Sankey charts are an elegant and powerful way to represent complex data. Despite their simplicity, they can reveal hidden insights and patterns that can be missed by simply looking at traditional data visualizations like bar charts and histograms. In this article, we’ll explore the subtle details of how sankey charts work, and show you how to use them to uncover important stories in your data.
What Are Sankey Charts?
Sankey charts are a type of network diagram that use lines and loops to represent the relationships between different elements. When a sankey chart is displayed, the top node represents the starting point, with arrows pointing out to each of the other nodes. These arrows represent the flow of data or information from one node to the next. At the bottom of the chart, you’ll see the destinations, with arrows pointing to the flow of data from each node.
Sankey charts are a great way to explore complex relationships between variables. By visualizing these relationships using colorful lines and arrows, you can easily spot any patterns or clusters that may have been buried in more traditional data visualizations. You’ll also have a better understanding of the influence each node has on the flow of data, which can help you prioritize certain elements based on their importance.
Creating a Sankey Chart
The first step in creating a sankey chart is to identify the variables you want to analyze. Make sure to label each node and node, and include any additional information you think might be useful to understand the relationship between the nodes. Once you have your data in hand, you’ll need to create the graph manually. To do this, you can use a tool design to help you lay out the structure of the sankey chart.
To generate the sankey diagram automatically, you can look into charting software, such as Tableau, QGIS, or even the free online charting tool, Plotly, which can generate highly detailed sankey diagrams. With Plotly, you can easily generate sankey charts from your data and see the relationships between variables in a way that a traditional table or data view will not. Plotly has built-in tools for adding links and shapes that can be used to represent the flow of data and highlight key elements.
Sankey chart applications
Sankey charts are incredibly versatile and can be used in a wide range of industries and fields. Here are some examples of how sankey charts can be used:

1. Analyzing customer behavior: sankey charts can be used to understand the flow of customer interactions, such as how customers purchased products or services, what information was exchanged between customers and the company, and how much revenue was generated from different channels.
2. Analyzing sales data: sankey charts can be used to visualize the sales pipeline, showing which products or services are most successful in the sales cycle, and which products need focused attention.
3. Analyzing customer retention: sankey charts can be used to visualize the customer journey, showing customer interactions over time and how they move through different stages of the customer journey.
4. Analyzing market trends: sankey charts can be used to analyze market trends over time, showing how product or service sales have changed from one year to the next.
5. Analyzing the flow of information in a company: sankey chart can be used to visualize information flow within a company, such as the flow of information between different departments or the flow of information between different products or services.
6. Analyzing the flow of resources in a nonprofit organization: sankey chart can be used to visualize the flow of resources, such as the flow of materials and money between departments or the flow of human resources between teams.

Conclusion
Sankey charts are a powerful and versatile way to represent complex data. They can reveal insights that may have been missed by more traditional data visualizations and help reveal important stories about what matters most in a dataset. This makes sankey charts a great tool for data analysis in a wide variety of fields, from marketing and sales to business and finance. With the help of software tools like Tableau and Plotly, sankey charts can be easily created and analyzed in a few clicks, making them a valuable and accessible tool for anyone interested in data visualization.

SankeyMaster

SankeyMaster is your go-to tool for creating complex Sankey charts . Easily enter data and create Sankey charts that accurately reveal intricate data relationships.