Scorecards display a summary of a single metric and are the most commonly used way to visualize core key performance indicators (KPIs).
1. Scorecard
Above, we have five types of Scorecards: Scorecard A, showing % Change; B, showing absolute change; Chart C, a unified scorecard displaying % Change and Absolute Change; Chart D, displaying an absolute number without Comparison and finally Chart E, showing the compact number without Comparison and Metric.
Recommended: Yes [A, B, Or C]
Yes, especially if you intend to make a report for senior management personnel, it's highly recommended to display core KPI performance changes.
For reports with figures within five digits or those that contain sensitive numerical data (such as prices or sales)
2. Scorecard with compact number
Above, we have five types of charts: Scorecard A, with % Change; B, with Absolute Change; C, a unified scorecard displaying % Change and Absolute Change; D, showing Absolute Number without comparison and Scorecard E, compact number and 0 decimal precision without comparison.
Recommended: Yes [A, B, Or C]
Yes, especially if you intend to make a report for senior management personnel, it's highly recommended to display core KPI performance changes.
Yes, if your numbers are more than five digits and are not sensitive like Sessions and Page Views.
3. Scorecard: for % DATA
Above, we have five types of charts: Scorecard A, showing % Change; B, displaying absolute change; C, a unified scorecard displaying % Change and Absolute Change; D, without decimal precision and without comparison, and E, with 0 decimal precision without comparison. Let's explore how changes are calculated in Scorecards A and B, and see if we can quickly figure out the old data (93.12%) from 93.59%
In Chart A, we have 0.5% which is calculated as:
% Change = new value/old value-1In Chart B, we have 0.47%, which is calculated as:
Absolute Change = new value - old valueAs you can see, it's easier to add or subtract than to calculate a % change. Therefore, for any % data, the best practice is to use absolute changes for comparison.
Recommended: Yes [A, B Or C]
Yes, and only with absolute changes (Scorecard B) configuration for all % data
4. How to create a Unified Scorecard
Stacked on top of each other to display unified absolute changes and % changes in a scorecard. Create scorecard in 3,2,1 order (3rd scorecard first) to avoid manually arranging stacking order.
With this format, you can display both % Changes and Absolute Change for KPIs, create a cleaner design, and fit many scorecards in a row.
Recommended: Yes, my personal favorite, depending on the dashboard format and design. I have used one of two formats for every dashboard I have built.
5. Padding and Line Height
Padding: Reserved space for Left, Right, and Top shown in the below example.
Line Height: Space between rows in pixels. Please leave to default auto; this might condense two rows of data in one. PDF export will also result in a messy, disorganized result.
Recommended: Yes, On A Particular Case
Padding: Yes, but only in the particular case when you have to fit many scorecards in a tight space.
Line Height: Please leave to default auto; this might condense two rows of data in one. PDF export will also result in a messy, disorganized result.
Enjoy reading the guide? I have explained every chart available in the new Data Studio Book here. Visual explanations for graphs configurations, style, format, and recommendations. So you can also see how the final result will look and why one design is better than others for the same chart.
- Scorecards
- Pie/Doughnut Chart
- Bullet Charts
- Gauge Charts
- Line Charts/Time Series Charts
- Column Charts
- Combo Charts
- Table
- Pivot Tables
- Area Charts
- Scatter Charts
- Bubble Chart
- Geo Maps Charts
- Treemap
- Bullet Chart vs Gauge Chart
Configuration across chart:
- Background and Border
- Missing Data
- Conditional Formatting
- Chart Header
- Legends
- Reference Lines
- Report Settings
Most Used Features: