Innovative Tableau

Chapter 45. Introducing Leapfrog Charts in Tableau

Leapfrog charts are a variation on the minimalist dot plots described in Chapter 40. You can use them when the primary objective is to show the relative performance of a specific dimension member to a comparison point or points—or what it would take for that dimension member to leapfrog over another, if you will. The dot plot is combined with a Gantt chart to illustrate the difference between a selected dimension member and a specific target or the average, median, minimum, or maximum for a measure across the business.

This chart was developed in conjunction with Playfair Data information designer Jason Penrod. Keep reading to see how the chart looks and learn how to make it!

How to Combine Dot Plots, Gantt Marks, and Table Calculations to Create Leapfrog Charts

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to re-create this chart, which looks at Sales by Month by Region in the Sample – Superstore dataset and highlights the East region compared to the average for each month:

The first step to creating leapfrog charts in Tableau is to create the dot plot portion of the visualization. You can use any measure to create the columns, any dimension to create the rows, and any dimension to create the circles, but to illustrate, I use Sales, Month of Order Date, and Region from the Sample – Superstore dataset, respectively.