Segmented Bar Chart

[newhopepdx]

Given a table with columns:
Date (containing the Sundays {i.e., week ending date} for each week of the year)
Plan (a weekly budget amount)
Amount (totals for that row's week)

and a slicer set to a date range that represents the week ending dates in any month (so it will have one to five values in the range).

I'm needing a stacked bar chart that shows the amount for date each week's. This slicer will set the week(s) to be reported on the bar chart.

Here's an exaple of what I'm working towards... three separate bar charts (I'm assuming??) that have 1) CY's data, 2) the Plan summed for the range in the slicer, and 3) the same three weeks in PY (which I can calculate... it's just this segmented bar chart that's throwing me).

[v-hjannapu]

Hi @newhopepdx,

I would also take a moment to thank @Ritaf1983, @Ritaf1983  for actively participating in the community forum and for the solutions you’ve been sharing in the community forum. Your contributions make a real difference. 

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

Regards,
Harshitha.

[Ritaf1983]

Hi @newhopepdx 

It might be technically possible to build something similar by creating a dimension table with Year, Week, and Plan, plus a custom sort column to place Plan in the middle.
However, this visualization cannot really be interpreted.

The reasons are:

1. Mixing the time axis with the Plan metric — our brains are not trained to separate that.

2. A stacked bar chart does not allow proper week-to-week comparison, since comparing horizontal segments is very difficult. It becomes even harder to understand the gap versus last year and versus plan.

A chart can deliver only one clear message. When trying to push three messages into one, it’s like writing three sentences on top of each other — impossible to read.

If the goal is to understand weekly trends, a chart like the one in my screenshot (showing variance vs budget) would work, but in your case it should also include last year.

If the goal is instead to see the cumulative result vs target and vs prior year, then a table combined with bars/deltas by category is more effective.

The key point: users need structured layouts that allow them to process the messages one by one. We should give them visuals that follow natural, intuitive thinking patterns instead of forcing them to decode the logic in their heads.

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly

[newhopepdx]

Ritaf1983,

I appreciate your input. And I plan to use the actual vs budget type chart on detail pages. The chart I'm trying to replicate in PBI is currently being created by updating the data by hand each week in Powerpoint using a custom Combo bar chart. Here are the details. (In the Legend Entries (series) column, "Plan" sets on the row below the 5 weeks).

I'm hoping we can replicate this in PBI where we can, via a slicer and measures, fill in the data ranges needed.

[Shahid12523]

- Use a date slicer to filter week-ending Sundays.
- Create three measures:
- CY Amount: Sum of Amount for selected weeks this year.
- Plan Total: Sum of Plan for selected weeks.
- PY Amount: Sum of Amount for same weeks last year.

- Visual Options:
- Stacked bar chart with all three measures side-by-side per week.
- Or three separate bar charts—one for CY, one for Plan, one for PY.