Flows & Processes

Flow charts visualize the movement of resources, money, or people through a system, or how an initial value is affected by a series of intermediate positive or negative values.

Sankey Diagrams

A specific type of flow diagram where the width of the arrows is proportional to the flow rate. They are excellent for showing energy transfers, supply chains, or user journeys through a website.

Waterfall Charts

Used to understand how an initial value is affected by a series of positive and negative changes, resulting in a final value. Highly standard in finance for profit/loss statements.

Rule	Why
Color Coding	Strictly adhere to a convention: typically green/white for positive increments, red for negative decrements, and a neutral color (gray/black) for the total/subtotal columns.
Connector Lines	Always draw horizontal lines connecting the end of one bar to the beginning of the next to guide the eye along the floating segments.

Common Mistakes

• Sankey Spaghetti: Sankeys become unreadable when there are too many crossing links. If the diagram looks like a knot, simplify the categories or use a matrix instead.

Next Steps

If you are plotting steps in a funnel (like sales), standard Bar Charts usually work better than specialized funnel charts.