Why combining chart types tells richer stories in Tableau - Dashboard Impact

Dashboard Mode - Why combining chart types tells richer stories

Business Question

How can combining different chart types help us understand sales performance better?

Sample Data

Month	Sales	Profit	Units Sold
January	10000	2500	150
February	12000	3000	180
March	9000	2000	130
April	15000	4000	210
May	13000	3500	190
June	16000	4500	220

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Total Sales
  Formula: SUM([Sales])
  Result: 75000
• KPI Card: Total Profit
  Formula: SUM([Profit])
  Result: 19500
• Bar Chart: Sales by Month
  Shows sales values for each month as bars.
• Line Chart: Profit Trend
  Shows profit over months as a line to see trend.
• Combined Chart: Sales and Units Sold
  Bar for Sales and line for Units Sold on same axis to compare volume and revenue.

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+----------------------+
|   Total Sales (KPI)  |   Total Profit (KPI) |
+----------------------+----------------------+
|                      Bar Chart: Sales by Month                      |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Combined Chart: Sales (Bar) & Units Sold (Line)                    |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                      Line Chart: Profit Trend                      |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

A month filter lets you select one or more months. When you select months, all charts and KPIs update to show data only for those months. This helps focus on specific periods.

Self Check

If you add a filter to show only April and May, which components update and what changes?

• Both KPI cards update to show total sales and profit for April and May only.
• Bar chart updates to show sales bars for April and May.
• Line chart updates to show profit trend for April and May.
• Combined chart updates to show sales and units sold for April and May.

Key Result

Dashboard showing sales, profit, and units sold by month using combined chart types for richer insights.