Totals is not showing correct values in Stacked Bar Chart

[ajitsahoo8338]

Hello Everyone,
Below is my data for the Total Percent Complete for each project, based on disciplines like Mech, Elec, and Fluid.

But the issue I am facing is that if I do a stacked Bar chart, why are the totals of each bar/Project showing the wrong total percent complete? How can I fix this?

[v-saisrao-msft]

Hi @ajitsahoo8338,

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please mark the helpful reply and accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.

Thank you.

[v-saisrao-msft]

Hi @ajitsahoo8338 ,

We haven’t heard back from you regarding your issue. If it has been resolved, please mark the helpful response as the solution and give a ‘Kudos’ to assist others. If you still need support, let us know.

Thank you.

[v-saisrao-msft]

Hi @ajitsahoo8338,
I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided by @Ritaf1983. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If the response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.
Thank you.

[Ritaf1983 · Accepted solution]

Hi @ajitsahoo8338 

The "Total" feature in stacked bar charts in Power BI works automatically and simply sums up the individual parts without allowing direct control over its logic.

To modify this behavior, you need to create a dummy category named "Total" using DAX, where the calculation follows the required logic. Then, add this "Total" as an additional part of the stacked bar, ensuring it has a transparent or white background to blend seamlessly.

UX Perspective:

The current stacked bar chart is not an effective visualization for this scenario for several reasons:

1. Each bar is perceived as a whole (100%), and just like Power BI’s engine, users' brains will add up the percentages, resulting in a misleading visual that exceeds 100%.

2. Comparing values within the bars is difficult since only the first segment starts at a common baseline. Users struggle to compare other segments accurately.

3. The legend requires constant back-and-forth reference, forcing users to decode colors instead of quickly understanding the data.

All these issues combined make the visualization more confusing rather than helpful in conveying the relationships between data points.

Alternative Solution:

A better approach is to separate the bars and use a combined table + bar chart visualization, similar to the image.

For further details, technical instructions, and a downloadable file, check out my blog post here:
🔗 https://www.madeiradata.com/post/home-experiments-and-stacked-bar-graphs

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