Annotated chart

Mark the point on a simple chart where the story happens.

infographic-editorial

Related: Big-number story · KPI / metric row

When to use

Use when a change-over-time or comparison needs a finger on one bar. Do not use a waterfall (that is bridge-waterfall). Do not use a 12-series line chart.

Guidelines

Few bars. One callout. Title is the annotation in sentence form.

Example

Same-day fill

Fill fell when dwell crossed four hours — not when we changed scanners.

W1 93
W2 91
W3 81 · dwell 4.1h
W4 82

Midwest DC · trailing 4 weeks · fill % · fictional

W3 callout at 4.1h dwell. Steal one annotation, not a full Excel chart.

Rules

  1. One series unless a second series is the comparison.
  2. One callout marks the story bar.
  3. Title states the cause or turning point the chart supports.
  4. Axes or bar labels make the values readable without a legend spreadsheet.

User recipe

Pick family: Infographic / editorial first.

Insert objects:

Assemble:

  1. One callout marks the story bar
  2. Axes labeled with values
  3. One series (or two if comparing)
  4. Title states the cause or turning point

Anti-patterns