Introduction
A donut chart is a circular data visualization that is a variation of a pie chart, characterized by a hole in the center. This design allows for a more modern and appealing presentation of data, making it easier to convey information compactly while also providing space for additional details in the center (such as total of all slices).
Donut chart best practices
Do not use donut chart for dimensions with more than three categories.
Avoid donut chart if goal is to help user make fine distinctions.
Always label the chart clearly.
Provide additional details on the tooltips.
Example of a donut chart
How to create a donut chart using multiple map layers
First create the chart place holder inform of a geographic calculation as shown below.
Drag the calculation Place holder to the details shelf.
Change the marks card to Pie.
Drag the dimension of interest to the Color shelf (in this case Category).
Drag the measure field of interest to the Angle shelf (in this case Sales).
Resize the view under the Size shelf.
Add a new layer to the view by dragging the calculation Place holder to the Marks Layer. (Note, the marks layer appears when you drag a geographic field to the view).
Change the marks card of the new layer to Pie.
Resize the new layer by increasing its size.
Change the color to background color of your view (in this case white).
Lastly remove all map background layers.
Note: This same technique can be used to create filled maps with donut charts instead of pie charts as shown below.
Conclusion
Next time you need to show proportion of total using a donut chart try the ideas shared in this article by leveraging map layers to visualize your data.
Note: Ideas shared in this article are applicable in Tableau 2020.4 or later versions.
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