Introduction

Bullet Graphs – the alternative to tachometers and thermometers

A bullet graph is a variation of a bar graph developed by Stephen Few middle of the last decade. Seemingly inspired by the traditional thermometer charts and progress bars found in many dashboards, the bullet graph serves as a replacement for dashboard gauges and meters. Bullet graphs were developed to overcome the fundamental issues of gauges and meters: they typically display too little information, require too much space, and are cluttered with useless and distracting decoration.

The bullet graph features a single Performance Measure (e.g. current year-to-date revenue), compares that measure to one or more other measures to enrich its meaning (for example, compared to a target), and displays it in the context of Qualitative Ranges of performance, such as poor, satisfactory, and good. The Qualitative Ranges are displayed as varying intensities of a single hue. A quantitative scale and a text label complete the bullet graph. 

graphomate bullet graphs can be used horizontally and vertically aligned as well as scaled identically. According to the number of dimension members in the query multiple bullet graphs are drawn. A Reverse Quantitative Scale - for example, for costs representations - can be easily realized.

If the Qualitative Ranges are missing in the database, these values can be determined on percentage values based on the second Qualitative Range.