Where can I find and how to use gauge graphs?

[Guest]

I am trying to create perfomance metric's graphs, and it seems that gauge
charts are the most common use.
Do anyone know where to find, and how to use it?
Thanks

 

[Del Cotter]

I am trying to create perfomance metric's graphs, and it seems that gauge
charts are the most common use.
Do anyone know where to find, and how to use it?

They're in common use, it's true, but they're actually not very good for
performance metrics. They're hard to read and interpret correctly, and
mislead the user of the performance report.

A better device for doing something similar is the "bullet graph", which
is like a gauge graph, but in a straight line. The word and concept is
by Stephen Few. Try googling "stephen-few bullet" and reading some of
the web references, or ordering his books on the design of performance
reports.

 

[Del Cotter]

A better device for doing something similar is the "bullet graph",
which is like a gauge graph, but in a straight line. The word and
concept is by Stephen Few. Try googling "stephen-few bullet" and
reading some of the web references, or ordering his books on the design
of performance reports.

P.S. for an Excel implementation of bullet graphs, try googling
"charley-kyd bullet".

http://www.exceluser.com/explore/bullet.htm

 

[Jon Peltier]

Even better than a bullet graph, which like the gauge shows a single value
of the variable in time, would be a line chart showing recent values of the
variable up to the current value. You can add effects to show the target and
colored zones if you want.

- Jon