MARIMEKKO

The mekko plot is used to visualise categorical data over a pair of variables and still seeing the absolute numbers of the elements as a kind of weighting. It is inspired by the marimekko IBCS template.

PLOT DETAIL

The plot is run twice,...

...once for each period.

SAVING THE PLOT

To save the plot as a PNG file, click on the small camera icon on the top right corner of the plot.

OTHER OPTIONS

Open the expander under the 📊 Plot type drop down menu by clicking on the ➕ sign.

Additional options are available for selection.

You can choose the dimensions you want to plot on the vertical and horizontal axes, and which metric to plot.

The top items in terms of total value are plotted the vertical axis, while the other items are aggregated together. The items summed together are plotted in light grey color.

You can change the number of top items to plot for each axes.

You can choose to have the value labels plotted in their absolute value....

...as percent of the grand total...

...as % of the row total of each item.

or as % of the total of each vertical category.

You can highlight a vertical category item.

Select the item you want to highlight in the choose items to highlight widget.

NEGATIVE VALUES

Negative values on the Y axis will be plotted as shown in the example below. Label position might need manual adjusting.

Since negative values on the X axis cannot be plotted in a mekko plot, the negative values will be dropped and an error message will be shown.

EDIT AND MOVE LABELS

You can edit and move around plot titles and labels. In this chart..

...you can move the value labels around oand adjust their position.

ANNOTATE CHARTS

It is possible to annotate charts with lines, rectangles and circles. It is possible to modify the shapes and move them around, and delete them.

Hover and click on the "draw line", "draw circle" and "draw rectangle" icons on the menu bar on the upper right of the chart.

Draw and edit your shapes.

ADD PLOT MESSAGE

It is possible to add messages to the chart, in the style suggested by the IBCS standard.

Add your message in the text box, one chart at a time.

Once you have finished writing the message for a chart, click on the 🚀 Submit.

Your message will appear above the chart title

Now write another message on the text box of a different chart.

Click submit. Your second message appears above the second chart. You might need to adjust the position of your labels.

The downloaded image of the chart contains the message.

!

CHART TITLE

The chart title is set on three lines: the first line contains the reporting unit ("who"), the second line the business metric ("what") and the third line the time period ("when").

You can adjust the position of the title, the message text and the horizontal line by moving them around with the mouse.

CHOICE OF COLOR PALETTE

You can choose one of the nine available color palettes. Six are inspired by Mekko Graphics, the other are default Tableau and PowerBi palettes, and a palette inspired from the IBCS examples.

GREYSCALE PALETTE

Avoids decorative use of colors. Can display up to 5 different tones.

Similar pallets are available in other colors (greens, blues, reds,...)

TABLEAU PALETTE

This elegant palette is both beautiful and functional.

THINK-CELL PALETTE

If you need to integrate 'Mparanza charts in a document prepared with Think-cell.

CIRQUE PALETTE

This bright palette contains clusters with distinct color separations.

MODERN PALETTE

This fresh palette contains modern tones and stunning highlight colors.

BLUE & GREEN PALETTE

This contiguous palette creates a bi-chromatic chart in cool subdued hues.

KHAKI & DENIM PALETTE

This subdued palette great for complex charts.

POLO PALETTE

This subdued palette is good for charts requiring contrast between segments.

HEATING UP PALETTE

This bright palette is great for complex charts.

POWERBI DEFAULT PALETTE

A lively, colorful palette.

IBCS PALETTE

This functional palette minimizes the risk of confusion between colors .

TRY IT OUT!

In less than two minutes, you will build a Marimekko plot from scratch.

The Marimekko chart is often used by consultants, particularly Bain & Company, to illustrate the interaction between two dimensions. It is also a pain to draw without add-ins.

GET DATA

We use Microsoft's Financial sample dataset you can download here. Open it in Excel. Select the columns with the metrics (revenues, units, cogs, columns E to L) and set their number format to "General". Delete the N, O and P columns. Your file should look like this. Save the file and exit Excel.

LOAD DATASET ON 'MPARANZA.COM APP

Open 'Mparanza.com, and click on "Open Beta".

Open the upload widget and load the file. The app should automatically map all the columns.

PLOT MEKKO

Set the 📊 Plot type widget to Marimekko.

Hit the 🚀 Submit button. You should get your Marimekko plot.

How many "other" countries are there?

Open the expander below 📊 Plot type,and set the "Number of top" country widget to five.

Oh there is also - ex-equo - France and Mexico.

By default, the app uses a grey, do-not-use-colors-for-decoration color palette. If you prefer a different color palette, choose it with the widget below.

Hit the 🚀 Submit button.

Instead of absolute values, you can display percentages, either of the total, or of the total of each row.

You can select to plot a different column on the vertical (or on the horizontal) axis. Move the labels around if they overlap.

You can choose to plot a different metric.