Creating a Pie Chart in Visualize

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Article Goal

Learn how to create a Pie Chart using the Visualize Designer in VDM to display summarized data by categories such as employees, cities, or products.

What Is a Pie Chart?

A Pie Chart is a circular visualization that shows data as slices of a whole. Each slice’s size represents the proportional value of a category relative to the total.

Use Case: Use a pie chart to display how much total Freight cost is attributed to each employee using Freight as the value and EmployeeID as the argument.

Why Use Pie Charts?

• Simplifies the understanding of proportions and percentages

• Ideal for single-metric distribution comparison

• Enhances dashboard aesthetics and user interaction

Note: Pie charts are best used with smaller data categories—avoid using too many segments or arguments with high cardinality.

Where Do You Create Pie Charts?

Pie Charts are created in the Visualize Designer within VDM. From here, you can add the Pie element, assign data fields, and adjust the display or names.

Sample View Download

Download Sample View

Use this sample to follow along and practice creating your own Freight by EmployeeID pie chart.

Steps to Create a Pie Chart

Step 1: Open Visualize Designer

Launch VDM and click on Visualize Designer from the main screen.

Step 2: Insert Pie Chart Element

Click the Pie Chart (Pies) icon to add a new Pie element to your dashboard layout.

Step 3: Assign Fields

• Drag your field or the Freight field into the Value area

• Drag your field or the EmployeeID field into the Argument area

Use Case: This setup will break the total Freight into slices per employee.

Step 4: Edit Chart Names

Right-click on the Pie chart and choose Edit Names:

• Change Item Name to: Freight Sum by EmployeeID

• Change Values to: Freight

Example Output

This example displays a Pie Chart with Freight values segmented by EmployeeID, showing which employees contribute most to shipping costs in a visual, easy-to-digest format.

Article Summary

Pie Charts in Visualize offer a quick way to show how individual data points relate to a total. By assigning a value field (e.g., Freight) and a category (e.g., EmployeeID), you can provide high-level insights with minimal configuration. Perfect for summary dashboards where proportional representation matters.

Use Case: Use Pie Charts on executive dashboards to highlight top-performing employees, cities, or product categories based on metrics like sales, shipping costs, or counts.