Chart options in KPI Details
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Summary of Chart options in KPI Details
The KPI Details Chart options menu in ServiceNow enables users to customize indicator visualizations by showing, hiding, or modifying various chart aspects. These settings persist per user and per indicator, allowing personalized views of performance data. Chart options are categorized into analysis options, time series options, and chart type options.
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Analysis options
- Targets: Displays desired indicator scores if configured. Not available if no targets exist.
- Thresholds: Shows normal score ranges defined for the indicator. Available only if thresholds are set.
- Forecast: Enables forecasting of future scores based on trends, provided forecasts are configured on the indicator.
- Trend: Displays linear trends over the selected time period. Not available when indicators are filtered by multiple elements.
- Comments: Shows comments added in Analytics Hub or system-generated notifications like threshold breaches.
- Labels: Displays main time series values but excludes derived lines such as targets or thresholds.
- Statistics: Activates display of key statistical measures for the indicator over the selected date range.
Statistics details
When enabled, statistics provide insight including:
- No. of scores – Count of indicator scores in the selected period.
- Max and Min – Highest and lowest score values recorded.
- Sum – Total of all scores within the date range.
- Avg (Average) – Mean score, useful for normally distributed data.
- Median – Middle value, better for data with outliers.
- Change and Change % – Absolute and percentage difference between the first and last scores.
- Standard deviation – Variation measure from the average score, indicating data consistency.
Not all statistics apply to every indicator; irrelevant statistics can be excluded via advanced indicator settings, enhancing relevance and clarity.
Time series options
Users can select what measurement types to display, including:
- Score (default)
- Change
- Change %
Multiple measurements can be shown simultaneously to provide comprehensive trend analysis.
Chart type options
Various visualization types are available to suit different data analysis needs:
- Line (default): Ideal for tracking changes over time and comparing indicator scores.
- Spline: Suggests smooth, gradual changes in trends.
- Area: Highlights trends in related breakdowns, especially when multiple time series are displayed separately.
- Column: Useful for comparing multiple breakdown elements side by side.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
These chart options empower you to tailor KPI visualizations to your operational needs, facilitating clearer insights into performance data. The ability to toggle targets, thresholds, trends, and statistical measures helps in interpreting indicator behavior effectively. Choosing appropriate chart types and time series measurements enhances your data storytelling and decision-making processes within the ServiceNow Performance Analytics environment.
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.