Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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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.
Principles
- Encoding — The core mark of Sankey flow stories is link width proportional to flow between nodes.
- History — Matthew Henry Phineas Riall Sankey (1898); modern d3-sankey layouts
- Fit — budget allocation, conversion paths, material or energy flows
- Shared baseline — The eye compares length and position more accurately than area.
- Audience — PowerPoint, Excel or Google Sheets and Meta, Google and retail print share the same geometry.
Misconceptions
- Pretty equals true — Decoration rarely persuades; it slows reading.
- 3-D helps — Perspective distortion wrecks comparison. Keep it flat.
- More series is richer — Do not stack stories. One Sankey flow stories, one claim.
- Default palette is fine — Rainbow defaults fail color-blind viewers and grey print. Change Excel or Google Sheets defaults.
Why it matters
- Work — Work: budget allocation, conversion paths, material or energy flows. Readable in four minutes in PowerPoint.
- Ads — Ads: one number and one shape speak first in Meta, Google and retail print.
- School — School: for lab reports and poster boards, pick the form that answers the rubric.
- Craft — Craft: honour link width proportional to flow between nodes and decoration falls away.
Sankey flow stories: honour link width proportional to flow between nodes, and switch when the audience only needs a start-vs-end waterfall.