Chapter 7. Components That Show Trending
No matter what business you're in, you can't escape the tendency to trend. In fact, one of the most common concepts used in dashboards and reports is the concept of trending. A trend is a measure of variance over some defined interval — typically time periods, like days, months, or years.
The reason trending is so popular is that trending provides a rational expectation of what might happen in the future. If I know this book has sold 10,000 copies a month over the last 12 months (I wish), I have reasonable expectation to believe sales next month will be around 10,000 copies. In short, trending tells you where you've been and where you might be going.
In this chapter, you explore basic trending concepts and some of the advanced techniques you can use to take your trending components beyond simple line charts.
Trending Dos and Don'ts
As with all aspects of reporting with Excel, building trending components has some dos and don'ts. This section helps you avoid some common trending faux pas.
Using chart types appropriate for trending
Yes, you do have the freedom to use any chart type you want when building your trending components. After all, it's your data. But, the truth is, no chart type is the silver bullet for all situations. As overwhelming as it may sound, for effective trending, you'll want to understand which chart types are most effective in different trending scenarios.
Trending with line charts
Line charts are the kings of trending. In business ...
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