Comments on: Yikes! Another Pie Horror Show

By: Matt Healy

Matt Healy — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:25:50 +0000

I too will “keep using 2003 until you pry it out of my cold dead hands.”

As for pie charts, in most cases I think their creators should get pie in their faces.

By: Jon Peltier

Jon Peltier — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:09:53 +0000

Jeff -

Thanks for the link. I’m writing another post showing how a Dot Plot can be used to make the point much more clearly and succinctly. It will hit the tubes Friday.

By: Jeff Weir

Jeff Weir — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:37:39 +0000

Q: What’s worse than comparing categories within a pie chart?
A: Comparing categories between 2 pie charts.

http://www.dol.govt.nz/publications/lmr/hlfs-investigation-reports/men-labour-market-downturns-2009dec/index.asp

“Manufacturing and construction are typically prone to changes in economic conditions and employ a high proportion of men (see Figure 1). In contrast, a higher proportion of women tend to be employed in publicly funded sectors such as education and health (see Figure 2).”

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:57:54 +0000

Jon, I think this is your best bad pie yet! I would say the presentation is the least of it – the categories themselves read like they were designed by a committee. Let’s see, did our interests become misaligned, or did we have poor communication (perhaps due to poor cultural fit) or was it just not mutually beneficial? hmmm …

By: Jon Peltier

Jon Peltier — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:28:10 +0000

Jeff – “Where the Wild Things Are” LOL

By: Jeff Weir

Jeff Weir — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:33:49 +0000

Here’s another example for you, Jon. (Will have to download the file first)

http://cid-f380a394764ef31f.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Most%20frequent%20cause%20of%20charting%20failure.xlsx

By: Jon Peltier

Jon Peltier — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:32:04 +0000

Tony -

It seems like 2007 has finally caught up to or overtaken all versions of Classic Excel among my customers and clients. I use 2007 for this reason, but not for my own stuff. I’m no Luddite, but I’ve analyzed my own usage patterns, so I’ll keep using 2003 until you pry it out of my cold dead hands.

By: Tony Rose

Tony Rose — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:57:47 +0000

Jeff, Excel 2007 isn’t perfect, but the expanded rows and averageif() formula are really nice features.

By: Jeff Weir

Jeff Weir — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:50:36 +0000

Poor performance, poor communication, not mutually beneficial — those labels describe my relationship pretty well. With Excel 2007.

By: Naomi B. Robbins

Naomi B. Robbins — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:24:30 +0000

The one nice feature of a properly drawn pie chart is that it makes it clear that the sum of the wedges is 100%. That feature is lost when you explode the wedges as done here. That adds one more answer to Jon’s question: What’s wrong with these charts?