Icicle Charts: Visualizing Hierarchies Beyond Bars and Layers

When you need to navigate complex hierarchies with clarity, the Icicle Chart provides a clear, structured, all-in-one solution.

Our Use Case: Analyzing Sales by comparing Regions, States and Cities in a connected, hierarchical view

We started with total revenue and drilled down through geography- all in one view, using an icicle chart.

The Icicle chart reveals:

1. Which regions contribute most, and within them, which states and cities are underperforming
2. The hierarchical contribution of granular level to top-level in one view

Limitations of Traditional Bar Charts:

1. Show only one level at a time—hiding the big picture
2. Hard to compare paths side-by-side

Why Icicle Chart Wins Here:

1. Visualize entire hierarchies in a clean, connected format
2. Reveal relationships, depth, and contribution all at once
3. Perfect for structured exploration, especially in dashboards, performance reviews, or diagnostics

Where to not use Icicle Chart:

1. Priority is to focus on low contributors, because it becomes harder to spot them in this chart
2. In case of high number of divisions, the Icicle chart can get cluttered making it harder to read and comprehend

At Perceptive Analytics our mission is “to enable businesses to unlock value in data.” For over 20 years, we’ve partnered with more than 100 clients—from Fortune 500 companies to mid-sized firms—to solve complex data analytics challenges. Our services include Advanced Analytics, Generative AI, and Business Intelligence (Tableau, Power BI and Looker) turning data into strategic insight. We would love to talk to you. Do reach out to us.