Visualization: Grouped Charts

Learn about INSIA's Grouped Charts visualization options.

Updated over a week ago

Grouped Column Charts help in visualizing data when two dimensions slice a single metric’s data.

Let's say you had to analyze the spending by different Business Units.

Note: This is on sample procurement data. We don't set any taxonomies and INSIA will only read column names from your data. If you call 'Spend' as 'Expense', 'Expense' will show on the search bar. You can find the sample data by going to the top right corner of the platform and switching to 'Demo Mode'. There you can select 'Procurement' to see a similar visualization as below.

Let's continue with the example, so if you had to type ”Spend by Business Unit 1 and Category Level 1” where Spend is a metric and Business Unit 1 and Category Level 1 are the dimensions, the grouped column chart will represent the Spend (metric) on the Y-axis, one out of two dimensions on the X-axis (Category Level 1), and the second dimension (Business Unit 1) as color-coded groups, representing the value in vertical columns.

There are various types of Grouped Column Charts, as follows:

  • Grouped Bar Chart

  • Grouped Column and Line Charts

  • Grouped Stacked Column Chart


Grouped Bar Chart:

The Grouped bar chart helps in visualizing data when two dimensions slice a single metric’s data.

Let's use the same example as above - Spend by Business Unit 1 and Category Level 1 where Spend is a metric and Business Unit 1 and Category Level 1 are the dimensions.


The grouped bar chart will represent the Spend (metric) on the X-axis, one out of two dimensions (Category Level 1) on the Y-axis, and the second dimension (Business Unit 1) as color-coded bar groups, representing the value in horizontal rows. (as shown in the picture shown below)

Therefore, each category of a dimension has a group of bars giving the chart the name, grouped bar chart.


Grouped Column and Line Charts:

The grouped column and line chart are best for viewing the value and percentage change in metrics. This chart presents when 2 operators are applied to 1 metric to visualize the data.

For example, you want to find the absolute value and percentage change in the Spend (metric) for the quarter year over year.

The grouped column and line chart will have values of both years on the Y-axis, and X-axis will display the year-quarter. The columns depict the Spend value of both the previous year and the current year. The line denotes the percentage difference between the spend value between the years.


Grouped Stacked Column Charts:

A Grouped Stacked Column chart is the default chart when you split a metric by three dimensions.

For example, you want to see the Spend value of Business Unit Level 1 and Category level 1 by Year. Where 3 dimensions (Year, Business Unit Level 1, and Category level 1) are applied on Metric (Spend).

The Grouped stacked column chart presents Spend (metric) on the Y-axis and Year (Dimension) on the X-axis. It combines categories of Business Unit Level 1 and Category level 1 into the pile of stacks in each column. That way you are able to visualize Yearly Spend data in both Business Unit Level 1 and Category level.


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