Once you have data and a goal, Chart Compass asks only what it cannot tell by itself, then ranks the charts. This lesson shows how to steer the questions and how to read the answer like an argument, not a verdict.
The questions
Step 3, A few questions, changes with the goal. With Monthly sales and Change over time, it asks:
- Which measure? Revenue or Target
- Add a second line or split it? No, one line, or Add Target
- What should people see first? The trend, each period's value, or how the total builds up
- Who reads it? Busy people at a glance, analysts digging in, or an audience on a slide
Some answers are already chosen and marked picked from your data. Chart Compass saw a column called Target and guessed you want it as a second line. Change any answer and the charts on the right change at once.
A question with only one possible answer is not asked at all. If you see "Nothing to ask: your data answers it all", that is why.
How an answer changes the chart
Try it with Monthly sales:
| What should people see first? | Best fit |
|---|---|
| The trend, its ups and downs | Line chart |
| Each period's value | Column chart |
| How the total builds up | Area chart |
The data did not change; the message did. That is the core idea of the whole tool.
Who reads it? matters too. Busy readers get a KPI card among the suggestions: the latest value, its change and a small trend. Analysts get charts that show more detail, such as box plots and heatmaps when the data allows. A slide audience gets the plainest charts: bars, lines and donuts.
The best fit
At the top of the answer, marked ★ Best fit, is the chart drawn large with your data. Read four things:
- The reason. For Budget against actual: Each Department's Actual as a bar and its Budget as a line: both values and the gap, in little space.
- The fields. Which column goes where: Category, Value, Target.
- The names. What the chart is called in Power BI, Tableau and Excel (lesson 5).
- Watch out. How this chart can mislead, so you can design around it.
Also good
Under the best fit are the alternatives, each drawn small with its own reason. Press one and it moves to the top, marked Your pick, drawn large with its fields and tool names. New data, another goal or another answer starts again at the best fit. Use this when you know something Chart Compass does not, such as that your report already has three line charts and needs a change of pace.
Skip these here
At the bottom are the charts that would mislead with this data, and why. These are the most useful lines when someone asks for a chart you know is wrong:
- Time has an order; a pie loses it.
- 5 slices are hard to compare; a pie works for two or three.
- Two lines on two axes suggest a link the scales can fake.
- One gauge per item wastes space; use bullets.
Each one is a reason you can quote. Next, building the chart in your own tool.