Create Bridge Chart in Excel

Introduction to Bridge Charts

Bridge charts are a type of visualization used to display the flow of data between different categories or groups. They are particularly useful for showing how different elements contribute to a whole, or for illustrating the movement of data from one state to another. In this post, we will explore how to create a bridge chart in Excel, a popular spreadsheet software.

Understanding Bridge Charts

Before we dive into the creation process, it’s essential to understand the components of a bridge chart. A typical bridge chart consists of:

• Categories: These are the groups or states that the data is being moved between.
• Flows: These represent the movement of data from one category to another.
• Values: These are the quantities associated with each flow, indicating the amount of data being moved.

Bridge charts can be used in various contexts, such as:

• Showing the flow of customers through different stages of a sales process.
• Illustrating the movement of inventory between different warehouses or locations.
• Displaying the progression of students through different levels of education.

Creating a Bridge Chart in Excel

To create a bridge chart in Excel, you will need to have the following:

• Excel 2016 or later version.
• A dataset with categories, flows, and values.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a bridge chart:

1. Prepare your data: Organize your data into a table with categories, flows, and values. For example:

   Category	Flow	Value
   A	B	10
   A	C	20
   B	C	15

2. Insert a Sankey diagram: Go to the “Insert” tab in the ribbon, click on “Hierarchy” and select “Sankey”. This will insert a Sankey diagram into your worksheet.
3. Configure the Sankey diagram: Right-click on the Sankey diagram and select “Format Data Series”. In the “Format Data Series” pane, select the “Series” option and choose the range of cells that contains your data.
4. Customize the bridge chart: Use the various options in the “Format Data Series” pane to customize the appearance of your bridge chart. You can change the colors, add labels, and adjust the layout.

📝 Note: Make sure to adjust the size of the Sankey diagram to fit your data and the size of your worksheet.

Example Use Case

Suppose we want to create a bridge chart to show the flow of customers through different stages of a sales process. Our dataset might look like this:

Stage	Next Stage	Number of Customers
Lead	Prospect	100
Lead	Customer	20
Prospect	Customer	50

We can create a bridge chart to visualize this data and see how customers are moving through the sales process.

Benefits of Bridge Charts

Bridge charts offer several benefits, including:

• Improved visualization: Bridge charts provide a clear and intuitive way to visualize complex data flows.
• Enhanced understanding: By showing the relationships between different categories, bridge charts can help users gain a deeper understanding of their data.
• Increased insight: Bridge charts can reveal patterns and trends in the data that might not be immediately apparent from a table or other type of visualization.

As we can see, bridge charts are a powerful tool for data visualization and analysis. By following the steps outlined in this post, you can create your own bridge chart in Excel and start gaining insights into your data.

To summarize, the key points to take away are the ability to create a bridge chart in Excel, understanding the components of a bridge chart, and the benefits of using bridge charts for data visualization and analysis.