Scorecards display a summary of a single metric and are the most commonly used way to visualize core key performance indicators (KPIs).

1. Scorecard

• Above, we have five types of Scorecards: Scorecard A, showing % Change; B, showing absolute change; Chart C, a unified scorecard displaying % Change and Absolute Change; Chart D, displaying an absolute number without Comparison and finally Chart E, showing the compact number without Comparison and Metric.

Recommended: Yes [A, B, Or C]

• Yes, especially if you intend to make a report for senior management personnel, it's highly recommended to display core KPI performance changes.

• For reports with figures within five digits or those that contain sensitive numerical data (such as prices or sales)

2. Scorecard with compact number

• Above, we have five types of charts: Scorecard A, with % Change; B, with Absolute Change; C, a unified scorecard displaying % Change and Absolute Change; D, showing Absolute Number without comparison and Scorecard E, compact number and 0 decimal precision without comparison.

Recommended: Yes [A, B, Or C]

• Yes, especially if you intend to make a report for senior management personnel, it's highly recommended to display core KPI performance changes.

• Yes, if your numbers are more than five digits and are not sensitive like Sessions and Page Views.

3. Scorecard: for % DATA

• Above, we have five types of charts: Scorecard A, showing % Change; B, displaying absolute change; C, a unified scorecard displaying % Change and Absolute Change; D, without decimal precision and without comparison, and E, with 0 decimal precision without comparison. Let's explore how changes are calculated in Scorecards A and B, and see if we can quickly figure out the old data (93.12%) from 93.59%

In Chart A, we have 0.5% which is calculated as:

In Chart B, we have 0.47%, which is calculated as:

As you can see, it's easier to add or subtract than to calculate a % change. Therefore, for any % data, the best practice is to use absolute changes for comparison.

Recommended: Yes [A, B Or C]

• Yes, and only with absolute changes (Scorecard B) configuration for all % data

4. How to create a Unified Scorecard

• Stacked on top of each other to display unified absolute changes and % changes in a scorecard. Create scorecard in 3,2,1 order (3rd scorecard first) to avoid manually arranging stacking order.

• With this format, you can display both % Changes and Absolute Change for KPIs, create a cleaner design, and fit many scorecards in a row.

Recommended: Yes, my personal favorite, depending on the dashboard format and design. I have used one of two formats for every dashboard I have built.

5. Padding and Line Height

• Padding: Reserved space for Left, Right, and Top shown in the below example.

• Line Height: Space between rows in pixels. Please leave to default auto; this might condense two rows of data in one. PDF export will also result in a messy, disorganized result.

Recommended: Yes, On A Particular Case

• Padding: Yes, but only in the particular case when you have to fit many scorecards in a tight space.

• Line Height: Please leave to default auto; this might condense two rows of data in one. PDF export will also result in a messy, disorganized result.