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Quick answers
When should I pick Sankey flow stories?
When the story is: budget allocation, conversion paths, material or energy flows.
When should I avoid Sankey flow stories?
Skip it in cases like: the audience only needs a start-vs-end waterfall.
Who invented or popularised it?
Matthew Henry Phineas Riall Sankey (1898); modern d3-sankey layouts
What does it encode?
link width proportional to flow between nodes
Is it OK in ads?
Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure.
Will a teacher accept it?
Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present.
Sankey flow stories encodes values as link width proportional to flow between nodes. Matthew Henry Phineas Riall Sankey (1898); modern d3-sankey layouts.
In reports, ads and assignments it fits budget allocation, conversion paths, material or energy flows. Skip it when the audience only needs a start-vs-end waterfall.
Parts
- Mark — The core mark of Sankey flow stories is link width proportional to flow between nodes.
- Scale — The scale must show zero (or a declared break) and units.
- Axis — Axis titles name the variable, not a mood.
- Legend — A legend is weaker than a direct label. Write beside the mark when you can.
- Label — Numbers are optional. If comparison is the job, label the ends only.
- Grid — Keep the grid faint. Data should own the ink.
- Annotation — One annotation sentence. Date the source.
- Frame — A thin frame. Never a 3-D box.
Variants
- Flow ribbon — Variant 1 of Sankey flow stories (Flow ribbon). Same encoding, different layout.
- Budget sankey — Variant 2 of Sankey flow stories (Budget sankey). Same encoding, different layout.
- Energy flow — Variant 3 of Sankey flow stories (Energy flow). Same encoding, different layout.
- Sankey flow stories 4 — Variant 4 of Sankey flow stories (Sankey flow stories 4). Same encoding, different layout.
Labels
- Axis — On Sankey flow stories, make Mark readable.
- Legend — On Sankey flow stories, make Scale readable.
- Label — On Sankey flow stories, make Axis readable.
- Grid — On Sankey flow stories, make Legend readable.
- Annotation — On Sankey flow stories, make Label readable.
Sankey flow stories: honour link width proportional to flow between nodes, and switch when the audience only needs a start-vs-end waterfall.