


For this first example, we will recreate a chart similar to this: The first approach to creating a diverging bar chart in Tableau involves using two different sheets. The following techniques are required when you’re trying to create a diverging bar chart with positive values. Note that if the measure you’re visualizing has both positive and negative values for dimension members within the same stacked bar, a diverging bar chart with a divergent line of zero will be created automatically. How to Make a Diverging Bar Chart in Tableau Premier Tableau eLearning from Playfair Data TV NFC Matchups, to show you two different approaches to creating diverging bar charts in Tableau. In this post, we will reverse engineer my viz, 50 Years of AFC vs. I also feel that this chart type helps declutter a grouped bar chart, making the data more engaging and easier to understand. If, on the other hand, your primary objective is to compare the trend of each individual dimension member, a divergent bar chart is a good option.

The drawback to using diverging bar charts is that it’s not as easy to compare the values across dimension members as it is with a grouped bar chart. The divergent line can represent zero, but it can also be used to simply separate the marks for two dimension members, to represent a goal, or – as often seen with survey data – to show the break between desired and undesired responses. What’s unique about a diverging bar chart is the marks flowing down or left do not necessarily represent negative values. Get the book at Amazon.Ī diverging bar chart is a bar chart that has the marks for some dimension members pointing up or right, and the marks for other dimension members pointing in the opposite direction (down or left, respectively). This content is excerpted from my book, Innovative Tableau: 100 More Tips, Tutorials, and Strategies, published by O’Reilly Media Inc., 2020, ISBN: 978-1492075653.
