Chart options in KPI Details
Summarize
Summary of Chart options in KPI Details
The KPI Details Chart options menu allows ServiceNow customers to customize the visualization of indicator data. Users can show, hide, or modify aspects of the indicator charts to suit their analysis needs. These chart options are personalized per user and organized into analysis, time series, and chart type categories.
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Analysis options
- Targets: Display the desired scores on the chart if set on the indicator.
- Thresholds: Show normal score ranges if configured for the indicator.
- Forecast: Enable forecasting of future scores based on trends, when configured.
- Trend: Show a linear trend line for scores over the selected period (not available for multiple element filters).
- Comments: Display comments added in Analytics Hub or system-generated notifications like threshold breaches.
- Labels: Show main time series values (excludes derived lines like targets and thresholds).
- Statistics: Activate to view key numeric summaries over the selected date range.
Statistics details
When enabled, statistics include:
- Number of scores
- Maximum and minimum values
- Sum and average (mean) scores
- Median score (useful when outliers exist)
- Change and percentage change between first and last scores
- Standard deviation (sample-based) indicating score variability
Customers can configure which statistics appear, excluding irrelevant ones based on indicator units or context.
Time series options
These options control which measurements are displayed on the chart; users can select one or multiple simultaneously:
- Score (default)
- Change
- Change %
Chart type options
Various visualizations are available to help interpret data effectively:
- Line (default): Tracks changes over time clearly.
- Spline: Shows smooth, gradual changes.
- Area: Highlights trends when viewing related breakdowns as separate series.
- Column: Compares multiple breakdown elements distinctly.
Practical benefits for ServiceNow customers
These customizable chart options empower customers to tailor KPI visualizations to their specific reporting and analytical requirements. By leveraging targets, thresholds, trends, and statistics, customers can gain clearer insights into performance metrics. Time series and chart type selections enable flexible data presentations that best suit their use cases, improving decision-making and performance tracking.
The KPI Details Chart options menu enables you to show, hide, or change aspects of an indicator visualization. Selected chart options persist per user for each indicator. Chart options are divided into analysis, time series, and chart type options.
Analysis options
- Targets
- Targets are the desired scores for the indicator. Select to show indicator targets on the visualization. If no targets are configured on the indicator, this option is not available.
- Thresholds
- Thresholds define a normal range of scores for an indicator. Select to show indicator thresholds on the visualization. If no thresholds are configured on the indicator, this option is not available.
- Forecast
- Forecasts enable you to forecast future scores based on existing trends. To configure forecasts, see Performance Analytics scores forecasts. If forecasts are not configured on the indicator, this chart option is not available.
- Trend
- Shows the linear trend in score values over the selected time period. Trends are not available for indicators that are filtered on multiple elements.
- Comments
- Select to show comments added to the indicator in the Analytics Hub or generated by system calculations. System calculations include notifications for breaching thresholds.
- Labels
- Labels show the main time series values of the indicator. Labels are not shown for derived time series lines such as targets and thresholds.
- Statistics
- Activate to display a set of statistics for the indicator over the selected date range. For details, see the Statistics section of this topic.
Statistics
When the Statistics chart option is activated, KPI Details shows the following statistics, across the date range that the chart shows:
- No. of scores
- The number of indicator scores in the selected time range.
- Max
- The highest, or maximum, score value in the selected time range.
- Min
- The lowest, or minimum, score value in the selected time range.
- Sum
- The sum of scores in the selected time range.
- Avg
- The average score in the selected time range, calculated by dividing the sum by the number of scores. The average is preferable to the median when you have a normal distribution of scores with no or few outliers.
- Median
- The middle number in the distribution of scores. Half the scores are higher than this number and half the scores are lower. The median is preferable to the average when the scores include one or more outliers, such as 130 in the series 2,3,3,5,7,130. If there is a large difference between the average and the median, the median is probably the more meaningful statistic.
- Change
- The difference between the last score and the first score in the selected time range.
- Change %
- The difference between the last score and the first score in the selected time range, as a percentage of the first score.
- Standard deviation
- The amount of variation from the average value among the scores in the selected time range. A low standard deviation means that the scores are close to the average. KPI Details calculates the sample standard deviation, not the population standard deviation.
Not all statistics are applicable to every indicator. On the indicator record, you can exclude those statistics that do not apply from appearing in either KPI Details or the Analytics Hub. For example, you can exclude the Change % statistic from appearing for indicators whose unit is percentage. For more information, see Advanced indicator settings.
Time series options
- Score (default)
- Change
- Change %
Chart type options
- Line (default). Useful for tracking change over time and seeing differences in indicator scores.
- Spline. Useful to suggest smooth, gradual changes.
- Area. Useful to show trends over time in related breakdowns when Display as separate time series is selected under Filters.
- Column. Useful for comparing multiple breakdown elements when Display as separate time series is selected under Filters.