Insyt
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Flow, process and networks

Funnel-area chart

Uses funnel-shaped sections whose areas represent stage magnitudes.

  • Chart
  • Conversion
  • Composition

What it answers

How do stage magnitudes compare as funnel areas?

Shape
Stacked funnel-shaped areas
What it shows
Relative stage magnitude.

Example

The question

Where do we lose people between visiting and buying?

Online shop funnel, September (funnel-area chart)

Online shop funnel, September (funnel-area chart)Funnel-shaped segments, one per stage, narrowing as people drop out. Visits 90,000; Product views 41,000; Added to basket 9,800; Checkout 5,600; Paid 4,300. Overall 4.8% of visits become paid orders.90,000Visits41,000Product views46% of previous9,800Added to basket24% of previous5,600Checkout57% of previous4,300Paid77% of previous
Online shop funnel, September (funnel-area chart)Funnel-shaped segments, one per stage, narrowing as people drop out. Visits 90,000; Product views 41,000; Added to basket 9,800; Checkout 5,600; Paid 4,300. Overall 4.8% of visits become paid orders.90,000Visits41,000Product views46% of previous9,800Added to basket24% of previous5,600Checkout57% of previous4,300Paid77% of previous
Funnel-shaped segments, one per stage, narrowing as people drop out. Visits 90,000; Product views 41,000; Added to basket 9,800; Checkout 5,600; Paid 4,300. Overall 4.8% of visits become paid orders.

Illustrative data. It belongs to no company.

When to use it

Use it when

A small conversion process where area mapping is deliberate.

Avoid it when

When the tool sizes width instead of area without explanation.

How to read it

Read stage labels and values, then use the stated area encoding.

Note

Tools differ on whether width or area represents value.

The data you need

Layout
Long table
Fields
StageOrder: integer; Stage: text; Count: nonnegative number
One row is
One stage and its eligible cohort count. What is the grain?
Rules
Order stages explicitly. Sequential-cohort counts normally do not increase. Independent stage totals need a different interpretation.
Optional
Raw alternative: EntityID,Event,Timestamp with cohort and window rules.
Preparation
Validate the input grain and missing values. Order stages explicitly. Sequential-cohort counts normally do not increase. Independent stage totals need a different interpretation.
Units
State whether area or width encodes stage count; conversion denominators follow the cohort/stage definition.
Example of the input layout: Long tableA long table: one row per observation, few columns. New data adds rows.StageOrderStageCountAABBC
A long table: one row per observation, few columns. New data adds rows.

Worked example

Stages 1000,200,50 should have section areas proportional to those values under an area-encoded design. Purchases are 5% of visits.

StageOrderStageCount
1Visits1000
2Trials200
3Purchases50
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