Most dashboards look bad for one reason: the wrong chart.
You don't need 50 chart types. You need 6, and you need to know which question each one answers.
Below: the everyday three, the specialist three, a 5-second picker, what to never put on a dashboard, and 3 rules that make any chart look pro.
Charts 1-3: the everyday three
| Chart | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bar / column | Compare | Sales by region, top 10 products. Sort biggest to smallest. |
| 2. Line | Trend over time | Monthly revenue, daily orders. Only for dates, never for categories. |
| 3. Combo | Two measures | Revenue as columns, margin % as a line on the secondary axis. |
Charts 4-6: the specialist three
| Chart | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Donut | Share of a whole | Only 2 to 4 slices. More than that? Use a bar chart. |
| 5. Scatter | Relationship | Ad spend vs sales, price vs units. Add a trendline. |
| 6. Waterfall | What moved the total | Opening profit, gains, losses, closing profit. Built in since Excel 2016. |
Pick the chart in 5 seconds
| Your question | Use |
|---|---|
| Which is biggest? | Bar |
| How did it change? | Line |
| Two numbers, one view? | Combo |
| What's the split? | Donut |
| Are these related? | Scatter |
| Why did it go up or down? | Waterfall |
Start from the question, not the chart menu.
Skip these on a dashboard
Skip
- 3D anything
- Pie with 8 slices
- Radar charts
Use
- Flat 2D bars
- Bar sorted high to low
- Simple bar or line
3 rules that make any chart look pro
- 01
Delete gridlines
And the legend, if data labels already do the job.
- 02
One highlight colour
Everything else grey. The eye goes straight to what matters.
- 03
Title says the insight
'North sales fell 12%', not 'Sales by Region'.
Build one tonight with your own data. That's how it sticks.