the container based on conditions. (Advanced edit mode only)
Dashboard bundle   A set of controls that you can use to enhance navigation and selection in your Qlik Sense app.

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