Choosing the Right Visualization
~4 min readChoosing the Right Visualization
A card can display the same data seven different ways. The right choice makes the answer obvious at a glance; the wrong one hides it — a Gauge where you needed a trend, a Table where you needed a total. Change a card's visualization any time in the Metric section of the card editor.
Quick Reference
| Visualization | The question it answers | Needs a goal? | Needs daily data? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | "Am I on track for my target?" | Recommended | No |
| Sparkline | "What has the trend looked like, and where do I stand?" | Optional | Yes |
| Chart | "What does the trend look like in detail?" | No | Yes |
| Bar | "How do these channels or pages compare side by side?" | Optional | No |
| Gauge | "How close am I to my target, at a glance?" | Yes | No |
| Badge | "What is the current number?" | No | No |
| Table | "Which items rank highest?" | No | No |
"Daily data" means the card's preset is a daily trend (for example Sessions Trend). The ready-made trend cards are set up this way; aggregate cards such as Total Sessions show a single total for the period.
Metric
The workhorse. A large headline number, a percentage-change pill comparing it with the previous period, a plain-English goal statement, and a progress bar toward the goal.
Choose Metric when you have one headline KPI and a goal, and you want the number to dominate the card — New Users, Key Events, Revenue.
Skip Metric when the shape over time matters as much as the total. Use Sparkline.
Sparkline
A headline number plus a small trend line, so you see the total and the daily shape together.
Choose Sparkline when the trend matters — is traffic accelerating, is there a weekly cycle, did one campaign day drive the month? Sessions Trend, Bounce Rate and Pageviews Trend use it.
Needs a card that returns daily values and a window long enough to draw a meaningful line.
Chart
A Sparkline with the trend line given the whole card and the headline number removed.
Choose Chart when the shape is the story and the exact total is secondary. Pair a Metric card (are we on track?) with a Chart card (how did we get here?) for the same metric.
Bar
Horizontal bars, easy to compare across items. The ready-made Traffic by Channel, Revenue by Channel and Top Landing Pages cards use Bar.
Choose Bar when you're comparing channels or pages and want the differences to be obvious.
Skip Bar for daily trends — it doesn't plot values over time.
Gauge
A dial that fills as you approach your goal. The arc is the message: there's no comparison pill and no trend line.
Choose Gauge when progress to the goal is the only story — Total Sessions, Engagement Rate, Avg Order Value.
Needs a goal; without one the dial stays empty.
Badge
A large number and nothing else — no goal, comparison or trend.
Choose Badge when the number is a status signal rather than a growth metric. Skip Badge for sessions, users, revenue or anything else where comparison matters.
Table
Ranked rows sorted by a metric. It's the only visualization that shows several rows of dimensional data.
Choose Table when you want to see exactly which channels or pages are on top, with their values — for example, switching a breakdown card from Bar to Table.
Trend pill and colors
Most cards show a comparison pill — the percentage change versus the comparison period you chose (see Adding and Configuring Cards).
- Green ▲ means the metric moved in the right direction; red ▼ means it moved the wrong way.
- For lower-is-better metrics, such as Bounce Rate, the colors are inverted: a falling bounce rate shows green. Green always means "heading in the right direction."
The Gauge shows progress toward the goal rather than a comparison pill.
Color palettes
The green / amber / red used across cards is set per dashboard — choose Classic, Colorblind-safe, Muted or your own colors in Dashboard Preferences.
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