Bubble Chart

Application Scenario

The bubble chart can be used to display the relationships among three variables. Similar to a scatter chart, the bubble chart displays one variable on the X axis, another variable on the Y axis, and the third variable represented by the size of the bubbles.

The bubble chart is suitable for showing the relationships among values across multiple data series. Similar to the X and Y axes, the chart helps determine if a correlation between two variables exists or identify the data distribution or aggregation.

The following figure shows the effect.

Chart Feature

Advantage: The bubble chart can display the overall trend of the relationship between the influencing factors and the predicted objects. It can reflect the change in the relationship among variables in an intuitive and eye-catching way, making it easier to simulate the relationship between the variables.

Disadvantage: The bubble chart looks messy and only shows data correlation, distribution, and aggregation while other information is not well presented. The bubble chart requires sufficient data points with correlations to present good results.

For details about general properties of charts, see Chart Data, Chart Style, and Special Effect.

This document only introduces the unique properties of the bubble chart.

Choose Style > Series on the property panel. You can set the attributes of bubbles.

• Min Diameter: Controls the minimum diameter of bubbles.

• Max Diameter: Controls the maximum diameter of bubbles.

• Shadow: Determines whether to display the shadow of bubbles. (Shadow is set to On by default.)

• Negative Bubble: Determines whether to display negative bubbles, as shown in the following figure. (Negative Bubble is set to On by default.)

Data Preparation

Download the sample data: Average Lifespan and GDP in 2015.xlsx.

Create a general report, click File Dataset, and upload the downloaded Excel file data to the report.

In this example, the data in the template is output as a built-in dataset Average Lifespan/GDP in 2015, as shown in the following figure.

Chart Insertion

Merge required cells, click the Insert Chart icon on the toolbar, select Bubble Chart, and click OK, as shown in the following figure.

Bubble Chart Design

1. Data Binding

Choose Cell Element > Data, and bind required data to the chart, as shown in the following figure.

Note: The X and Y axes can only represent data of the numeric type. (The same applies to the scatter chart.)

2. Style Setting

1. Choose Style > Title on the property panel, enter Average Lifespan/GDP in 2015, and align it to the left, as shown in the following figure.

2. Choose Style > Legend and deselect Show Legend, as shown in the following figure. 

3. Choose Style > Series and customize the settings such as the color scheme and diameters of bubbles, as shown in the following figure.

4. Choose Style > Axis, and set Custom Maximum Value and Custom Minimum Value for X Axis and Y Axis respectively according to the data bound to the chart to present a better effect, as shown in the following figure.

5. The default common prompt is displayed by values with a poor display effect. Select Rich Text under Prompt > Content, and enter content as needed in Rich Text Editor, as shown in the following figure.

Effect Display

1. PC

Save the report and click Pagination Preview. The following figure shows the preview effect.

In this case, the X axis represents GDP. The Y axis represents Average Lifespan. The sizes of the bubbles represent Population.

2. Mobile Terminal

The report can be previewed on both the DataAnalyst app and the HTML5 terminal. The following figure shows the effect.

For details, you can click to download the template Bubble Chart.cpt.