Donut Chart Maker

Donut Charts

Donut charts, sometimes called doughnut charts, are a type of circular statistical graphic that display data as wedges or arcs of a circle. The size of each arc represents its proportional value relative to the whole. Donut charts are similar to pie charts, but have a blank center, creating a ring or "donut" shape.

When to Use a Donut Chart

Donut charts are best for showing the relational proportions between data points in a data set. They depict part-to-whole relationships in a way that is easy to understand at a glance.

Some examples of when you may want to use a donut chart include:

• Showing budget breakdowns - A donut chart can display how a budget is allocated to different departments or expense categories. The size of each slice represents its percentage of the total budget.

• Displaying survey response breakdowns - Donut charts are useful for summarizing survey data, especially with multiple choice questions. Each slice can represent the percentage of respondents who chose each answer.

• Comparing category shares - Donut charts can illustrate the relative share of broader categories, like market share between competitors or breakdowns of demographic groups.

• Highlighting composition - Donut charts work for showing how a whole is made up of various components, like the composition of ingredients in a recipe.

Benefits of Donut Charts

There are several advantages to using donut charts:

• Visually striking - The hollow center creates a more distinctive and recognizable shape than a standard pie chart. This draws interest from viewers.

• Emphasize proportions - The circular format and wedges make it easy to see and compare parts of a whole. This makes donut charts ideal for displaying composition or breakdowns.

• Feature multiple categories - Many slices can fit into a single donut chart, allowing numerous categories to be shown together. This works better than a pie chart, which becomes cluttered with more than 4-5 slices.

• Highlight outliers - The blank center focuses attention on the slices themselves. Outlying categories can be emphasized through isolation in separate arcs.

Considerations When Using Donut Charts

However, donut charts also come with some limitations to keep in mind:

• Lack granular detail - Donut charts give a high-level summary but do not allow for inspection of detailed data points like other chart types.

• Difficult to compare slices - It can be hard to accurately measure and compare the visual angles of slices, especially thinner ones. Adding data labels is crucial.

• Less space efficient - Donut charts take up more space than bar or line charts while displaying less granular data. They work best for high-level overviews on dashboards alongside other more detailed charts.

Overall, donut charts provide a unique and recognizable way to illustrate part-to-whole relationships and categorical breakdowns. They excel at giving big picture overviews in an engaging graphic. But consideration should be made for when more granular data analysis is required.