Charts and Sights

Sara Morris

Is there any update on the chart widget and when it might be released? It is the number one thing that will take our use of sights to the next level. 

Thanks!

Sasan

Yes, we are currently working on adding and introducing a native and dynamic Chart widget.  We are targeting to release the new widget in Q1/2018.

dwhelan

+1 vote for this feature. 

Craig_Newell

Hello,

Is there an update on the ability to have live charts in a sight?  I think I saw a comment that said Q1 '18?

This feature is crucial for me to sell it to the rest of our business and Exec. team that want visually appealing charts and graphs over just KPI's and reports in a sight.

I'm quite a new user but already big smartsheet fan!  

Thank you in advance

Craig

Sasan

Craig,

We are actively working on this widget.  We should have the widget available to you soon and before the end of Q1.  

Thanks

Sasan

 

Sasan

Hello everyone,

We wanted to give you some updates.  We are very close in releasing the new Charts feature.  Along with adding the Charts feature, we are also replacing the "Sights" name to "Dashboards/Portals".  We realized that users are creating both Dashboards and Portals, and the survey results from the Smartsheet Engage users conference indicated that users resonated more with Dashboards.  

So when we release Charts, you will also notice that in the Home panel, there is a new name "Dashboards/Portals" which is the replacement to Sights.  All your existing Sights will still be in that same folder, with a new folder name "Dashboards/Portals".

Thanks

Sasan

Sasan

While we get Charts ready to release, we wanted to give you a sneak preview.  In v1, we will support the main functionalities you need to build powerful and actionable stories.  After all, whats the point of a chart?  It's to visually show trends, differences, anomalies, etc.  To support that we are including: 

• Most popular charts types; Column, Bar, Line and Pie.
• Formatting capabilities: Data labels, Horizontal/Vertical axis, Titles, Grid lines, Colors, Legend position
• Rotating Rows/Columns capability
• Using your unique column names in the data set configuration
• Responsive display to your widget size
• Mobile view
• etc.

Andrée Starå

Hi Sasan,

Looks great and i can't wait for it to be released.

Best,

Andrée Starå - Workflow Consultant / Get Done

dwhelan

Hi Sasan

 

Will v1 support dual y-axis charts?

Sasan

Designing Charts

We are also incorporating some features to help with chart design best practices within the new widget.  When building charts we recommend the following:

Simplify and strip away - "Perfection is achieved when there is nothing left to take away". Strive for simple and elegant interfaces. Never forget balance, consistency (color, font, etc.), alignment, cohesiveness and hierarchy.  Make the elements stand out such that a user can interpret the graph when standing 5 feet away from the screen.  Plus this will force you to cut and strip away junk and un-useful content.

Chart Junk -  As much as possible remove non-data content such as grid lines, decimal points, shadows, small ticks, etc. This is known as chart junk.  Eliminate clutter.  If you don't really need it, don't use it.  Be simple, clear, and precise.  Get rid of gridlines, frames, redundant labels, ornamental axes, backgrounds, overly complex fonts, images, shadows, excessive precision like decimal points or other effects included only as decoration.  

Think Mobile - How would the chart look on a mobile device.  Keep it simple and remove clutter.

Brevity - Shorten your labels and titles text. Shorten our Y axis labels, example; change your data points from $3,145,000.00 to $3.1 and add a Y axis label or chart title that includes (M) for millions.  If axis labels are too long in a column chart, change to a bar chart.

See example below:

Sasan

Not in v1 and on our backlog for future versions.  Thanks for inquiring and raising visibility.  

Sasan

Andrée Starå

Looks great!

Best,

Andrée

Sasan

Thank you

Sasan

Chart type best practices and display

Column and Bar charts

• Work great for comparisons
• Most popular for there readability factor and help distinguish values

Line charts:

• Line charts are best to represent trends over time or showing the shape of change over time.  If your table includes time as a factor, line charts work best in reflecting progress over time in most cases.

Pie Charts:

• Pie charts are only suited to represent parts-to-whole relationships.
• If you have a Pie chart with more than 3 slices, it might be a good idea to change it to a Column or Bar chart, especially on a dashboard where the chart is among many other widgets.
• If Pie slices are close and not easily distinguishable, then use a Column chart.  

Chart responsiveness to widget size

Charts will be responsive to your widget size.  This includes your X axis labels, which will auto slant given less space.  Legend items will also be repositioned given less space.  Scaling will adjust as well, given less space.  

Interactive features

We are also including interactive features for your audience so that they can see more details on chart elements or filter the chart to elements they care most about.  Users can hover on any element on the chart to see actual data.  Users can also click on any legend item to filter their view to elements they care most about.

Andrée Starå

I'm so looking forward to try this out when released. What´s the timeframe?

Best,

Andrée