How to add Sparkline data visualization to Google spread sheets?

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I like using spark lines data viz when it makes sense! It’s a great way to visualize trends in the data without taking too much space. Now, I knew how to add sparklines in Excel but recently, I wanted to use that on Google sheet and I had to figure it out so here are my notes:

1. Google has an inbuilt function called “SPARKLINE” to do this.

2. Sample usage: =SPARKLINE(B2:G2) — by default you can put line chart in your cells.

3. Then there are other options including changing the chart type. You can find them documented here:  https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093289

4. One of the best practices that I advocate when you spark-line to “compare” trends is to make sure that you have the consistent axis definition. So the sample usage for that could like this:

=SPARKLINE(B2:G2,{“ymin”,0;“ymax”,110})

(if you want to do this for excel then here’s the post: http://parasdoshi.com/2015/03/10/how-to-assign-same-axis-values-to-a-group-of-spark-lines-in-excel/ )

After you’re done, here’s what a finished version could like on Google sheet:

Google Sheet Data visualization spark line

Here’s the working google sheet: https://docs.google.com/a/parasdoshi.com/spreadsheets/d/1EJYDTxOifeEL-YwW1a0oxXw7tFG1iAVQlwjo4EU8R-s/edit?usp=sharing

Data -> Insights -> ?

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I was at the HP Big data conference last week and I heard something during the keynote that’s worth sharing with you.

As Data & Analytics professionals, we spend a lot of our time on finding insights, trends & patterns out of the data but the keynote speaker (Ken Rudin, Facebook) encouraged everyone to take that a step further = Think about Driving impact based on the insights. It’s simple yet a powerful idea! Over past few months, I have started working closely with decision makers and helping drive impact vs just “handing-off” insights.

I hope that helps! Just wanted to share that with you. What do you think?

-Paras