Description

The bullet chart is originally developed by Stephen Few to replace dashboard gauges and meters which display too little information, require too much space, and are cluttered with useless and distracting decoration. The bullet graph features a single, primary measure, compares that measure to one or more other measures to enrich its meaning, and displays it in the context of qualitative ranges of performance, such as poor, satisfactory, and good. More information about bullet chart can be found in Stephen Few’s guide: Bullet Graph Design Specification

When to Use

Bullet graph is widely used for comparing the performance of a primary measure to one or more other measures.

Dos

• Keep it simple
• Always start at zero baseline
• Use consistent colors for qualitative range (ideally use shades of gray)

Don'ts

• Don’t use shadow effects
• Don’t use 3D effects
• Don’t use more than five qualitative ranges

Tools available

Other chart types of comparison