The Ultimate Guide to Sankey Charts: Visualizing Causal Relationships and Flow

Sankey charts are an excellent way to visualize causal relationships and data flow in your data. They are easy to create with a wide variety of applications, and they provide a clear and intuitive representation of complex flows. In this ultimate guide, we’ll take you through the ins and outs of Sankey charts and show you how to use them to improve your data visualization skills.

What is a Sankey Chart?

A Sankey chart is a type of flowchart that uses directed lines to represent the flow of data or other variables. Unlike other flowcharts, Sankey charts are specifically designed to show causal relationships between different variables, rather than just the flow of data. This makes Sankey charts an excellent tool for visualizing complex data systems, such as supply chain management, financial flows, or even social networks.

Sankey chart creation and applications

Sankey charts can be created using a variety of software applications, including Microsoft Excel, Visio, Lucidchart, and many others. We’ll focus on using Microsoft Excel to create Sankey charts, as it is a powerful and easy-to-use tool that is widely available to most people.

To start creating a Sankey chart in Excel, you’ll first need to have a dataset that includes the variables you want to visualize. This dataset should be organized in a way that allows you to easily create a Sankey chart, with each variable appearing as a separate node on the chart.

Once you have your dataset, you can create a Sankey chart by following these steps:

1. Enter your variables into the first column of your dataset.
2. Create a line for each variable, starting at the variable in the first column and ending at a corresponding variable in the subsequent columns.
3. Arrange your variables in the right-hand pane so that they follow the flow of your data.
4. Customize your chart appearance by adjusting colors, styles, and other options.

Applications of Sankey Charts

Sankey charts are an excellent tool for visualizing complex data systems, and they have a wide variety of applications. Here are just a few examples:

1. Supply chain management: Sankey charts can be used to visualize the flow of goods and services through a supply chain, highlighting any bottlenecks or inefficiencies.
2. Financial flows: Sankey charts can be used to visualize the flow of funds through a financial system, highlighting any areas of high risk or low efficiency.
3. Social networks: Sankey charts can be used to visualize the flow of information through social networks, highlighting any key nodes or sources of information.

Conclusion

Sankey charts are a powerful data visualization tool that is easy to use and widely available. They provide a clear and intuitive representation of complex data flows and causal relationships, making them an excellent tool for visualizing complex data systems. Whether you’re working with supply chains, financial systems, or social networks, Sankey charts can help you better understand and improve the performance of your data.

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.