Bullet Chart
A bullet graph is used to compare two measures in a single bar. It is best used to compare the progress of one primary measure against a set standard (secondary measure). The bar represents the primary measure, and the reference line across each bar represents the secondary measure. Also, the measure’s progress against the goal measure is shown in different percentages of goal completion.
It is more powerful and advanced in comparison with a bar chart. While a bar graph can provide many insights, it doesn’t allow for easy comparison against a specific threshold. A bullet chart particularly useful for this purpose. For example, it allows us to compare actual sales against a targeted sales goal, actual humidity against the average humidity for the month, or the number of persons convicted for crimes against those arrested, and much more.
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Examples
Example 1:
Let us look at a data set that provides details of a sales store’s profits and target profits. It has a category column containing values like biscuits, clothing, vegetables, fruits, etc. Our goal here is to find out which categories have exceeded their target values. To achieve this, we can use a bullet chart to compare profit and target profit values effectively.
Figure 2 shows green bars for profit and black horizontal lines for the target profit, which is our goal. We can easily identify that Bread, Chocolates, Cutlery, Kitchen Appliances, Medicines, and Shoes (Men) have not met the expected profit target. Furthermore, we have two milestone lines to identify 60% and 80% goal completion. For example, we can see that the Medicine category has not even crossed the 60% milestone towards the goal.
This bullet graph gives the business a quick and clear idea of where improvement is needed and which areas need more investigation and strategy changes.
Example 2
Let us look at another data set that provides details about property stolen and recovered across different Indian states for various crime groups, such as burglary, criminal breach of trust, dacoity, robbery, and theft. Our goal is to ensure that at least 25% of the stolen property is recovered. To compare the two measures – the Value of Property Stolen and the Value of Property Recovered – a bullet chart can help us visualize these differences effectively. Additionally, we can use the Group Name dimension to differentiate comparisons for each type of crime
We have added the feature of coloring the bars based on our goals in this example.
Looking at Figure 3, we can see that the bullet chart displays the sum of the Value of Property Recovered as a bar, with a horizontal blue line across it representing the sum of the Value of Property Stolen. Here, the bar indicates the actual recovered value, while the horizontal line represents the goal. In this example, ideally, all stolen property should be recovered. We’ve also included three milestone lines to mark 25%, 50%, and 75% goal completion, shown in shades of grey.
Our goal is that at least 25% of the stolen property should be recovered. Hence, we will highlight bars in red that have not met the goal and bars in green that have met the goal.
We can see that four groups have met the goal while three have not. The total recovery is a little short of reaching the 25% goal completion milestone.
Thus, we can see how powerful a bullet graph can be in revealing comparisons and helping businesses identify areas where they need more investigation, analyze different categories or analyze the performance against the goal.
These insightful visualizations were done in Tableau. Find out more about Tableau in this article.
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