Types of Views

Views let you display and organize data in a way that best supports your analysis. You can choose between worksheets or different charts to explore the data from various angles. Views help turn complex data into clear visuals, making it easier to spot trends, patterns, and key insights.

Views are the primary form of visualization. They can be used as standalone components or integrated into Dashboards and Reports. Each type of view supports different use cases depending on the level of detail or interactivity needed.

Use cases for Views

To view structured information

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Worksheet	Organize structured data in rows and columns for comparison and analysis.	Product sales report with product names, quantities sold, and revenue by region.

To compare values

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Vertical Bar Chart	Compare a few categories (2–10).	Sales by product category (e.g., Electronics, Furniture, Clothing).
	Grouped Horizontal Bar Chart	Compare many categories (10+).	Employee performance scores across departments.
	Horizontal Bar Chart	Compare ranked items.	Top 10 most downloaded mobile apps.
	Stacked Bar Chart	Compare multiple series.	Monthly revenue split by product lines.

To show a composition

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Pie Chart	Show a static composition with 2–6 components.	Market share by company in a small industry.
	Doughnut Chart	Show a static composition with 2–6 components.	Budget allocation (e.g., Marketing, HR, R&D, Operations).
	Funnel Chart	Show a sequential breakdown across categories.	Sales conversion rate from leads to closed deals.
	Tree Map	Show a composition with many components.	Sales breakdown by sub-category and product.
	Stacked Bar / Vertical Bar Chart	Show a static composition with few components.	Revenue by department at a given time.
	Stacked Area Chart	Show a dynamic composition over time.	Website traffic by source over the last year.

To show stages in a process

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Funnel Chart	Show a sequential breakdown across categories.	Sales conversion rate from leads to closed deals.

To analyze trends over time

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Line Chart	Show general trends over time.	Stock price movement over the last year.
	Area Chart	Show trends with emphasis on volume.	Monthly expenses for different departments.
	Step Line Chart	Show trends with step changes.	Utility pricing updates or feature releases.
	Sparkline	Show compact trends inline with data tables.	Weekly revenue trend shown within a table row per product.

To understand distribution

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Scatter Chart	Show data spread and detect outliers.	Relationship between ad spend and sales.

To show relationships between variables

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Scatter Chart	Show the relationship between two variables.	Advertising budget vs. revenue.
	Bubble Chart	Show the relationship between three variables.	Revenue (x), satisfaction (y), customer count (bubble size).

To show hierarchies or networks

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Tree Map	Show hierarchical relationships.	Organization chart of a company.

To show geographical data

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Vector Map	Show regional data using color gradients and details in tooltips.	Sales volume by region, colored from light to dark based on values.
	Google Map	Plot specific geographic points.	Store locations on a map.

To show real-time data

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Gauge	Show live performance values.	Real-time server uptime or system usage.
	KPI	Display current key metrics.	Today's revenue vs. daily target.

To show cumulative changes

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Waterfall Chart	Visualize step-by-step changes in a total.	From gross revenue to net profit through expense deductions.

To analyze financial movements

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	OHLC Chart	Analyze detailed financial data.	Daily stock price chart (Open, High, Low, Close).
	Candlestick Chart	Visualize stock price fluctuations including open, close, high, and low points.	Daily candlestick chart of a stock’s performance.

To compare multidimensional data

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Radar Chart	Compare multiple variables across different categories for two or more items.	Performance review across skill areas (e.g., Communication, Technical, Teamwork).
	Polar Chart	Visualize cyclical or multi-category data on a circular scale.	Customer satisfaction across service dimensions.

To compare ranges and performance

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Range Bar	Compare high and low values for each category.	Temperature ranges by city.
	Bullet Chart	Compare a single measure against a target or range.	Actual sales vs. target per salesperson.

To visualize text data

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Word Cloud	Highlight the most frequent terms in unstructured text.	Most common feedback keywords from customer reviews.

To show detailed trends or variations

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Complex Sparkline	Display detailed trends and variations for each row of data.	Monthly sales performance for each product, with markers for highest and lowest sales.

To combine multiple chart types

	View Type	When to Use	Example
	Combination Chart	Show different types of related data together for better comparison (e.g., columns and a line).	Monthly revenue (columns) and profit margin (line) over a year.
	Historical Chart	Highlight trends over time with a focus on a specific zoomed-in range.	Stock price trend over the last five years, zoomed into the most recent year.