Waffle Charts in Tableau: A Delicious Way to Visualize Data

Tableau is a powerful data visualization and business intelligence (BI) tool that enables users to explore and analyze data through interactive, shareable dashboards and reports. While Tableau doesn’t offer a built-in waffle chart, you can still create one using a custom dataset and a few simple steps.

What is a Waffle Chart?

A waffle chart is a grid-based visualization used to show parts of a whole, often displayed as a 10x10 grid (100 squares), where each square represents 1% of the total. It’s a clean, compact alternative to pie charts, ideal for displaying percentages in a visually engaging way.

Waffle charts can be created using a grid template and calculated fields to color in the appropriate number of squares based on a percentage value.

Why Use a Waffle Chart?

Waffle charts are especially effective when:

• Easy to interpret – The 10x10 grid intuitively maps to percentages.

• More precise than pie charts – Especially for small differences between categories.

• Dashboard-friendly – Clean visuals that fit well into KPI dashboards.

• Great for storytelling – Perfect for emphasizing categories like completed tasks, survey responses, or goal progress.

When to Use (or Avoid) a Waffle Chart

Use a waffle chart when:

• You need to show part-to-whole relationships (e.g., appointment outcomes, market share, survey results).

• You’re visualizing categorical data as percentages.

• You want to enhance dashboard appeal with a more visual representation.

• You're comparing values that sum to 100%.

  
  

Avoid waffle charts when:

• There are too many categories, making the chart cluttered.

• Your data doesn’t represent a whole (i.e., raw counts, independent values).

• You require precise numerical comparisons—a bar or table might be more appropriate.

How to create a waffle chart?

To build a waffle chart in Tableau, you’ll need two datasets:

1. A grid template (usually created in Excel).

2. Your actual data source (e.g., Ambulatory Visit data).

Step 1: Prepare the Grid Template in Excel

Your Excel file (ex : Waffle Template.xlsx) should include the following columns:

• Row - Indicates the row position in the 10x10 grid. The values start at 1 and increase every 10 rows (e.g., the first 10 rows have Row = 1, the next 10 have Row = 2, up to Row = 10).

• Column - Indicates the column position in the grid. The values repeat from 1 to 10 for every set of 10 rows.

• Percentage - Cumulative percentage value ranging from 1% to 100%, used to determine which cells should be filled based on your actual data percentage. This structure allows you to map a percentage value (e.g., 63%) onto a visual grid by coloring in the first 63 cells.

This approach forms the foundation of a waffle chart, where each cell represent 1% of the whole.

Waffle Template.xlsx

Download XLSX • 11KB

Step 2: Load Data into Tableau

• Open Tableau and connect to your primary dataset (e.g., Ambulatory Visit).

• In the Data Source tab, load the Excel file (ex : waffle_template.xlsx)

  

Step 3: Build the Waffle Grid

• Drag Column to the Columns shelf.

• Drag Row to the Rows shelf.

• In the Analysis menu, uncheck Aggregate Measures.

• In the Marks card, change the chart type to Square and increase the size.

  

Step 4: Create Calculated Fields

• In the primary dataset (e.g., Ambulatory Visit):

  • Create a calculated field (ex. @Completed_Visit)

    •  SUM([Completed_visit])/[Total_Visit]

• In the waffle grid (Excel dataset):

  • Create another calculated field (ex. Completed_Color):

    •  [AmbulatoryVisits (QualityDataset)].@Completed_Visit]>=sum([Percentage])

 Step 5: Finalize the Chart

• Drag Completed_Color to the Color shelf.

• Remove Headers and Grid Lines for a clean look.

• Drag @Completed_Visit to Detail.

• Right-click a mark, select Annotate > Mark, and display the actual value.

• Repeat the process for No-Show and Cancelled visit percentages using additional calculated fields.

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  You’ll end up with a set of clean, visually engaging waffle charts, each showing the breakdown of ambulatory visits by Completed, No-Show, and Cancelled statuses. These charts provide a quick snapshot of performance and are excellent for dashboards and executive reporting.