Number (Gauge)

Overview

A number plot (also called gauge or indicator) displays a single key metric prominently, often with context like trends, boundaries, or comparisons. It's designed for at-a-glance monitoring of KPIs, making it perfect for dashboards where users need to quickly assess performance against targets.

Best used for:

• Displaying single KPI values prominently
• Showing latest or aggregated metrics
• Monitoring targets with upper/lower boundaries
• Tracking trends with direction indicators
• Dashboard headline numbers
• Real-time metric monitoring

Common Use Cases

Business Metrics

• Total revenue or sales
• Customer count or user base
• Conversion rate
• Average order value
• Customer satisfaction score (NPS, CSAT)
• Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)

Operations & Performance

• System uptime percentage
• Response time (average or latest)
• Error rate
• Queue length or backlog
• Resource utilization
• Service level agreement (SLA) compliance

Analytics & Growth

• Daily/monthly active users
• Growth rate percentage
• Churn rate
• Engagement metrics
• Traffic or page views
• Feature adoption rate

Options

Metric

Required - Define the metric to display.

Column

Select the numerical column containing the metric values.

Aggregation

Choose how to calculate the displayed value:

Options:

• Latest - Most recent value (no aggregation) - best for current state
• Sum - Total of all values
• Mean - Average value
• Count - Number of records
• Min - Minimum value
• Max - Maximum value
• Median - Middle value

Default: Latest

Period/Date Column (Optional)

Optional - Column to determine time order.

For Latest aggregation: determines which value is most recent. For Trend: sorts data chronologically. If not provided, uses natural row order (ID).

Accepts: DATETIME, CATEGORICAL, NUMERICAL columns

Settings

Upper Boundary

Optional - Set an upper reference value.

Enter a number to show an upper target or limit. Useful for goals, thresholds, or maximum acceptable values.

Example uses:

• Revenue target: Show goal of $100,000
• SLA threshold: Show 99.9% uptime target
• Budget limit: Show maximum spend allowed

Lower Boundary

Optional - Set a lower reference value.

Enter a number to show a lower target or limit. Useful for minimum acceptable levels or warning thresholds.

Example uses:

• Minimum inventory level
• Acceptable error rate threshold
• Floor price or minimum value

Show Trend

Optional - Display trend indicator.

Shows whether the metric is increasing, decreasing, or stable compared to previous period. Requires period column to be specified.

Trend Window

Optional - Number of recent records to compare.

Enter how many records to include in trend calculation:

• 1 (default) - Latest value vs previous value
• 7 - Last 7 records vs previous 7 records
• 30 - Last 30 vs previous 30 (useful for month-over-month)

Range: 1-1000

Default: 1

Decimal Places

Optional - Number format precision.

Enter how many decimal places to display (0-10).

Examples:

• 0 - Whole numbers (1234)
• 2 - Standard precision (1234.56)
• 4 - High precision (1234.5678)

Range: 0-10

Default: 2

Understanding Trend Indicators

Trend Calculation

Trend = ((Current - Previous) / Previous) × 100%

• Positive (↑): Metric increased
• Negative (↓): Metric decreased
• Neutral (→): Metric unchanged

Trend Windows

• Window = 1: Compares single latest value to single previous value
• Window = 7: Compares average of last 7 to average of previous 7
• Window = 30: Useful for smoothing daily variations

Tips for Effective Number Plots

1. Choose Right Aggregation:

   • Latest: For current state (active users, queue length)
   • Sum: For totals (revenue, sales count)
   • Mean: For averages (response time, rating)
   • Count: For quantities (number of transactions)

2. Set Meaningful Boundaries:

   • Upper boundary: Goals, targets, SLA thresholds
   • Lower boundary: Minimum acceptable levels
   • Both: Define acceptable range (e.g., 95%-100%)
   • Color indicators often used: red (below lower), green (in range), yellow (approaching limits)

3. Use Trends Wisely:

   • Enable for metrics that change over time
   • Larger windows smooth out noise
   • Consider if "up" is always good (not true for error rates, costs)
   • Pair with time series plot for detailed view

4. Format Appropriately:

   • Currency: 0-2 decimals ($1,234.56)
   • Percentages: 1-2 decimals (98.7%)
   • Counts: 0 decimals (1,234 users)
   • Rates: 2-4 decimals (0.0123)

5. Provide Context:

   • Always include units (dollars, users, seconds, %)
   • Show period (Today, This Month, YTD)
   • Add comparison (vs yesterday, vs target)
   • Use boundaries to show if value is good/bad

6. Dashboard Best Practices:

   • Prioritize most important metric (top-left, largest)
   • Group related metrics together
   • Use consistent formatting across similar metrics
   • Limit to 4-8 key metrics per dashboard view

Example Scenarios

Current Revenue (Latest)

Shows most recent revenue value with trend vs previous period.

Total Monthly Sales (Sum)

Aggregates all sales for the month.

Average Response Time (Mean)

Shows average with upper boundary for SLA threshold.

User Count with Growth (Count + Trend)

Total users with trend indicator showing growth direction.

Metric Types and Configurations

KPI with Target

• Metric: Revenue, Sales, Users
• Aggregation: Sum or Count
• Upper Boundary: Set target value
• Trend: On, Window = 30 days
• Use: Track progress toward goals

Current State Monitor

• Metric: Active connections, Queue length, System load
• Aggregation: Latest
• Boundaries: Upper and lower thresholds
• Trend: On, Window = 1
• Use: Real-time monitoring

Percentage Metric

• Metric: Conversion rate, Uptime, Success rate
• Aggregation: Mean
• Decimal Places: 2
• Boundaries: Acceptable range (e.g., 95%-100%)
• Use: Performance against standards

Growth Metric

• Metric: User growth, Revenue growth
• Aggregation: Count or Sum
• Period: Date column required
• Trend: On, Window = 7 or 30
• Use: Track momentum and direction

Troubleshooting

Issue: Shows wrong value (not the latest)

• Solution: Specify the Period/Date Column so the system knows which record is most recent. Without it, it uses row order which may not match time order.

Issue: Trend indicator not showing

• Solution: Ensure "Show Trend" is On and a Period/Date Column is specified. Need at least 2 data points to calculate trend.

Issue: Trend percentage seems wrong

• Solution: Check Trend Window setting. Window = 1 compares single values (volatile), larger windows compare averages (smoother).

Issue: Number has too many decimal places

• Solution: Adjust "Decimal Places" setting. Use 0 for counts, 2 for currency, 1-2 for percentages.

Issue: Don't know if the value is good or bad

• Solution: Set Upper and/or Lower Boundaries to provide context. Values outside boundaries typically indicate problems.

Issue: "Latest" shows unexpected value

• Solution: Verify Period Column is a proper time/date field and data is sorted correctly. "Latest" takes the most recent based on this column.

Issue: Trend shows opposite direction of expectation

• Solution: Verify data is in correct chronological order and Period Column is specified correctly.