Vizlib Pie Chart: How to use a Pie Chart in Qlik Sense

With their simple, circular shape and delicious name, pie charts are among the most recognizable chart types. You can see them all over the news, memes, financial reports– they’re even the default graph type on Excel. And yet these seemingly straightforward charts spark considerable debate. 

Are they data visualization darlings, or an outdated waste of dashboard space? How and where should you use this chart type? Read on to learn more about pie charts in Qlik Sense (and how Vizlib can take them to the next level).

What is a pie chart?

Also known as a ‘pie graph,’ pie charts display data as a circle divided into slices, with each slice representing a proportion of the whole. They are commonly used to show the distribution of categorical data, such as the percentage of people in a survey who prefer different flavours of ice cream, or something slightly more complicated (and less tasty!), like sales by region.

Sales per region in a basic pie chart, made in Qlik

You can find Qlik’s documentation on creating and using pie charts here. 

Pros and cons of pie charts

Pros 

Common and accessible 

Even people who are largely unfamiliar with data visualizations will have probably seen a pie chart before. The simple shape, ability to compare segments to the whole, and use of colour make them easy to interpret.

Proportional representation

The size of each slice is proportional to the amount of data it represents, which helps to convey the relative size of different categories.

Versatile

Pie charts are a useful tool for representing various types of data, such as percentages, fractions, or proportions. They can also be used to illustrate changes over time by using multiple pie charts to represent different time periods.

Cons

Hard to compare similar values

Pie charts can be difficult to interpret precisely, especially when the slices are similar in size. For example, 27% and 32% may be a meaningful distinction for your data set, but on a pie chart, they look very similar.

Misleading

The angles of the slices can be misleading and give the impression that one slice is much larger or smaller than it actually is. This can distort the data and lead to incorrect conclusions.

Not suitable for large data sets

Small slices and crowded pie charts are overwhelming and difficult to read accurately. 

Summing up

Overall, while pie charts certainly have their limitations, they are widely-used for a reason. Easy to understand at a glance, even for those not familiar with data analysis, they are great for understanding the proportions that make up a whole.

The key to success is using them for the right kind of data sets, and observing best practice. 

What is best-practice when using pie charts?

Label each pie slice appropriately. With its category, and percentage of the whole. Data labels help the viewer understand the data and compare the sizes of the slices. An accurate chart title is also important. 

Choose a 2D pie chart. While 3D pie charts might look visually appealing, they can make it difficult to accurately compare the sizes of the slices.

Limit the number of slices. It is generally recommended to include no more than 5 slices. However, dynamic and interactive functionalities can ensure more complex graphs remain readable. 

Start at 12 o’clock.  Start the first slice at the top centre of the circle. This helps the reader quickly understand the relationship between the different slices.

Use other charts when appropriate.

Pie charts are not always the best choice for displaying data. Consider using other types of charts, such as a stacked bar chart, for data that is not categorical or when the number of categories is too large.

How are business leaders using pie charts across industries? 

Pie charts can be used across every sector and all departments for a variety of reasons, such as understanding the proportions of different departments within an organisation, or keeping an eye of how the overall budget is partitioned. There are also some industry-specific uses that speak to the versatility of this chart style. 

• In Healthcare, pie charts have many uses; for example, they could depict the entry point of patients into a hospital, break down cost percentages for healthcare providers, or collect feedback on patient experience. 
• Turning to Finance, pie charts could be used to display the mix of assets in a fund, or show the balance between a company’s expenses and revenue in an intuitive format. 
• The Manufacturing industry also presents plenty of use cases for pie charts, from breaking down the cost components of a product to understanding the reasons for manufacturing downtime. 
• In Retail, pie charts could be used to understand how different departments or regions contribute to overall sales figures, the market share of different retailers, which payment methods are used in purchases, and so much more. 
• Across every department and all operations, Public services can make use of pie charts to communicate in a straightforward way. Pie charts could be used to better understand the demographics of people accessing particular services, regional budget breakdowns, level of educational attainment– there’s really no limit! 
• Life sciences can use pie charts, among other forms of data visualizations, in many different ways. For example; the relative proportions of different organisms in an ecosystem, the composition of a substance, sources of funding, and so on. 

Pie charts vs Donut charts 

Continuing our theme of delicious analytics, let’s compare pie charts and donut charts, also known as a ‘doughnut chart’.

Donut charts are visually and functionally very similar to pie charts, but the centre is cut out. This presents two key benefits. First, it creates extra white space on the graph, which can be used to neatly communicate an additional data point. Second, it encourages interpretation of the relative values based on the length of each segment, rather than the area, which is typically easier and less misleading for the viewer.

However, donut charts can easily become overcrowded and difficult to read. Because each segment takes up less space, there is also less to look at, and smaller segments can get “lost” visually.

Overall, a donut chart may be an attractive and intuitive option in place of a pie chart. However, if you are comparing more values, pie charts are a better choice.

What is the Vizlib Pie Chart for Qlik Sense?

Pie charts are iconic and useful graphs, and we take them to a whole new level with Vizlib Pie Chart.  Vizlib enhances Qlik’s traditional pie chart features with rich formatting options and deep interactivity.

A dynamic and interactive Pie Chart powered by Vizlib

Vizlib is all about empowering you to create useful, attractive dashboards that you can customise as needed, meeting both your functional and branding requirements. Pie Chart is no exception. You have control over the appearance of your chart– colour palette, fonts, measures, Legend position, and so much more.

Our interactivity settings empower you to interact directly with the chart, drilling down into detail and getting more from your visualisations. From rotating the circle to Alternate States and helpful tooltips, this is storytelling through data at its best. 

Best of all, you don’t need any coding or data analysis skills to create and use the Pie Chart, or any of Vizlib’s impactful data visualization features, such as Bar Chart and Venn Diagram. 

If you’d like to further explore how we can elevate every aspect of your Business Intelligence and get more value from your Qlik Sense, book a demo today.