Chart Types: Stacked Bars, Grouped Bars, Line, Stacked Area, Spider.

Charts visually represent your data, making it easier to understand, analyse, and communicate.

They condense large amounts of complex information into an easily digestible format, allowing you to:

quickly identify trends,
compare different data sets, and
see relationships between data points.

This helps in making more informed decisions and presenting information more effectively than a simple table of numbers alone.

There are 5 chart types you can choose from in AV2 for your choice, matrix, rank, and constant sum questions. Simply click the chart type (4-squares) icon above your chart to the right to switch between...

1: Stacked Bars

Default for Matrix & Rank questions.

Because bars are stacked on top of each other, it's easier to visually sum them together. Great for when Choices are in the table Columns and Values is set to Row %

Example 1:

If numbers add to 100% in your chart, it's Matrix single choice.
If numbers sum to over 100% in chart, it's Matrix multiple choice.

Example 2:

Top-3-Box for Domestic Road Trips (Freq. + Occ. + Once) visually sums to ~80%
whereas Cruises (Domestic / Pacific Islands) T3B stacks to <40%.

All of these sums are easier to do with Stacked Bars.

2: Grouped Bars

Default for Choice questions

Because bars are grouped next to each other, it's easier to visually see differences and compare data side by side. Perfect for when your Filters are in the table Columns and Values is set to Column %

Example: For the choice: "Somewhat satisfied" with their checkout experience.

Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X had the tallest bars at ~55%
vs. Baby Boomers with the shortest bar at 41%.
- although only Millennials is statistically higher due to its stronger sample size, but that's a separate topic covered here in Help Scout: Significance Testing.

This visual difference is clearer with Grouped Bar charts.

3: Line

Great for showing continuous data over time, making it easy to identify trends, track changes, and forecast future outcomes. They are ideal for visualizing how a metric changes over a period,

Best used when time filters are in the table rows (e.g. W10, W11, W12) while your choices or metrics are in the table columns.

4: Stacked Area

Stacked Area charts both visually sum data and make it easy to track changes over time.

Think of it as a hybrid between Stacked Bar and Line charts and a great alternative for either!

5: Spider

1 in 100 charts will look like this but it can be very effective when wielded well.

The fewer the variables, the better for Spider charts so we've taken the example above and...

merged "Freq. + Occ. + Once" into "Have done",
merged "0 but would like to + 0 and would not do" into "Have not done" and
excluded "I am not sure"

Happy charting! 🎉