Introduction:
Sankey charts, also known as Sankey diagrams, is a unique and powerful data visualization tool that represents flows or movements of data, materials, or energy between different entities. These charts consist of nodes representing the flow, and arrows or lines connecting them, which illustrate the direction and magnitude of the flow. The name itself comes from Moritz Stefaner, a German data visualization designer, who developed this type of chart in the year 2000.
Creation of Sankey Charts:
Creating a sankey chart is a straightforward process that requires a dataset structured in a specific way. The dataset needs to have three columns for each flow, one for source, one for destination, and the third for the quantity or value of flow. Once you have the data, you can create a sankey chart using a wide variety of tools such as Tableau, PowerBI, R, Excel, and online platforms like Plotly and ECharts.
The creation process typically follows the following steps:

1. Select the data you want to visualize.
2. Choose the appropriate data visualization software or tool.
3. Import your data into the tool, and create a new chart.
4. Configure the chart settings, including colors, labels, and tooltips.
5. Set the source, destination, and flow amount values.
6. Apply layout optimization and aesthetic adjustments.
7. Review and publish or export the final chart.

Once the chart is created, it’s essential to ensure that it’s readable, understandable, and engaging to the audience. Adding features like labels, annotations, and legends can make the chart more informative and accessible.
Applications of Sankey Charts:
Sankey charts have various applications across various industries, including:

1. Sustainability: Sankey charts can be used to visualize and track renewable energy flows, waste management, and carbon footprint emissions in various industries.
2. Business Analysis: In business, Sankey charts can be used to analyze supply chain flows, customer journey, and revenue allocation.
3. Energy and Power: Sankey charts can represent the flow of energy from different sources to various consumers, such as electricity or natural gas distribution.
4. Transportation: Visualizing transportation flows, such as road, rail, or aviation networks, can be achieved with sankey charts, representing passenger or cargo movement between different transportation modes and locations.
5. Healthcare: Healthcare organizations can use sankey charts to visualize patient flows, treatment pathways, and resource allocation.

Benefits of Sankey Charts:
Sankey charts offer several benefits compared to common data visualization tools such as bar or pie charts. The unique feature of sankey charts is their ability to represent the flow of data through interconnected nodes, which makes it easier to understand the quantity, direction, and intensity of flows. Some of the benefits of using sankey charts are:

1. High Visual Impact: sankey charts have a visually satisfying look with a lot of color and flow animations.
2. Easy Comparison: sankey charts allow for easy comparison between various flows, making it easier to understand which flows are more significant compared to others.
3. Better Representation of Data: sankey diagrams can represent complex data that other visualization tools cannot handle effectively, making it easier to understand and analyze large datasets.
4. Simplification of Data: sankey charts can simplify the process of presenting data by making it easier to follow and understand.

Conclusion:
Sankey charts offer a highly informative, visually satisfying, and visually engaging way of presenting data. These charts are versatile and have various applications across industries, making them an essential tool for data visualization. While creating a sankey chart can be a challenging process, it yields results that are more accessible, comprehensible, and engaging for the audience. So the next time you need to visualize data, consider taking a journey through sankey charts to unleash its full power.

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.