Insyt
All charts in the library

Targets, progress and status

Traffic-light status display

Assigns status categories to a metric through defined rules or thresholds.

  • Indicator
  • Status
  • Exception detection

What it answers

Which items need attention under the status rules?

Shape
Red, amber and green symbols
What it shows
Categorical status and exceptions.

Example

The question

Which of our key services are on track this week?

Service status this week

Service status this weekEach service has a symbol and words, not colour alone. Order processing: on track (99.2% on time); Customer support: at risk (Wait 6 min (target 4)); Deliveries: on track (96% next day); Invoicing: off track (3 days late); Website: on track (99.98% up).✓Order processingOn track99.2% on time!Customer supportAt riskWait 6 min (target 4)✓DeliveriesOn track96% next day✕InvoicingOff track3 days late✓WebsiteOn track99.98% up
Service status this weekEach service has a symbol and words, not colour alone. Order processing: on track (99.2% on time); Customer support: at risk (Wait 6 min (target 4)); Deliveries: on track (96% next day); Invoicing: off track (3 days late); Website: on track (99.98% up).✓Order processingOn track: 99.2% on time!Customer supportAt risk: Wait 6 min (target 4)✓DeliveriesOn track: 96% next day✕InvoicingOff track: 3 days late✓WebsiteOn track: 99.98% up
Each service has a symbol and words, not colour alone. Order processing: on track (99.2% on time); Customer support: at risk (Wait 6 min (target 4)); Deliveries: on track (96% next day); Invoicing: off track (3 days late); Website: on track (99.98% up).

Illustrative data. It belongs to no company.

When to use it

Use it when

Fast exception scanning with established thresholds.

Avoid it when

When colours lack definitions or hide distance to target.

How to read it

Read the text status and the metric/threshold explanation.

Note

Include non-colour labels.

The data you need

Layout
Long table
Fields
Item: text; Status: category; or Value and threshold rules
One row is
One item with a status or a value to classify. What is the grain?
Rules
Define category meanings and thresholds. Retain a text status for accessibility.
Optional
Optional value, target, owner and last-updated time.
Preparation
Confirm the metric definition, reporting period, target and favourable direction. Calculate rates or progress before applying transparent status rules.
Units
State each metric's unit. Achievement or completion needs its goal/baseline denominator; status colours and ordinal ratings are not numeric units.
Example of the input layout: Long tableA long table: one row per observation, few columns. New data adds rows.ItemStatusor Value anAABBC
A long table: one row per observation, few columns. New data adds rows.

Worked example

Rule green>=95, amber 90-<95, red<90. Value 92 is Amber; include the word, not only a colour.

ItemStatus
AGreen
BAmber
CRed
All charts in the library