Bridge / waterfall
Walk a number from start to end so the biggest hole is obvious.
Related: KPI / metric row
When to use
Use when a gap between two totals must be explained. Do not use for a time series (use annotated-chart). Do not use decorative 3D cylinders.
Guidelines
Start, steps, end. Down steps vs up steps use status tokens. Title names the largest hole.
Example
Same-day fill
Dwell, not scan quality, is the 12-point hole in same-day fill.
Midwest DC · trailing 4 weeks · fill % · fictional
Start 93% to 81%; dwell is the hole. Steal labeled steps, not a 3D waterfall.
Rules
- Start and end totals are on the board.
- Each bar is a named driver with a signed delta.
- Title names the largest driver.
- Do not truncate the implicit axis to fake drama.
User recipe
Pick family: Consulting exhibit first.
Insert objects:
- Text: title naming the largest driver, kicker, source line with unit and window
- Text: labeled bars for start, each driver (signed deltas), and end
Assemble:
- Start bar, driver bars with signs, end bar
- Down steps use status-bad color, up steps use status-good color
- Each driver labeled with name and signed delta
- Do not truncate axis
Anti-patterns
- Unlabeled bars.
- A waterfall that is actually a ranking of unrelated KPIs.